Monthly Archives: June 2023

Alarming Antibiotic Resistance in War-Torn Ukraine

Researchers led by Lund University in Sweden have assisted microbiologists in Ukraine in investigating bacterial resistance among the war-wounded patients treated in hospitals.  The results, which were recently published in TheLancet Infectious Diseases, reveal that many of the patients were affected by bacteria that exhibited an extremely high level of antibiotic resistance. In addition to […]

Fasting Can Help You Lose Weight, but Rapid Weight Regain is Possible

Water fasts — where people consume nothing but water for several days — might help you lose weight, but it’s unclear how long you’ll keep it off, according to research from the University of Illinois Chicago. And the other metabolic benefits of water fasts, such as lower blood pressure and improved cholesterol, seem to disappear […]

Light-to-Moderate Drinking Tied to Better Heart Health

A new study offers an explanation for why light-to-moderate alcohol consumption may be associated with lower risk of heart disease. For the first time, researchers found that alcohol, in light to moderate quantities, was associated with long-term reductions in stress signaling in the brain. This impact on the brain’s stress systems appeared to significantly account […]

Advanced Diagnosis and Therapies for Borderline Personality Disorder

Researchers discovered that the rostro-medial prefrontal specifically becomes more active when people are rejected by others at greater rates. However, individuals with BPD  (characterized by interpersonal sensitivity to rejection and emotional instability) do not display rostro-medial prefrontal cortex activity when rejected. The brain reacts with rostro-medial prefrontal activity to rejection as if there is something […]

Lupus Flare-Ups Strongly Linked to Specific Bacterial Growth in Gut

Recurrent bouts of systemic lupus erythematosus, marked by the body’s immune system attack of its own tissues, closely tracked with measureable upticks in growth in the gut of a certain species of bacteria. New research from NYU Grossman School of Medicine shows that bacterial blooms of the gut bacterium Ruminococcus blautia gnavus occurred at the […]

A New Generic Treatment for Multiple Types of Cancer

Researchers led by Katsunori Tanaka at the RIKEN Cluster for Pioneering Research (CPR) in Japan and Hiromitsu Haba at the RIKEN Nishina Center for Accelerator-Based Science (RNC) have developed a new technique that has the potential to generically treat several kinds of cancer, with fewer negative side effects than currently available methods. Published on June […]

New Treatment Targets for Gout

Gout is the most common form of inflammatory arthritis, in which urate (a byproduct of purine-rich foods like meat and alcohol) builds up in the body and forms needle-shaped crystals in and around the joints, usually starting in the foot. The crystal deposits lead to flares of severe pain, joint swelling and tenderness, and can […]

Treatment Based on Plant Extracts Sheds New Light on Treatment of Ataxia

A team of researchers have discovered that extracts from plants are able to rescue the function of ion channel proteins carrying mutations that cause human Episodic Ataxia. Individuals with ataxia exhibit abnormal gait, slurring, eye movement abnormalities, difficulties with balance and walking, tremors, and disruption of fine motor skills. “Episodic Ataxia 1 (EA1) is a […]

Omega-3 Fatty Acids Linked to Slower Decline in ALS

People with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) who eat more foods high in certain omega-3 fatty acids like flaxseed oil, walnuts, canola oil and pumpkin seeds may have a slower physical decline from the disease and may have a slightly extended survival.  The study, which looked at the survival of people with ALS over the course […]

Study Sets New Standard for Graft-Versus-Host Disease Prevention After Stem Cell Transplant

Clinicians have a new standard for graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prevention after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, according to results from a phase III study published June 22 in the New England Journal of Medicine.  The new standard is more effective at preventing GVHD and came with less side effects, compared with the current gold standard. […]