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Reuse and recycle. Americans employ the concept on nearly everything. Now, medical researchers are working hard to apply it to pacemakers and defibrillators. Millions of sick people in low-income nations suffer or die each year because they can’t afford these implantable medical devices that could help regulate their heartbeat. Researchers argue that many people could be saved if they had […]
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An annual physical typically involves a weight check and questions about unhealthy habits like smoking, but a new study from UC San Francisco suggests health care providers may be overlooking a critical question: Are you depressed or anxious? Anxiety and depression may be leading predictors of conditions ranging from heart disease and high blood pressure to arthritis, headaches, back pain […]
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The recent discovery of microRNAs as key regulators of biological processes has fueled an explosion of research activity into their function in health and disease. Researchers have now uncovered a microRNA cluster that regulates synaptic strength and is involved in the control of social behaviour in mammals. The researchers presume that their discovery may point to new therapeutic strategies for […]
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Scientists have identified two distinct control mechanisms in the developmental transition of undifferentiated stem cells into healthy brain cells. This fundamental research using mice may inform regenerative medicine treatments for neurodegenerative diseases and spinal cord injuries, in the future. When an embryo develops, stem cells differentiate into all the types of cells that the adult will need. Neural stem cells […]
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UT Southwestern researchers have succeeded in neutralizing what they believe is a primary factor in late-onset Alzheimer’s disease, opening the door to development of a drug that could be administered before age 40, and taken for life, to potentially prevent the disease in 50 to 80 percent of at-risk adults. Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) is a protein that carries fatty substances […]
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A larger portion of green leafy vegetables in the diet may reduce the risk of developing liver steatosis, or fatty liver. In a study published in PNAS researchers from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden show how a larger intake of inorganic nitrate, which occurs naturally in many types of vegetables, reduces accumulation of fat in the liver. There is currently no […]
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Itch is easily one of the most annoying sensations. For chronic skin diseases like eczema, it’s a major symptom. Although it gives temporary relief, scratching only makes things worse because it can cause skin damage, additional inflammation and even more itch. EMBL researchers have now found a way to stop itch with light in mice. Nature Biomedical Engineering publishes their […]
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Children with elevated levels of callous traits—such as a lack of remorse and disregard for other people’s feelings—show widespread differences in brain structure compared with children with lower levels of the traits, according to a new study published in Biological Psychiatry. The differences, which included large- and small-scale structural alterations, support the idea of callous traits as a neurodevelopmental condition. […]
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Using a mouse model of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC)—a potentially fatal condition that causes a premature infant’s gut to suddenly die—researchers at Johns Hopkins say they have uncovered the molecular causes of the condition and its associated brain injury. The discovery enabled the team to combine efforts with colleagues studying brain inflammation and to identify potential drugs that reverse the brain […]
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People who frequently play violent video games are more immune to disturbing images than non-players, a UNSW-led study into the phenomenon of emotion-induced blindness has shown. The scientists showed that players were better at disregarding graphic content while viewing a rapid series of images, leaving them better able to see what they were asked to look for than non-players. While […]
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