MEDICAL UNIVERSITY OF VIENNA Currently, various classes of drugs are available for the treatment of mental illnesses – such as depression and anxiety disorders. However, although these drugs confer benefits, they are also associated with adverse side-effects. Conseqeuntly, medical researchers continuously thrive to improve the pharmacological properties of therapeutic agents to optimize the benefit-to-side-effect ratio....
Month: <span>November 2022</span>
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Slow-moving shell of water can make Parkinson’s proteins ‘stickier’
UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE Water – which makes up the majority of every cell in the body – plays a key role in how proteins, including those associated with Parkinson’s disease, fold, misfold, or clump together, according to a new study. When attempting to discover potential treatments for protein misfolding diseases, researchers have primarily focused on...
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Marijuana smokers show higher rates of emphysema, airway diseases than smokers: uOttawa study
UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA IMAGE: AIRWAY CHANGES IN A 66-YEAR-OLD MALE MARIJUANA AND TOBACCO SMOKER. CONTRAST-ENHANCED (A) AXIAL AND (B) CORONAL CT IMAGES SHOW CYLINDRICAL BRONCHIECTASIS AND BRONCHIAL WALL THICKENING (ARROWHEADS) IN MULTIPLE LUNG LOBES BILATERALLY IN A BACKGROUND OF PARASEPTAL (ARROWS) AND CENTRILOBULAR EMPHYSEMA. CREDIT: RADIOLOGY / UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA Researchers from the University of...
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Wireless earphones work as inexpensive hearing aids
CELL PRESS Some commercial earbuds can perform as well as hearing aids. The result, presented November 15 in the journal iScience, could help a large proportion of people with hearing loss access more affordable sound amplification devices. Hearing loss has broad health impacts, but professional hearing aids are expensive and require multiple visits to otolaryngologists and...
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Ancient disease has potential to regenerate livers, study finds
UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH Leprosy is one of the world’s oldest and most persistent diseases but the bacteria that cause it may also have the surprising ability to grow and regenerate a vital organ. Scientists have discovered that parasites associated with leprosy can reprogramme cells to increase the size of a liver in adult animals without...
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Genes to potentially diagnose long-term Lyme disease identified
THE MOUNT SINAI HOSPITAL / MOUNT SINAI SCHOOL OF MEDICINE IMAGE: RESEARCHERS AT ICAHN MOUNT SINAI IN NEW YORK IDENTIFIED 35 GENES THAT COULD BE USED AS BIOMARKERS TO POTENTIALLY DIAGNOSE PATIENTS WITH LONG-TERM LYME DISEASE (LTLD). THE FINDINGS MAY ALSO LEAD TO NEW THERAPEUTIC TARGETS FOR THE HARD-TO-DIAGNOSE DISEASE WITH LIMITED TREATMENT OPTIONS. THE...
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Nerve cell discovery may lead to better treatment for diseases of the nervous system
UNIVERSITY OF BATH IMAGE: A SEGMENT OF ZEBRAFISH TRUNK. MOTOR NEURONS (GREEN) SEND AXONS THAT INNERVATE MUSCLE FIBRES (RED). CREDIT: NIKOLAS NIKOLAOU A discovery that may improve treatment options for patients with neurodegenerative diseases has been made by scientists at King’s College London and the University of Bath in the UK. This finding centres on...
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Helping wasting muscles build back better
by Harvard University Examples of MAGENTA prototypes fabricated with a “shape memory alloy” spring and an elastomer, and how their sizes compare to that of a one cent coin. Credit: Wyss Institute at Harvard University Muscles waste as a result of not being exercised enough, as happens quickly with a broken limb that has been...
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New study reveals that exposure to outdoor artificial light at night is associated with an increased risk of diabetes
by Diabetologia Graphical abstract. Credit: Diabetologia (2022). DOI: 10.1007/s00125-022-05819-x A new study published in Diabetologia finds that outdoor artificial light at night (LAN) is associated with impaired blood glucose control and an increased risk of diabetes, with more than 9 million cases of the disease in Chinese adults being attributed to LAN exposure. The study is by Dr. Yu...
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Uterine fibroid growth activated by chemicals found in everyday products
by Northwestern University Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain For the first time, scientists at Northwestern Medicine have demonstrated a causal link between environmental phthalates (toxic chemicals found in everyday consumer products) and the increased growth of uterine fibroids, the most common tumors among women. Manufacturers use environmental phthalates in numerous industrial and consumer products, and they’ve also...