In a clinical trial of patients with rheumatoid arthritis, treatment with a drug called upadacitinib provided greater benefits than methotrexate, the most commonly used initial therapy for rheumatoid arthritis. Upadacitinib inhibits certain proteins called Janus kinase enzymes that are involved in inflammation. It’s approved for treating patients with rheumatoid arthritis, but only after they’ve tried...
Month: <span>July 2020</span>
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Links between parents’ and children’s asthma and allergies
NEW RESEARCH FOUND THAT, COMPARED WITH A FATHER’S TRAITS RELATED TO ALLERGIES AND ASTHMA, A MOTHER’S TRAITS CREATE A HIGHER RISK THAT A CHILD WILL DEVELOP THESE SAME TRAITS IN…view more CREDIT: HANS BISGAARD New research found that, compared with a father’s traits related to allergies and asthma, a mother’s traits create a higher risk...
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Researchers find promising therapy to fight epidemic of liver disease
So far there are no approved drugs for Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO ANSCHUTZ MEDICAL CAMPUS AURORA, Colo. (July 8, 2020) – In an effort to combat a growing worldwide epidemic of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD), scientists have discovered a new target and a new therapy that has shown promising results in...
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UBC research shows hearing persists at end of life
Hearing is widely thought to be the last sense to go in the dying process. Now UBC researchers have evidence that some people may still be able to hear while in an unresponsive state at the end of their life. This research, published recently in Scientific Reports, is the first to investigate hearing in humans...
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Mirror image tumor treatment
Checkpoint blockade by a D-peptide for cancer immunotherapy or example, they induce the so-called immune checkpoints of T-cells to shut down immune responses. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, scientists have now introduced a new approach for immunological tumor treatment. Their method is based on the specific blockade of an immune checkpoint by a stable “mirror-image”...
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Increase in delirium, rare brain inflammation and stroke linked to COVID-19
by University College London This transmission electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2 — also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus that causes COVID-19 — isolated from a patient in the US. Virus particles are shown emerging from the surface of cells cultured in the lab. The spikes on the outer edge of the virus particles give coronaviruses...
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New insights from first clinical trial of potential treatment for motor neurone disease
by Rebecca Ferguson, University of Sheffield Results from a randomized clinical trial have shown that a potential new treatment can help control the immune response of patients with motor neuron disease (MND), which could reduce further damage in the brain and spinal cord. MND is the name for a group of diseases which affects the...
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Engineering and philosophy combine for an emerging understanding of smell
by Brandie Jefferson, Washington University in St. Louis How does the brain detect smells? To find out, you could rely on biological sciences, using high tech imaging methods, or studying anatomical diagrams. You could even get philosophical and ask, “What is smell, anyway?” Or, you could turn to engineering. That’s what ShiNung Ching, an associate...
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New Clues To ALS And Alzheimer’s From Physics
JON HAMILTON This light micrograph from the brain of someone who died with Alzheimer’s disease shows the plaques and neurofibrillary tangles that are typical of the disease. A glitch that prevents healthy cell structures from transitioning from one phase to the next might contribute to the tangles, researchers say. Jose Luis Calvo/ Science Source The...
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RNA key in helping stem cells know what to become
Findings could lead to new therapies for cancer, heart abnormalities UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO AT BOULDER Look deep inside our cells, and you’ll find that each has an identical genome -a complete set of genes that provides the instructions for our cells’ form and function. But if each blueprint is identical, why does an eye cell...