Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Latest Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Researchers discover new blood-borne marker for atrial damage

Atrial fibrillation is a common abnormal heart rhythm. It is treated either with medications or by applying heat or extreme cold to destroy small specific tissue areas in the atrium. This inevitably causes small wounds.

24 Jul 2019

Scientists find surprising insight into Legionnaires’ disease

The incidence of Legionnaires' disease has increased in the past two decades. The natural habitat of Legionella is freshwater biotopes, where they mainly reproduce in amoebae.

24 Jul 2019

NIH contract awarded to UAB for acute flaccid myelitis natural history study

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded the University of Alabama at Birmingham approximately $10 million over 5 years to study acute flaccid myelitis, a rare but serious condition which causes muscle weakness and paralysis.

23 Jul 2019

Common feature that makes cancer cells appear bloated could be their potential weak spot

In a study using yeast cells and data from cancer cell lines, Johns Hopkins University scientists report they have found a potential weak spot among cancer cells that have extra sets of chromosomes, the structures that carry genetic material.

23 Jul 2019

High-resolution images offer clues to improve design of anti-nausea drugs

A new study using a special type of electron microscope using samples cooled to extremely cold temperatures provides critical information for drug developers seeking to reduce nausea and vomiting side effects of cancer treatments.

23 Jul 2019

Virginia Tech graduate student wins NIH award to map unexplored area of the brain

As you read this article, your eyes are capturing light and your brain is decoding it into tangible fragments of information - things like colors, edges, words, and ideas.

22 Jul 2019

Researchers identify toxin responsible for Legionella growth

A team of scientists led by EMBL group leader Sagar Bhogaraju and Ivan Dikic of Goethe University, Frankfurt, discovered that the toxin SidJ in Legionella bacteria enforces a unique modification on human proteins and helps legionella grow inside human cells.

22 Jul 2019

Harvesting hidden information in chest X-rays using AI to predict mortality

The most frequently performed imaging exam in medicine "the chest X-ray" holds 'hidden' prognostic information that can be harvested with artificial intelligence, according to a study by scientists at Massachusetts General Hospital.

22 Jul 2019

Defective potassium channels linked only with headaches, not body pain

Defective potassium channels involved in pain detection can increase the chance of developing a headache and could be implicated in migraines, according to research in mice published in eNeuro.

From Society for Neuroscience 19 Jul 2019

Common medications can masquerade as dementia in seniors

By all accounts the woman, in her late 60s, appeared to have severe dementia. She was largely incoherent. Her short-term memory was terrible. She couldn't focus on questions that medical professionals asked her.

18 Jul 2019

Radiation levels in some regions of Marshall Islands are far higher than Chernobyl

Radiation levels in some regions of the Marshall Islands in the central Pacific, where the United States conducted nuclear tests during the Cold War, are far higher than in areas affected by the Chernobyl and Fukushima nuclear disasters, according to new research from Columbia University.

17 Jul 2019

UTHealth researchers investigate how to reduce stress-driven alcohol use

Researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) are investigating if a medication used to regulate blood sugar can alter motivation to use alcohol by targeting the brain's stress response system.

17 Jul 2019

Heart disease is still the number 1 killer in Australia, according to latest figures

The latest report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare reveals that heart disease and heart attacks are still the most common causes of death.

17 Jul 2019

UNLV nutritionist explains how putting a halt on sweet treats affects the body

From birthday cakes to Thanksgiving pie to cold summer treats, every holiday, season or special occasion harkens mouth-watering memories of a favorite sugary treat.

17 Jul 2019

Women's greater immune response to flu vaccine declines with age

Women tend to have a greater immune response to a flu vaccination compared to men, but their advantage largely disappears as they age and their estrogen levels decline, suggests a study from researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

17 Jul 2019

Novel vaccine against bee sting allergy successfully tested

A recently completed trial on a bee sting vaccine containing a novel adjuvant called Advax to increase its efficacy has raised hopes that severe allergic reactions, sometimes fatal, to bee venom in allergic people could soon be a thing of the past. The vaccine was designed to neutralize the venom of the European honeybee.

17 Jul 2019

Researchers find mechanism behind susceptibility to viral infections

A team of researchers from the SingHealth Duke-NUS Academic Medicine Centre's Viral Research and Experimental Medicine Centre found that immune cells undergoing stress and an altered metabolism are the reasons why some individuals become sick from viral infections while others do not, when exposed to the same virus.

16 Jul 2019