form Archives - Family Medicine News

Study: Hearing develops in tandem with form and function

02.01.2020 Health Problems

New research reveals a key insight into the development of hair bundles, the intricately complex assemblies in the inner ear responsible for hearing. Hair bundles are precisely arranged cellular structures deep within the spiral cavity of the inner ear. Together, they convert vibrational energy into electrical signals in the brain that translate into the sensation of hearing. Once they’re lost—whether […]

How neural circuits form in a developing embryo

26.09.2019 Health Problems

Neurons, take your places. The cells that eventually become neurons must first travel across the embryo to reach their final destinations in the nervous system. There, they blossom from undefined cells into neurons with specific roles, working together in circuits to direct an animal’s behavior. But exactly how this journey unfolds is still somewhat mysterious. “There are lots of things […]

Researchers find targeting rare form of cystic fibrosis earlier prevents organ damage in ferrets

28.03.2019 Health Problems

A team of researchers from the University of Iowa, University Medical Center Utrecht and Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, reports that earlier administration of a drug already given to patients with a rare form of cystic fibrosis can prevent organ damage—at least in ferrets. In their paper published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, the group describes their study of the impact […]

The Red Growth in This Woman's Belly Button Turned Out to Be an Aggressive Form of Cancer

14.03.2019 Health Problems

What would you do if you discovered a weird red bubble growing in your belly button? If your answer is “seek medical attention immediately,” you’ve definitely got the right idea. Because as a new report in the New England Journal of Medicine shows, that kind of symptom can be a sign of cancer that needs to be treated ASAP. The […]

Biomarker discovered for most common form of heart failure

01.11.2018 Health Problems

A team led by a Cedars-Sinai physician-scientist has discovered a biomarker—a protein found in the blood—for the most common type of heart failure, a new study published today in JAMA Cardiology shows. Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) affects more than 6.5 million Americans each year. And now, thanks to the discovery of the first-ever biomarker for HFpEF, a […]

Next-generation ALS drug silences inherited form of the disease in animal models

26.07.2018 Health Problems

NIH-funded researchers delayed signs of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in rodents by injecting them with a second-generation drug designed to silence the gene, superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1). The results, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, suggest the newer version of the drug may be effective at treating an inherited form of the disease caused by mutations in SOD1. Currently, […]

Polarized cells give the heart its fully developed form

04.06.2018 Health Problems

When it first starts to develop, the heart is a simple tube. Reporting in the journal Nature Communications, researchers at MDC have now described how it forms itself into a its characteristic S-shape and how the ventricles and atria finally develop. Their findings will help scientists to better understand the development of congenital heart diseases. In Germany, nearly one child […]

Sunshine could hold clues on the timing for a severe form of heart attack, study says

10.04.2018 Health Problems

The sun’s radiation could be a factor in seasonal patterns of a deadly type of heart attack, according to new research that tracked a “summer shift” in their occurrence across seven countries. Previous research has examined how these attacks – called ST-elevation myocardial infarctions, or STEMIs – seem to happen most often in the daytime during the colder winter months, […]