A study looking at the effects of a widely prescribed diabetes drug has linked the medication to an increased risk of birth defects. The Danish study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that men who took metformin, a common drug used to treat Type 2 Diabetes, within three months before conceiving a child were 40 percent more...
Month: <span>March 2022</span>
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What to know about Asperger’s syndrome
Asperger’s syndrome is a part of the autism spectrum and people no longer consider it an independent diagnosis. Asperger’s syndrome (AS) used to be a stand-alone diagnosis, but in 2013, the American Psychiatric Association released the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5 (DSM-5) and included it as part of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It is also called “ASD...
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Damage-Associated Molecular Patterns (DAMPs) in the Aging Retina
The immune system reacts to damaged and dying cells, as well as their debris. As the level of tissue damage rises with age, this pattern recognition contributes to increasing levels of chronic inflammation. That in turn causes further harm, changing cell behavior for the worse, degrading tissue structure and function. Inflammation in aging is an example of a process...
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Hybrid neuroscience connects the dots for a big picture of the brain
SPIE–INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR OPTICS AND PHOTONICS IMAGE: OPTO–FMRI ALLOWS CORRELATION OF BEHAVIOR WITH SIMULTANEOUS MANIPULATION AND MONITORING LIVING BRAIN ACTIVITY IN RATS AT BOTH MICROSCOPIC AND MACROSCOPIC LEVELS. CREDIT: BELOATE AND ZHANG, DOI 10.1117/1.NPH.9.3.032208. To simultaneous manipulate and monitor living brain activity at both microscopic and macroscopic levels and identify the links to behavior is...
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Spanish scientists discover a new method for the early detection of subclinical atherosclerosis
CENTRO NACIONAL DE INVESTIGACIONES CARDIOVASCULARES CARLOS III (F.S.P.) IMAGE: ENRIQUE CALVO, JESÚS VÁZQUEZ, ÁLVARO ALFAYATE, ESTEFANÍA NÚÑEZ, AND JOSÉ LUIS MARTÍN VENTURA. CREDIT: CNIC A study published in the journal eBiomedicine identifies new biomarkers that predict the presence of subclinical atherosclerosis. The study was carried out by scientists from the Spanish cardiovascular research network (CIBERCV) working at...
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Rehabilitation psychologists: Specialists you may not yet know, but might one day need
MICHIGAN MEDICINE – UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN IMAGE: PATIENT VISITING A REHABILITATION PSYCHOLOGIST. CREDIT: JACOB DWYER, MICHIGAN MEDICINE After a month-long hospitalization from COVID-19, a once-independent older adult struggles to complete daily tasks. They can’t make breakfast without getting fatigued or focus on reading the paper. They’ve been in physical therapy for months and are not...
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Pharmacogenetic testing shows promise improving symptoms in patients with treatment-resistant depression
CENTRE FOR ADDICTION AND MENTAL HEALTH Pharmacogenetic testing was associated with nearly a two-fold (89 per cent) increase in remission rates compared to treatment as usual in a Centre for Addiction and Mental Health- (CAMH-)led clinical study just published in the journal Translational Psychiatry. The 52-week double-blind study, comparing pharmacogenetic testing guided treatment to treatment as...
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Promising Alzheimer’s drug may also improve memory in down syndrome and normal aging
UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO ANSCHUTZ MEDICAL CAMPUS A new study shows that a potential treatment for Alzheimer’s disease may also improve cognitive function in people with Down syndrome. The drug sargramostim (GM-CSF, which stands for granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor) is the first to show memory improvement in Alzheimer’s patients in a phase II clinical trial. GM-CSF is a...
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Lung damage may persist long after COVID-19 pneumonia
RADIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF NORTH AMERICA IMAGE: NON-CONTRAST AXIAL AND SAGITTAL CHEST CTS CORRESPONDING TO THE CT SEVERITY SCORE. (A) 1: MINIMAL (SUBTLE GGO, VERY FEW FINDINGS): CT SHOWS SUBTLE SUBPLEURAL GGO (ARROW) IN THE RIGHT AND LEFT LOWER LOBE. (B) 2: LOW (SEVERAL GGO, SUBTLE RETICULATION): CT SHOWS SEVERAL SUBPLEURAL GGO AND SUPERIMPOSED RETICULATION (ARROW)...
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Chronic low back pain linked to atrophy in pain-related brain regions
WOLTERS KLUWER HEALTH March 29, 2022 – Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is associated with reductions in brain volume in areas involved in pain processing, reports a study in PAIN®, the official publication of the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP). The journal ispublished in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer. “These findings suggest that CLBP...