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Brain changes may help track people most likely to develop dementia

Even before dementia diagnosis, people with mild cognitive impairment may have different changes in the brain depending on what type of dementia they have, according to a study published in the September 11, 2019, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

11 Sep 2019

EEG slowing may be a valuable biomarker for delirium severity

An EEG (electroencephalogram) can provide a valuable biomarker for detecting delirium, a serious mental disturbance that is often underrecognized, as well as predicting poor clinical outcomes, researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital have found.

11 Sep 2019

UMass Lowell expert aims to improve sleep of night-shift workers

A UMass Lowell expert on sleep is examining strategies to help night-shift workers get more restful shuteye, critical to preventing ill health effects.

11 Sep 2019

Brown and Hebrew SeniorLife receive federal grant to enable expansion of Alzheimer's research

The National Institute on Aging has awarded a five-year grant expected to total $53.4 million to Brown University and Boston-based Hebrew SeniorLife to lead a nationwide effort to improve health care and quality of life for people living with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, as well as their caregivers.

10 Sep 2019

PTSD linked with onset of cognitive impairment in 911 World Trade Center responders

Cognitive impairment with the potential for early-onset dementia in 911 World Trade Center responders is continuing to be investigated by researchers monitoring the health of thousands of responders.

10 Sep 2019

Liquid biopsies provide complete picture of genetic alterations linked to cancer drug resistance

Many patients see their tumors shrink in response to a drug, only to have them come back with a vengeance as they evolve to fend off the treatment. Oncologists want to be able to quickly detect cancer drug resistance as it emerges in their patients and identify another drug the tumors will still respond to.

10 Sep 2019

Teens growing up as minorities more likely to experience anxiety and depression

Puerto Rican teens growing up as minorities in the South Bronx are more likely to experience anxiety and depression than their peers growing up as a majority in Puerto Rico, even under similar conditions of poverty, says a new study in World Psychiatry.

10 Sep 2019

Breakthrough research may help women extend their fertility windows

What if women could press pause on their biological clocks? Human eggs begin to mature from the onset of a woman's first period.

10 Sep 2019

Study finds upward trend in number of pregnant women with high blood pressure

The number of women with high blood pressure when they become pregnant or who have it diagnosed during the first 20 weeks of pregnancy has spiked in the United States over the last four decades, especially among black women, according to new research in the American Heart Association's journal Hypertension.

9 Sep 2019

Chronic hypertension among older pregnant women has spiked by more than 75% since 1970

The rate of chronic hypertension among pregnant women age 35 and over in the United States has increased by more than 75% since 1970, with black women suffering from persistent high blood pressure at more than twice the rate of white women, according to a Rutgers study.

9 Sep 2019

Rutgers study finds genetically tractable cause of drug-tolerant tuberculosis

A Rutgers New Jersey Medical School study has found a genetically tractable cause of drug tolerant tuberculosis, paving the way for researchers to develop new drugs to combat the global TB epidemic and cure the disease.

9 Sep 2019

Drug tolerant Tuberculosis could soon be tracked using genes

A team of researchers from the Rutgers New Jersey Medical School have found genetic foot prints of tuberculosis bacteria that are resistant to the commonly used anti-tubercular drugs. This could help scientists develop drugs to combat drug resistance in tuberculosis.

8 Sep 2019

Racial/ethnic minority students remain underrepresented in medical schools

Black, Hispanic, and American Indian students remain underrepresented in medical schools, despite increasing efforts to create a diverse physician workforce, according to a new study by researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

8 Sep 2019

Age affects efficacy of immunotherapy treatment for breast cancer, preclinical study reveals

Recent clinical trials have indicated that immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy, which is designed to unleash a patient's immune system to attack cancer, has been revolutionary in its implications for breast cancer treatment, especially for its potential to treat patients with triple negative breast cancer.

8 Sep 2019

Chronic conductive hearing loss linked to speech recognition deficits

Chronic conductive hearing loss, which can result from middle-ear infections, has been linked to speech recognition deficits, according to the results of a new study, led by scientists at Massachusetts Eye and Ear and published September 6 in the journal Ear and Hearing.

7 Sep 2019

Inhibitory inputs to neurons in the visual cortex are more diverse than previously thought

Neurons are complex, highly connected cells engaged with multiple networks throughout the brain, and they exhibit a wide range of activity.

6 Sep 2019

Modifiable risk factors play key roles in the development of gout

Elevated urate in the blood (hyperuricemia) is a precursor of gout, which is the most common form of inflammatory arthritis worldwide.

5 Sep 2019

New program aims to prevent unnecessary hospital admissions for older adults

Preventing stressful, and often unnecessary, hospital admissions for older Australians living in residential aged care facilities is the aim of a new $1.9 million program funded by the Australian Government’s Medical Research Future Fund.

5 Sep 2019

Higher levels of serotonin after a seizure linked to lower incidence of breathing problems

Could a chemical produced by the brain that regulates mood, sleep and breathing also be protective in people with epilepsy? New research has found that higher levels of serotonin in the blood after a seizure are linked to a lower incidence of seizure-related breathing problems called apneas, when a person temporarily stops breathing.

5 Sep 2019

U of M researcher wins $3.9 million NIH grant to study CMV vaccine strategies

Nationally, about one baby in 100 is born with cytomegalovirus (CMV), the most common infection that causes birth defects and disabilities in babies in the United States.

4 Sep 2019