UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE By restricting the time period during which they could eat, researchers have seen promising results for controlling blood glucose levels in men at risk of type 2 diabetes. In a small study now published in the journal Obesity, researchers from the University of Adelaide and the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) assessed the effects of time-restricted eating (TRE)...
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Sickly sweet or just right? How genes control your taste for sugar
by Daniel Liang-Dar Hwang, The Conversation You might love sugary doughnuts, but your friends find them too sweet and only take small nibbles. That’s partly because your genes influence how you perceive sweetness and how much sugary food and drink you consume. Now our recently published study shows a wider range of genes at play than anyone thought. In particular, we suggest how these genes might work with...
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What are Enhancer RNAs (eRNAs)?
By Dr. Surat P, Ph.D. Reviewed by Michael Greenwood, M.Sc. Enhancer RNAs, or eRNAs, are short non-coding RNA molecules that are transcribed from the loci of enhancers. They are involved in the regulation of gene transcription and can be a therapeutic target for diseases. Enhancer RNAs were discovered in 2010 through high-throughput sequencing to detect stimulus-dependent enhancers. This revealed the RNApolymerase II-dependent transcription of enhancer RNAs. These are...
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Stroke patients receive different amounts of physical therapy
Patients who receive more physical therapy are less likely to be readmitted to a hospital within a month, yet the amount of care made available to Medicare patients varies widely BROWN UNIVERSITY PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Medicare- covered stroke patients receive vastly different amounts of physical and occupational therapy during hospital stays despite evidence that such care is strongly associated with positive...
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Targeted therapy proves effective against aggressive rare blood cancer
by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute A multi-institutional clinical trial has given good results for a targeted therapy to treat a rare, aggressive blood cancer known as blastic plasmacytoid dendritic-cell neoplasm (BPDCN). Details on the trial, which supported Food and Drug Administration approval of the tagraxofusp therapy in December 2018, have been published in the New England Journal of Medicine....
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Prior authorization obstacles unnecessarily delay patient access to cancer treatments, survey finds
AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR RADIATION ONCOLOGY ARLINGTON, Va., April 25, 2019 — Restrictive prior authorization practices cause unnecessary delays and interference in care decisions for cancer patients, according to a new survey of nearly 700 radiation oncologists — physicians who treat cancer patients using radiation– released today by the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO). Nearly all radiation oncologists (93%) said that their patients are delayed from...
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11-Year-Old Autistic Boy Danny Bullen Speaks First Full Sentence Hours After Stem Cell Treatment
An 11-year -old boy with a severe case of autism finds hope with stem cell treatment that allowed him to speak his first sentence. Danny Bullen was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder in 2010. His condition led to a number of developmental delays including a total loss of verbal ability. Stem Cell For Autism Prior...
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SCIENTISTS GENE-EDITED HIV TO CURE “BUBBLE BOY” DISEASE
Normal Lives Researchers from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have reportedly used HIV to cure infants born with “bubble boy” disease — a remarkable example of hijacking a deadly virus for a new treatment. “The children are cured,” researcher Ewelina Mamcarz toldNBC News. “They came to us as little infants, some of them as young as 2 months, with severe infections. Now they are home, living...
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Fundamentally New MRI Method Developed to Measure Brain Function in Milliseconds
The speed of the human brain is remarkable — in a fraction of a second, neurons are activated, propagating thoughts and reactions to stimuli. But the speed at which we can non-invasively follow brain function using an MRI is not as impressive. Functional MRI (fMRI), which measures changes in blood oxygen levels, has revolutionized the field of...
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Researchers develop promising new stroke therapy
by The Ohio State University Researchers at The Ohio State University College of Medicine and The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center have developed a novel stroke therapy that, when tested in mice and dogs, has proven superior to the standard of care therapy now offered to patients suffering a stroke. Findings of the study are...