When you are under stress, your brain may release its own cannabinoid molecules to calm you down, activating the same brain receptors as THC derived from cannabis plants. A new Northwestern Medicine study in mice has discovered that a key emotional brain center, the amygdala, releases the body’s own cannabinoid molecules under stress, and these […]
A University at Buffalo-led research team has developed molecules that could help unclog thick, sticky mucus from the lungs of people suffering from cystic fibrosis. The chronic disease is caused by a defective protein channel that prevents chloride ions from leaving cells and creating the watery conditions necessary to clear mucus. Researchers’ synthetic molecules offer […]
Scientists from the University of Southampton and La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI), in California, have uncovered a group of immune cells that may drive severe asthma. These cells gather in the lungs and appear to cause the most harm in men who develop asthma in later life. The new research, published in MED, suggests […]
For the first time, a Cornell University-led study in rats teases apart the role of the hippocampus in two functions of memory — one that remembers associations between time, place and what one did, and another that allows one to predict or plan future actions based on past experiences. The breakthrough reveals that these two […]
Scientists at Tufts University School of Medicine have developed a genome-scale metabolic model or “subway map” of key metabolic activities of the bacterium that causes Lyme disease. Using this map, they have successfully identified two compounds that selectively target routes only used by Lyme disease to infect a host. Their research was published October 19 […]
An estimated 40% of the global adult population have high blood pressure, or hypertension, which puts people at risk of cardiovascular disease and other dangerous health conditions. Recent studies suggest that probiotics may offer a protective effect, but researchers have a limited understanding of why shaping the gut microbiota can regulate blood pressure. A study […]
Glioblastoma (GBM), an aggressive brain cancer, is notoriously resistant to treatment, with recurrent GBM associated with survival of less than 10 months. Immunotherapies, which mobilize the body’s immune defenses against a cancer, have not been effective for GBM, in part because the tumor’s surrounding environment is largely impenetrable to assaults from the body’s immune system. […]
People who eat just two servings of red meat per week may have an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared to people who eat fewer servings, and the risk increases with greater consumption, according to a new study led by researchers from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. They also found that […]
Neuromodulation therapies such as transcranial magnetic stimulation, or deep brain stimulation, are emerging as new non-pharmacological treatments for mood disorders. However, understanding which areas of the brain to target to get the best therapeutic effect is still limited. These new findings used brain imaging scans and depression scores from 526 patients who had acquired localized […]
One in three people living with HIV die of TB, which is caused by a bacterium called M. tuberculosis that usually attacks the lungs. It is the world’s second-leading infectious killer after COVID-19. About 1.6 million people die of TB annually, including almost 200,000 people living with HIV, according to the World Health Organization. Bacille […]