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Short-term use of opioids implicated in protracted pain, new study finds

Painkillers such as morphine, oxycodone and methadone could actually prolong and increase pain even after only a few days’ use, according to research conducted on rats by scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder in the US.

31 May 2016

Brief opioid exposure can cause increase in chronic pain

The dark side of painkillers - their dramatic increase in use and ability to trigger abuse, addiction and thousands of fatal overdoses annually in the United States is in the news virtually every day.

31 May 2016

Experts discuss new insights into early stages of Parkinson’s disease at EAN Congress

Early diagnosis and starting treatment as early as possible are decisive factors in achieving improved quality of life for Parkinson's sufferers. Experts are discussing a wide range of new insights into the early stages of the disease at the Congress of the European Academy of Neurology in Copenhagen.

31 May 2016

Maintaining cardiomyocyte telomere length may enhance heart regeneration in adults

Researchers at the Spanish National Center for Cardiovascular Research have discovered that the ends of heart muscle cell chromosomes rapidly erode after birth, limiting the cells' ability to proliferate and replace damaged heart tissue.

31 May 2016

Children with strong family history of type 2 diabetes or CVD prone to have high cholesterol levels

A new study published in Diabetologia (the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes shows that children with a strong family history of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and/or type 2 diabetes were found to have cholesterol levels significantly higher than children with no family history of those conditions.

31 May 2016

Patients undergoing breast cancer surgery with non-opiate anaesthesia may need less painkillers

New research presented at Euroanaesthesia 2016 shows that patients undergoing breast cancer surgery need less painkilling medication post-surgery if they have anaesthesia that is free of opioid drugs.

31 May 2016

Researchers shed more light on how brain rhythms organize memories across time

Just as members of an orchestra need a conductor to stay on tempo, neurons in the brain need well-timed waves of activity to organize memories across time. In the hippocampus--the brain's memory center--temporal ordering of the neural code is important for building a mental map of where you've been, where you are, and where you are going.

31 May 2016

Diverse ecological processes at different spatial scales may drive three emerging disease outbreaks

Researchers from the University of South Florida and a colleague at the Institute of Zoology in Beijing, China have found that outbreaks of three emerging diseases and parasites - West Nile virus, Lyme disease and amphibian chytridiomycosis - are driven by different ecological processes at different spatial scales.

31 May 2016

Research describes how gene BRCA1 plays vital role in DNA repair

Scientists at the University of Birmingham are a step closer to understanding the role of the gene BRCA1. Changes in this gene are associated with a high risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer.

30 May 2016

Researchers identify new genetic drivers of adrenal cancer

Cancer researchers in Würzburg, in cooperation with the international Cancer Genome Atlas Research Network, have identified new genetic drivers of adrenal cancer. Würzburg was the center of coordination of the European scientists.

30 May 2016

Early exposure to nicotine can affect formation of connections between brain cells long after birth

Early exposure to nicotine can trigger widespread genetic changes that affect formation of connections between brain cells long after birth, a new Yale-led study has found. The finding helps explains why maternal smoking has been linked to behavioral changes such as attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, addiction and conduct disorder.

30 May 2016

Oncologists combine two different types of immunotherapy to successfully treat metastatic melanoma

Oncologists at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have successfully treated a patient with metastatic melanoma by combining two different types of immunotherapy. Cassian Yee and colleagues describe their approach in a paper, "Combined IL-21-primed polyclonal CTL plus CTLA4 blockade controls refractory metastatic melanoma in a patient," that will be published online May 30 in The Journal of Experimental Medicine.

30 May 2016

Experts discuss new therapy options for stroke treatment at EAN Congress

There are more well-founded therapy options for the treatment of strokes than ever before. Care has to be reorganised before these innovations are actually used on patients. At the Congress of the European Academy of Neurology in Copenhagen, experts are discussing just how to do that successfully - from guidelines for the use of thrombectomy procedures all the way to the structure and expansion of stroke care units.

30 May 2016

New study sheds light on link between gut microbiome and the brain

Intestinal bacteria that can boost bravery or trigger multiple sclerosis: An increasing body of research results confirms the importance of the "gut-brain axis" for neurology and indicates that the triggers for a number of neurological diseases may be located in the digestive tract.

30 May 2016

Study finds no increased risk of stroke for football fans

Being excited for your team, rooting them on and suffering vicariously with them are the grand emotions that wash over spectators of football matches. If this increases the risk of stroke remains to be elucidated, as the number of strokes that occur on days with major matches is not significantly higher than on days when no football is played.

30 May 2016