by Sonia Fernandez, University of California Hereditary and relatively common, polycystic kidney disease (PKD) has long been thought to be progressive and irreversible, condemning its sufferers to a long, slow and often painful decline as fluid filled cysts develop in the kidneys, grow and eventually rob the organs of their function. Once their kidneys fail,...
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Region, age, and sex decide who gets arthritis-linked ‘fabella’ knee bone
by Imperial College London The once-rare ‘fabella’ bone has made a dramatic resurgence in human knees, but who’s likely to have a fabella or two—and why? Led by Dr. Michael Berthaume at Imperial College London, a new meta-analysis has found that the mystery knee bone is more common in older people, more often found in men than women, and in people in Asia....
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Nanomesh Loaded with Antibiotics for Targeted Wound and Infection Treatment
OCTOBER 18TH, 2019 MEDGADGET EDITORSEMERGENCY MEDICINE, MATERIALS, MEDICINE, ORTHOPEDIC SURGERY, PLASTIC SURGERY, PUBLIC HEALTH, SURGERY, VASCULAR SURGERY Antibiotics are usually only needed at particular sites, where infection is likely to start. Yet, they’re delivered throughout the entire body via pills and injections. This results in poor localized effectiveness, unnecessary effects on the rest of the body, and sometimes...
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Soft Auditory Brainstem Hearing Implants from Platinum Kirigami
OCTOBER 17TH, 2019 MEDGADGET EDITORSENT, MATERIALS, NEUROLOGY, NEUROSURGERY People who have hearing loss because of inner ear damage or from a poorly functioning auditory nerve are not helped by cochlear and middle ear implants. Auditory brainstem implants (ABI), which bypass most of the hearing system and send signals directly to the auditory brainstem, are the best option for such patients. But currently these devices rely on rigid components...
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Russian ‘CRISPR-baby’ scientist has started editing genes in human eggs with goal of altering deaf gene
Denis Rebrikov also told Nature that he does not plan to implant gene-edited embryos until he gets regulatory approval. David Cyranoski An earlier version of this story and its headline incorrectly stated that Denis Rebrikov had started editing eggs from a woman with a mutation that causes deafness. Russian biologist Denis Rebrikov has started gene editing in eggs donated by women who can...
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Study unveils the intricate way two proteins interact to promote cell movement, metastasis
Posted Today When cells in our bodies need to move—to attack infection or heal a wound, for example—cellular proteins send and receive a cascade of signals that directs the cells to the right place at the right time. It’s a process cancer cells can hijack to spread to new tissues and organs. Now, a team...
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Overweight before age 40 increases cancer risk
by Kim E. Andreassen, University of Bergen In an international study, lead by the University of Bergen, the researchers wanted to find out how adult overweight (BMI over 25) and obesity (BMI over 30) increase the risk of different types of cancer. The study showed that if you were overweight before age 40, the risk of developing cancer increases by: 70 percent for endometrial cancer. 58 percent for male renal-cell cancer. 29...
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7 signs of a toxic relationship
by Murdoch University Feel like you could be in a toxic relationship with a friend or significant other? A toxic relationship can start out perfectly healthy, but over time, unhealthy habits may start to surface, changing the dynamic of the relationship. For some couples, this can take months or even years, but for others, these...
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Standard Autism Screening Is Missing a Lot of Kids
A large health system–used tool to screen almost all children for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) only identifies less than half with the condition. Just 39 percent of children who went on to get a diagnosis of ASD screened positive on their earlier pediatrician visit. The study authors looked at electronic health records of almost 26,000 children who had...
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With cognitive impairment, older adults struggle with — and face risks from — smartphones, computers.
By Judith Graham At first, Robert Zorowitz thought his 83-year-old mother was confused. She couldn’t remember passwords to accounts on her computer. She would call and say programs had stopped working. But over time, Zorowitz realized his mother — a highly intelligent woman who was comfortable with technology ― was showing early signs of dementia....