Latest science news in Health & Medicine
Blood pressure should be measured in both arms, evidence shows
As heart disease continues to be one of the leading causes of death in the United States, practitioners and patients alike are looking for ways to cut risk factors and...
Gene therapy a promising tool for cardiac regeneration
After a heart attack, there is often permanent damage to a portion of the heart. This happens, in part, because cardiac muscle cells are terminally differentiated and cannot proliferate after...
Developing countries face 'leading medical scourge of developed countries'
Chronic illness, already a major and expensive problem in developed countries, is rapidly increasing in developing countries, adding to the longstanding burden caused by high rates of infectious diseases. However,...
Biopsies before transplantation do not determine success of donated kidneys
Biopsy-detected injury in donated kidneys was modestly associated with a delay in organ function in the first week after transplantation, but only for donor kidneys already known to be at...
Immune cells regulate blood stem cells, research shows
During an infection, the blood stem cells must complete two tasks: they must first recognize that more blood cells have to be produced and, secondly, they must recognize what kind...
Antibody may be detectable in blood years before MS symptoms appear
An antibody found in the blood of people with multiple sclerosis may be present long before the onset of the disease and its symptoms, according to a study. For the...
Daily Humidification of Mouth, Throat Region During Radiation Therapy for Head, Neck Cancer Reduces Mucositis, Hospitalization
Patients who received daily humidification of the mouth and throat region beginning from day one of radiation therapy treatment spent nearly 50 percent fewer days in the hospital to manage...
Premature infants benefit from adult talk, study shows
Premature babies benefit from being exposed to adult talk as early as possible, new research concludes. The goal of the study was to test the association of the amount of...
Could PTSD involve immune cell response to stress? Study in mice raises question
Chronic stress that produces inflammation and anxiety in mice appears to prime their immune systems for a prolonged fight, causing the animals to have an excessive reaction to a single...
Schizophrenia: Gathering clues to rare gene variants contributing to disease
Schizophrenia has long been known to be highly heritable and is present in approximately 1% of the population. Researchers have been following two paths in their pursuit of identifying schizophrenia...
Molecular 'cocktail' transforms skin cells into beating heart cells
A new method has been devised that allows for the more efficient -- and, importantly, more complete -- reprogramming of skin cells into cells that are virtually indistinguishable from heart...
Compound improves cardiac function in mice with genetic heart defect, study finds
Congenital heart disease is the most common form of birth defect. Researchers recently found success using a drug to treat laboratory mice with one form of congenital heart disease, hypertrophic...
Enhancement of chemotherapy by prevention of tumor cell repair
The body naturally tries to repair lesions in the DNA of tumor cells, and thus reduces the efficacy of chemotherapy. Blocking the mechanisms for DNA repair would help to potentiate...
Dismantling pancreas cancer's armor: Removing specialized immune suppressor cells from pancreas
Pancreas cancer is notoriously impervious to treatment and resists both chemotherapy and radiotherapy. It has also been thought to provide few targets for immune cells, allowing tumors to grow unchecked....
Clinical opinion published on use of maternal oxygen during labor
When a fetal heartbeat pattern becomes irregular during labor, many practitioners give oxygen to the mother. But questions remain whether this oxygen supplementation benefits the fetus or may actually be...
Stopping cancer cells
Scientists revealed they have found a way to make the immune system stop spreading cancer cells.
WhatsApp founders swap struggle for billionaire status
Jan Koum, an immigrant from Ukraine, was so poor as a teenager that he used saved his old Soviet notebooks for school and queued with his mom for food stamps.
Rollback of Women's Rights: Not Just in Afghanistan
Polygamy, stoning of adulterers, virginity testing, and laws that protect batterers are on the rise in increasingly conservative nations.
Thyroid Gland Linked To Risk Of Depression In Older People
The thyroid gland has an important role in regulating the body's metabolism, but researchers say it can also influence mental health. Past research found links between an increased risk of...
Alternatives needed to do-it-yourself feces swaps
Three researchers are calling for the FDA to regulate feces as a human tissue rather than a drug to make it easier for doctors to perform fecal transplants.
Scientists find resistance mechanism that could impact antibiotic drug development
The use of antibiotics is often considered among the most important advances in the treatment of human disease. Unfortunately, though, bacteria are finding ways to make a comeback. According to...
Flu Hitting Young & Middle-Age Adults Hard
Flu has been particularly bad this year among young and middle aged adults, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Baby Steps Toward Healing Hearing
Sensory cells in the newborn mouse ear can regenerate even after damage
Lessening liver damage
Harvard stem cell scientists studying the effect of nitric oxide on liver growth and regeneration appear to have serendipitously discovered a markedly improved treatment for liver damage caused by acetaminophen toxicity, the root...
National Cancer Institute Recommends The Wistar Institute Receive $14.9 Million Support Grant Renewal
The Wistar Institute Cancer Center receives highest rating on the renewal of its National Cancer Institute (NCI) Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG) as well as funding of $14.9 million over...
Fewer shark attacks, above-average fatalities in 2013
The world experienced the lowest number of shark attacks since 2009, although fatalities in 2013 were above average, according to the University of Florida's International Shark Attack File report released...
Well: Study Finds Drops Are Best Treatment for Ear Tube-Related Dripping
Medical research showed that topical drops were superior to oral antibiotics in tackling discharge caused by an infection in children with tubes.
Washed-up baby turtle 'fortunate'
A baby loggerhead turtle washed ashore during the recent storms is "extremely fortunate" to be alive, experts say.