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Study explains how variation in spinal patterns may lead to scoliosis

A pediatric researcher has identified patterns of spinal curvature in younger children that may be likely to develop into scoliosis by adolescence.

13 Nov 2019

Children's National receives new funding to strengthen global polycystic kidney disease initiative

Lisa M. Guay-Woodford, M.D., McGehee Joyce Professor of Pediatrics at Children's National Hospital, has received a $5.7 million dollar gift to support clinical and research activities.

13 Nov 2019

Machine learning algorithm predicts life expectancy in heart failure patients

When Avi Yagil, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Physics at University of California San Diego flew home from Europe in 2012, he thought he had caught a cold from his travels. When a "collection of pills" did not improve his symptoms, his wife encouraged him to see a doctor.

13 Nov 2019

Using AI to improve psychiatric care

A new paper in Schizophrenia Bulletin shows that artificial intelligence (AI) can help doctors to diagnose the mental health of patients with speed and accuracy. The new app designed for mobiles has been developed to improve patient monitoring using cues picked up from their speech, and is based on machine-learning tools.

13 Nov 2019

Caution: blood infections traced to probiotics

Probiotics aren’t harmless, says a new study published on November 7, 2019 in the journal Nature Medicine. In fact, some patients may be put at serious risk by the bacteria in probiotics. Doctors should weigh the risks of probiotics in severely ill or immunocompromised patients before prescribing them, as their benefits may be significantly smaller than the danger in such situations.

13 Nov 2019

Opioid overdose treatment: intranasal vs intramuscular naloxone

Opioid addiction and dependency have become a common plague in many countries of the world. Accompanying these conditions, opioid overdose is being increasingly encountered in many emergency settings. The standard and highly effective antidote for this is naloxone hydrochloride, an opioid antagonist which has been in use for over 4 decades.

13 Nov 2019

Tall people more likely to develop atrial fibrillation

Size may matter when it comes to having a safe and steady heart. A new study shows tall people are more likely to develop from an irregular heartbeat, known as atrial fibrillation (AFib).

13 Nov 2019

Researchers find mechanism that controls the growth of B1-cells

Directly after birth, the immune system completes production of a subtype of antibody-producing immune cells, B-1, that are to last for a lifetime. No more B1-cells are formed after that point. However, these cells are self-reactive - they produce not only antibodies against foreign substances, but also against the body's own substances, and it is unclear why the immune system allows for the development of these particular cells.

13 Nov 2019

Tulane virus needs intracellular calcium to replicate

Some gastrointestinal viruses need calcium. They need calcium ions to carry out several essential aspects of viral life, such as entry into host cells, genome replication and building new viruses to invade other cells. The cells invaded by viruses also use calcium. They use it as signals to regulate many of the cells' own processes, but viruses can takeover cellular calcium signaling to satisfy their own needs.

13 Nov 2019

Deep neural network could improve cancer care

Improving the detection, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases like cancer will require more detailed, rapid, and agile imaging technology that can show doctors not just what a specific organ looks like, but also what's happening within the cells that make up those tissues.

13 Nov 2019

Melanoma rates decline sharply among adolescents and young adults, shows research

Cases of melanoma among U.S. adolescents and young adults declined markedly from 2006 to 2015 - even as the skin cancer's incidence continued to increase among older adults and the general population during the span, new research shows.

13 Nov 2019

Bariatric surgery may release toxic compounds from fat into bloodstream, study reveals

Toxic man-made chemicals--such as polychlorinated biphenyls and organochlorine pesticides--that are absorbed into the body and stored in fat may be released into the bloodstream during the rapid fat loss that follows bariatric surgery, according to a study from researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

13 Nov 2019

Study offers significant contribution for recovery of motor functions

Delivering a diversified electric message to the different fibres of the injured spinal cord through a new technology able to deliver it in a targeted and independent manner. What is the result? Greater efficiency in recovering the control of voluntary limb movements in the event of serious damage to the spinal cord.

13 Nov 2019

U-M's insurance coverage benefit associated with increase in IVF rates

For couples wanting to have a baby, a diagnosis of infertility can be devastating. And while infertility treatments, such as in vitro fertilization (IVF), offer hope for would-be parents, the procedure comes with a high price tag.

13 Nov 2019

Fertilization discovery reveals egg's role, potentially paves way for new contraceptive

An unexpected discovery about fertilization from the University of Virginia School of Medicine reveals new insights on how sperm and egg fuse and could have major implications for couples battling infertility – and may lead to a future male contraceptive.

13 Nov 2019

Substantial changes in blood pressure over long term linked to dementia risk

In a new research study published in the open access journal PLOS Medicine, Albert Hofman and colleagues at Erasmus MC University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, United States report that people who experienced substantial changes in blood pressure over the long term were at greater risk of dementia than those who did not.

13 Nov 2019

Scientists explore expansion of cytotoxic CD4 T-cells in supercentenarians

Scientists from the RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Science (IMS) and Keio University School of Medicine in Japan have used single-cell RNA analysis to find that supercentenarians--meaning people over the age of 110--have an excess of a type of immune cell called cytotoxic CD4 T-cells.

13 Nov 2019

'Smart toilets' may work as real-time method of monitoring health

Wearable, smart technologies are transforming the ability to monitor and improve health, but a decidedly low-tech commodity - the humble toilet - may have potential to outperform them all.

13 Nov 2019

Researchers take major step towards developing a viable vaccine for malaria

Researchers have narrowed down the malaria proteins and disease-fighting antibodies that could be used to develop a vaccine against the most severe forms of malaria.

13 Nov 2019

New NIH grant could help develop novel tool to analyze unstructured data in safety reports

Reports that medical errors are the third leading cause of death in the United States have led the Institute of Medicine and several state legislatures to suggest that data from patient safety event reporting systems could help health care providers better understand safety hazards and, ultimately, improve patient care.

13 Nov 2019