Medical News

RSS

New Mpox strain sparks global health alert

On Wednesday, August 14th, 2024, in response to the active circulation of clade 1 monkeypox virus (MPXV) in Central Africa and the recent expansion of a subtype (1b) thought to be more lethal and transmissible in East Africa, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC), paving the way for enhanced coordination between regional health systems and the active engagement of stakeholders to tackle this global outbreak. The following day, Thursday August 15, Sweden reported the first positive case of clade 1b mpox on European soil. This led the French government to place the French health system on maximum alert on Friday, August 16, and the French authorities have now begun to re-evaluate the health recommendations established in 2022 during the previous mpox outbreak in preparation for the probable emergence of cases in the country.

23 Aug 2024

Exploring opioid prescription trends in chronic cough treatment

Chronic cough, with symptoms lasting more than eight weeks, affects approximately one in 10 adults. Cough is among the most common reasons for seeking medical care in the United States, yet chronic cough is difficult to treat. One of the largest studies of chronic cough and one of the first to explore the use of opioids, which are known to suppress cough, to treat these patients, has found that 20 percent of patients with chronic cough received a prescription for a cough suppressant containing an opioid.

23 Aug 2024

Novel screening method for blood-brain barrier penetration

Scientists at Southwest Research Institute have developed a new screening method to identify drug formulations that can penetrate the blood-brain barrier (BBB), to facilitate treatment of brain diseases and conditions.

23 Aug 2024

New evidence supports the effectiveness of thiazides for kidney stone prevention

Higher thiazide doses are associated with greater reductions in urine calcium, which in turn correlate with fewer symptomatic kidney stone events, according to a Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) study published in JAMA Network Open.

23 Aug 2024

Exploring the impact of thyroid hormone on brain function

Thyroid hormone plays a key role in regulating a range of physiologic functions, including metabolism, temperature, heart rate, and growth. It accomplishes this impressive array of activities by interacting with almost every organ system in the body. Yet despite a long history of research on how thyroid hormone influences different organs, its effects on arguably the most crucial organ - the brain - have remained shrouded in mystery.

23 Aug 2024

Olaparib effective against BRCA2-mutated prostate cancer

The anti-cancer drug olaparib may be effective in treating biochemically recurrent prostate cancer without accompanying hormone therapy for men who have mutations in genes such as BRCA2, according to results of a phase II clinical trial of 51 patients conducted at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and three other sites.

23 Aug 2024

The impact of stem cells on the epigenetic clock

How old are you, really? Your chronological age is the number of years you have been alive. Your biological age is how old your cells are which scientists believe may better assess one's age-related health and disease risk. People biologically age at different rates, depending on genetic and environmental factors, so that a person's chronological age does not necessarily match their biological age. In recent years, direct-to-consumer biological age tests have become increasingly accessible and popular as interest has increased in this nascent science.

23 Aug 2024

Probiotic offers protection against intestinal damage

There is a critical unmet need to help tighten and maintain a healthy intestinal barrier and treat a leaky gut. Researchers have now found that a unique strain of probiotic bacteria, Bifidobacterium bifidum BB1, enhances intestinal barrier function and protects against penetration of bacteria and various harmful agents in the intestine. The findings, detailed in an article in The American Journal of Pathology, published by Elsevier, can help advance the development of novel, targeted, naturally occurring probiotic therapy for patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and other inflammatory diseases, such as fatty liver disease or alcoholic liver disease, that are associated with a leaky or disordered intestinal barrier.

23 Aug 2024

FDA-approved drug could revolutionize organ transplantation

Researchers at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University report that they were able to successfully put tadpoles of Xenopus laevis frogs into a hibernation-like torpor state using donepezil (DNP), a drug approved by the FDA to treat Alzheimer's. The team had previously used another drug, SNC80, to achieve similar results in tadpoles and enhance the survival of whole mammalian hearts for transplants, but SNC80 is not approved for clinical use in humans because it can cause seizures. By contrast, DNP is already being used in the clinic, meaning it potentially could be rapidly repurposed for use in emergency situations to prevent irreversible organ injury while a person is being transported to a hospital.

