Physiology News and Research

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Human physiology is the science of the mechanical, physical, and biochemical functions of humans in good health, their organs, and the cells of which they are composed. The principal level of focus of physiology is at the level of organs and systems. Most aspects of human physiology are closely homologous to corresponding aspects of animal physiology, and animal experimentation has provided much of the foundation of physiological knowledge. Anatomy and physiology are closely related fields of study: anatomy, the study of form, and physiology, the study of function, are intrinsically tied and are studied in tandem as part of a medical curriculum.

Depression among 70-year-olds may be associated with gender expression

Over time, depression has decreased among older women. But it is still nearly twice as frequent as among older men.

10 Jun 2020

Undersized airways increase risk of COPD regardless of smoking habits

A new study of lung anatomy may explain why 1 in 4 cases of COPD--a lung disease most often linked to smoking--occur in people who have never smoked, a fact that has long perplexed researchers.

9 Jun 2020

New evidence supports long-debated mode of evolution

A team working at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) found evidence to support a long-debated mode of evolution, revealing how evolution captures environmental variation to teach old genes new tricks: Sweat bees switch from solitary to social behavior, repurposing ancient sets of genes that originally evolved to regulate the development of other traits.

9 Jun 2020

Virginia Tech researcher develops new ‘fat burning’ molecule with potential to treat obesity

Obesity affects more than 40 percent of adults in the United States and 13 percent of the global population.

8 Jun 2020

New insights into how parenteral oil emulsions prevent liver disease in preterm babies

Infants born prematurely may require parenteral or intravenous nutrition to provide the necessary nourishment, as their digestive system is immature and cannot digest nutrients.

4 Jun 2020

Oxidative stress and growth factors associated with development of high myopia

According to the first world report on vision published by the WHO in 2019, a third of the planet's population suffers from myopia, and around 400 million people suffer the most harmful version of the disease: high myopia.

4 Jun 2020

Computational models predict known biomarkers of inherited metabolic diseases

We are all unique. Our health is determined by our inherent genetic differences combined with our lifestyles and the environments in which we live.

4 Jun 2020

Tumors cause disruption of the immune system throughout the body, study finds

Cancer treatment has advanced with the advent of immunotherapies that, in some cancers, can overcome tumors' ability to evade the immune system by suppressing local immune responses.

3 Jun 2020

Silent hypoxia and its role in COVID-19 detection

News-Medical speaks to Dr. Albert Rizzo about silent hypoxia and how it is occurring in individuals that are suffering from COVID-19.

3 Jun 2020

Despite landscape obstacles, pronghorn exhibit little genetic variation

A University of Wyoming researcher led a study that showed Wyoming pronghorn exhibit little-to-no population genetic differentiation even though their range spans hundreds of kilometers, multiple mountain ranges, and three major interstate highways.

3 Jun 2020

Study looks at delirium in critically ill COVID-19 patients

A new study published on the online preprint server medRxiv in May 2020 reports on the high incidence of delirium in COVID-19 patients in intensive care. This highlights the urgent need to predict, prevent, and manage delirium and to cut it short in patients with COVID-19.

2 Jun 2020

Breakthrough discovery could lead to treatment of Fragile X syndrome

Scientists at the Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, and Owerko Centre at UCalgary's Cumming School of Medicine have made a breakthrough discovery that could lead to treatment of Fragile X syndrome, the leading genetic cause of Autism Spectrum Disorder.

2 Jun 2020

Patient-friendly method of measuring retinal vessel diameters indicates cardiovascular risk

Peter Maloca, group leader at IOB for Ophthalmic Imaging, together with Konstantin Gugleta, senior attending physician at the University Hospital Eye Clinic Basel and Henner Hanssen, Head of Preventive Sports Medicine & Systems Physiology, Department of Sport, Exercise and Health, University of Basel, investigated whether an easy-to-use method of measuring retinal vessel diameters can indicate cardiovascular risk.

2 Jun 2020

A new tool to help biomedical scientists better understand COVID-19 virus

Biomedical scientists working with COVID-19 have a new tool to help them better understand the virus and feel confident about the structural models they are using in their research.

2 Jun 2020

Study identifies gene that causes eye loss in cavefish

Mexican cavefish spend their entire lives in the dark. With no need for vision, many of them lost functional eyes.

2 Jun 2020

Stem cell model sheds new light on the devastating process of neurodegeneration

A new study published today in Neuron led by The New York Stem Cell Foundation Research Institute's Valentina Fossati, Ph.D., creates astrocytes - an integral support cell in the brain - from stem cells and shows that in disease-like environments, these normally helpful cells can turn into neuron-killers.

1 Jun 2020

Research suggests new approach to therapeutic intervention for ALS

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is one of the most devastating adult-onset neurodegenerative diseases. Patients, including the late actor/playwright Sam Shepard, become progressively weaker and eventually paralyzed as their motor neurons degenerate and die.

1 Jun 2020