More infectious COVID-19 variants are spreading in the U.S. at the same time as cases are falling and the national vaccination campaign is picking up steam. Put it all together, a Harvard epidemiologist said Friday, and it may all add up to a lucky break for us, and we may […]
Star-shaped brain cells may be linked to stuttering
Astrocytes—star-shaped cells in the brain that are actively involved in brain function—may play an important role in stuttering, a study led by a University of California, Riverside, expert on stuttering has found. “Our study suggests that treatment with the medication risperidone leads to increased activity of the striatum in persons […]
Iron release may contribute to cell death in heart failure
A process that releases iron in response to stress may contribute to heart failure, and blocking this process could be a way of protecting the heart, suggests a study in mice published today in eLife. People with heart failure often have an iron deficiency, leading some scientists to suspect that […]
Patient-physician race concordance may modestly increase COVID-19 knowledge and information seeking
The paucity of public health messages that directly address communities of color might contribute to racial and ethnic disparities in knowledge and behavior related to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Physicians have increasingly reached out to the community on social media. Whether or not these messages matter, and whether or not […]
Traditional model for disease spread may not work in COVID-19
A mathematical model that can help project the contagiousness and spread of infectious diseases like the seasonal flu may not be the best way to predict the continuing spread of the novel coronavirus, especially during lockdowns that alter the normal mix of the population, researchers report. Called the R-naught, or […]
Water may be an effective treatment for metabolic syndrome
Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have discovered that fructose stimulates the release of vasopressin, a hormone linked to obesity and diabetes. They also found that water can suppress the hormone and alleviate these conditions in mice. “The clinical significance of this work is that it may […]
CTC dynamics may predict treatment response/prognosis in metastatic breast cancer patients
Early circulating tumor cell dynamics were associated with overall survival in patients with metastatic breast cancer, according to a meta-analysis presented at the 2020 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held Dec. 8-11. “With the increasing number of treatment options available to patients with metastatic breast cancer, being able to predict […]
Blood test may accurately predict Alzheimer’s: study
Scientists said Monday they had developed a way of predicting if patients will develop Alzheimer’s disease by analysing their blood, in what experts hailed as a potential “gamechanger” in the fight against the debilitating condition. Around 50 million people live with Alzheimer’s, a degenerative brain disease that accounts for more […]