23 Aug 2024

Immune cells' two-pronged approach to maintaining acetyl-CoA reserves

Immune cells use two different routes to produce acetyl-CoA, an essential metabolite required to fight infection and cancer, reports a study led by Van Andel Institute scientists.

23 Aug 2024

Ingenza announces partnership with Cellugy to investigate the potential of biofabricated cellulose

Industrial biotech specialist Ingenza is delighted to announce that it is collaborating with Cellugy to accelerate the development of its innovative platform for producing biofabricated cellulose.

From Ingenza Ltd 23 Aug 2024

Promising new approach to treating type 2 diabetes

An estimated 462 million people around the world suffer from Type 2 diabetes, a chronic disease in which the body has problems using sugar as a fuel, leading to a buildup of sugar in the blood and chronic health issues.

23 Aug 2024

Rising IBD incidence highlights need for non-invasive biomarkers in diagnosis

The global burden of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), primarily Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), continues to rise. Recent data show incidence rates of up to 17.8 cases per 100,000 person-years for CD and even higher for UC, reaching 28.4 per 100,000 person-years. These diseases primarily affect older populations and vary geographically, with higher prevalence rates in highly developed countries.

23 Aug 2024

Experts release revised lung cancer testing guidelines

The College of American Pathologists (CAP), the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC), and the Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP) announced today the open comment period for the revised 2018 evidence-based guideline, "Updated Molecular Testing Guideline for the Selection of Lung Cancer Patients for Treatment With Targeted Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors."

23 Aug 2024

Redlined communities face higher mental health risks from air pollution

Air pollution is bad for mental health. That much is clear. Now, new research shows the impact may be even worse in neighborhoods that were historically redlined.

23 Aug 2024

Virginia Tech leads national initiative to predict and prevent future pandemics

Viruses like SARS-CoV-2 don't respect boundaries, moving between species and continents and leaving destruction as they go. Beating the next pathogen with pandemic potential means getting good at crossing borders ourselves - between fields of study, between research universities, and between scientists and the wider community.

23 Aug 2024

Mosquitoes detect infrared radiation for host seeking

While a mosquito bite is often no more than a temporary bother, in many parts of the world it can be scary. One mosquito species, Aedes aegypti, spreads the viruses that cause over 100,000,000 cases of dengue, yellow fever, Zika, and other diseases every year. Another, Anopheles gambiae, spreads the parasite that causes malaria. The World Health Organization estimates that malaria alone causes more than 400,000 deaths every year. Indeed, their capacity to transmit disease has earned mosquitoes the title of deadliest animal.

23 Aug 2024

SCARB2 deficiency disrupts bile acid metabolism and gut microbiome

The study details the connection between SCARB2 deficiency and gastrointestinal dysfunction, revealing that the loss of SCARB2 leads to alterations in bile acid metabolism and dysbiosis in the gut microbiome. This disruption affects the signaling pathway involving FXR, which normally regulates bile acid synthesis and intestinal lipid absorption. The hyperactive FXR in Scarb2-deficient mice leads to a decrease in epithelial cell turnover and lipid malabsorption, particularly impacting the absorption of vitamin E, which is crucial for maintaining neurological health. The researchers further explored the impact of these changes on the gut-liver axis and found alterations in the expression of genes related to bile acid synthesis.

23 Aug 2024

ChatGPT shown to save time in responding to patient inquiries

The groundbreaking ChatGPT chatbot shows potential as a time-saving tool for responding to patient questions sent to the urologist's office, suggests a study in the September issue of Urology Practice, an Official Journal of the American Urological Association. The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.

22 Aug 2024

$1.35 million grant to enhance safety and wellbeing in long-term care facilities

Researchers from the University of Colorado College of Nursing and CU School of Medicine on the Anschutz Medical Campus were awarded a $1.35 million grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to design and implement technologies that improve resident safety and employee wellbeing at long-term care facilities.

22 Aug 2024