familymednews.com
Cocaine can have a devastating effect on people. It directly stimulates the brain’s reward center, and, more importantly, induces long-term changes to the reward circuitry that are responsible for addictive behaviors. Alban de Kerchove d’Exaerde from the Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium, and his colleagues have now uncovered that a gene called Maged1 plays a crucial role in controlling these […]
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Cautionary tales about having twins aren’t hard to come by. Parenting already requires an endless cycle of feeding, burping, diaper changing, bathing, soothing and rocking — all while you experience serious sleep deprivation, soreness and whacked-out hormones. Now double all that, and you might have a vague idea of what it’s like being a mom of multiples. That said, twins […]
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People with irregular heartbeat due to a condition called atrial fibrillation, are often prescribed blood thinners to reduce the risk of blood clots that can cause a stroke. But for those who are also on dialysis for kidney failure, the already-difficult choice of blood thinner can seem like a guessing game without a right answer. One reason: patients on dialysis […]
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Summer is upon us, which means long days of fun in the sun stretch ahead of us — or at least for our kids. While we’re stepping into our stuffy, hot suits to trek to work with business as usual, our kids are getting ready for summer camp. But what if it’s their first time away? How do you help […]
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Unlike with alcohol or nicotine, there is not a pharmacological option available to individuals addicted to cocaine to help them stop using the drug. However, researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham believe the tool to help individuals treat their addiction may very well exist. Researchers in the School of Public Health are conducting a clinical trial to see […]
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A device under development at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University could help bring back lost brain function by measuring how the brain responds to therapies that stimulate it with electric current. The approach could open new avenues for treating brain disorders and selectively switching brain activities on and off, says Anthony Norcia, a professor […]
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(HealthDay)—Before the summer of 2018 was even one day old, 16 American kids had died after being left in hot cars, according to a group called KidsAndCars.org. Last year’s toll was 43, and, on average, 37 children die in hot cars each year in the United States. “We know there are families all across America right now holding their precious […]
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It can feel like there are so many things to worry about when you’re pregnant. Will the baby have two heads? Will they look like your weird Uncle Wilbur? How on Earth are you going to pay for college? And what about your pregnancy wardrobe? As your stomach grows, it’s all too easy to fall prey to the flashy advertisements of […]
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A tumor’s goal is simple: to grow, grow, grow, by making more cancer cells. But that often means growing so fast that the oxygen supply gets scarce, at which point cells within the tumor start to suffocate. Without oxygen, these ever-dividing cells struggle to make enough aspartate, a crucial ingredient in many cellular processes. That’s the scenario worked out by […]
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Researchers working on a study to improve kidney function measurements have found a way to provide more accurate readings. Using an injectable biomarker, physicians were able to read the actual working capacity of the kidney in a clinical setting in half the time it used to take. Currently, physicians rely on estimated kidney function (or estimated glomerular filtration rate) to […]
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