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Can insurers use genetic testing results? A reader wants to know

This week, I answer questions from readers concerned about health insurance roadblocks in the face of a serious illness or medical crisis.

10 Jul 2018

Researchers use miniature radio transmitters to track movements of kissing bugs

With the continuing advance of technology, radio tracking devices keep getting smaller and smaller. And that's bad news for stealthy insects like kissing bugs.

10 Jul 2018

Geography may be destiny in end-of-life care for cancer patients

When it comes to how much end-of-life care a patient with cancer receives, geography may, indeed, be destiny, according to new research led by Harvard Medical School that found striking differences in terminal care across different parts of the country.

10 Jul 2018

Certain antibodies against a carbohydrate could protect against malaria

Certain type of antibodies against α-Gal- a carbohydrate expressed by many organisms including the malaria parasite- could protect against malaria, according to a new study led by ISGlobal, an institution supported by "la Caixa" Foundation.

10 Jul 2018

Study identifies constellation of metabolites linked to ME/CFS

A study led by researchers at the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health has identified a constellation of metabolites related to myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.

10 Jul 2018

New TSPO-targeted PET imaging more fully evaluates extent of rheumatoid arthritis

A new positron emission tomography imaging method more fully evaluates the extent of rheumatoid arthritis by targeting translocator protein expression in the synovium (joint lining tissue).

10 Jul 2018

Fluorescent fish could help find origins of neuroblastoma

A new type of zebrafish that produces fluorescent tags in migratory embryonic nerve precursor cells could help a Rice University neurobiologist and cancer researcher find the origins of the third-most common pediatric cancer in the U.S.

10 Jul 2018

Researchers develop first comprehensive atlas of lung tumor cells

Researchers from VIB, Leuven University and University Hospital Leuven studied thousands of healthy and cancerous lung cells to create the first comprehensive atlas of lung tumor cells.

10 Jul 2018

Novel plasmonic patch increases brightness in diagnostic tests

Fluorescence-based biosensing and bioimaging technologies are widely used in research and clinical settings to detect and image various biological species of interest.

10 Jul 2018

Altitude sickness drug may offer significant gains for patients with glioblastoma

A drug used to treat altitude sickness -- as well as glaucoma, epilepsy, heart failure and seizures -- may also offer significant gains for patients with a fast-growing brain tumor known as glioblastoma, according to a study published July 4, 2018, in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

10 Jul 2018

Mice study shows promise for treating genetic conditions during fetal development

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and Yale University have for the first time used a gene editing technique to successfully cure a genetic condition in a mouse model.

10 Jul 2018

Forest ecosystem influences tick-borne disease risk in the eastern US

In the eastern US, risk of contracting Lyme disease is higher in fragmented forests with high rodent densities and low numbers of resident fox, opossum, and raccoons.

10 Jul 2018

UC San Diego Health now offers new treatment option for men with enlarged prostate

Physicians at UC San Diego Health are now offering prostate artery embolization as a new treatment option for men with benign prostatic hyperplasia, or an enlarged prostate.

10 Jul 2018

Microfluidic chip to detect sepsis proves successful in clinical study

Two years after inventing a microfluidic chip believed to help detect a life-threatening blood infection, researchers in the Texas Tech University Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry and the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center are finally seeing their product work successfully for human patients.

10 Jul 2018

New theory on Huntington's disease shows promise to open new avenues of drug development

McMaster University researchers have developed a new theory on Huntington's disease which is being welcomed for showing promise to open new avenues of drug development for the condition.

10 Jul 2018

'The Pediatric Asthma Yardstick' offers guidance to treat children of all ages

Although about 10 percent of school-aged children in the United States have asthma, there are few comprehensive U.S. guidelines for treating pediatric asthma.

10 Jul 2018

Children with rare skin conditions often get inconsistent and costly treatments

Researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago are the first to conduct a large-scale analysis of treatments and outcomes for children with Stevens-Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis, rare skin conditions caused by medications and infections.

10 Jul 2018

Mice study shows how vaginal microbiota may affect stress levels of offspring

Exposing newborn mice to vaginal microbes from stressed female mice may transfer the effects of stress to the newborns, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

10 Jul 2018

New trial to evaluate whether fasting can improve MS symptoms

People with multiple sclerosis (MS) can find an abundance of conflicting advice suggesting that special diets – everything from avoiding processed foods to going low-carb – will ease their symptoms. But the evidence is scanty that dietary changes can improve fatigue or other MS symptoms.

10 Jul 2018

Researchers use x-ray crystallography to reveal how curcumin inhibits cancer

Through x-ray crystallography and kinase-inhibitor specificity profiling, University of California San Diego School of Medicine researchers, in collaboration with researchers at Peking University and Zhejiang University, reveal that curcumin, a natural occurring chemical compound found in the spice turmeric, binds to the kinase enzyme dual-specificity tyrosine-regulated kinase 2 at the atomic level.

10 Jul 2018