Monthly Archives: January 2024

Therapy Versus Medication: Comparing Treatments for Depression in Heart Disease

New research by investigators from the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences at Cedars-Sinai shows that behavioral activation therapy is as effective as antidepressant medications in treating symptoms of depression in patients with heart failure. Heart failure affects nearly 6 million adults in the United States, and approximately 50% of heart failure patients experience symptoms […]

Brain Boost from Exercise: Feel-Good Hormone

A study exploring the mechanisms behind why cognitive performance improves in response to exercise, has found that dopamine plays a key role. The neurotransmitter and hormone — which is tied to pleasure, satisfaction and motivation — is known to increase when you work out. New findings suggest it is also linked to faster reaction time […]

Insights into Novel Painless Treatment Regimen for Arrhythmia

The urgent need for an effective therapeutic regimen for ventricular arrhythmia inspired THI’s Electrophysiology Clinical Research & Innovations (EPCRI) team, led by its director, Dr. Razavi, to partner with Dr. Cosgriff-Hernandez and her UT Austin Biomedical Engineering (UT Austin BME) team to co-develop an innovative strategy that addresses the pathophysiology of re-entrant arrhythmia. Ventricular arrhythmia, […]

Ancient DNA Reveals Reason for High Multiple Sclerosis and Alzheimer’s Rates in Europe

Researchers have created the world’s largest ancient human gene bank by analyzing the bones and teeth of almost 5,000 humans who lived across western Europe and Asia up to 34,000 years ago. By sequencing ancient human DNA and comparing it to modern-day samples, the international team of experts mapped the historical spread of genes over […]

Long COVID Fatigue Linked to Malfunctioning Mitochondria

At least 65 million people around the world have long COVID, a condition where they continue to experience COVID-19 symptoms for months after their symptoms originally start. The most common symptoms of long COVID are fatigue, dizziness, mobility issues, sleep problems, cognitive impairment, and brain fog or inability to concentrate. These types of lingering symptoms […]

Stress, Via Inflammation, Is Linked to Metabolic Syndrome

Lifestyle and genetics, and a range of other factors within and outside our control, are known to contribute to development of metabolic syndrome, a cluster of conditions that add up to increased risk for serious health problems. A new study has found that stress, through its propensity to drive up inflammation in the body, is […]

Harnessing Cellular Cannibalism for Cancer Treatment

Scientists have solved a cellular murder mystery nearly 25 years after the case went cold. Following a trail of evidence from fruit flies to mice to humans revealed that cannibalistic cells likely cause a rare human immunodeficiency. Now the discovery shows promise for enhancing an up-and-coming cancer treatment. “This paper takes us from very fundamental […]

Omicron Subvariant Causes Enhanced Fusion with Human Lung Cells

New research shows that the recently emerged BA.2.86 omicron subvariant of the virus that causes COVID-19 can be neutralized by bivalent mRNA vaccine-induced antibodies in the blood, which explains why this variant did not cause a widespread surge as previously feared. However, the study in cell cultures showed this SARS-CoV-2 variant can infect human cells […]

Healthy Microbiome Plays a Role in Skin Aging, Researchers Say

Numerous factors contribute to skin aging, including environmental, genetics and lifestyle. Researchers at the Center for Microbiome Innovation (CMI) at the University of California San Diego (UC San Diego) and L’Oréal Research and Innovation discovered the skin microbiome could hold the key to understanding how the skin ages. Their findings were recently published in Frontiers […]

Chemicals in Plastics: Cancer, Diabetes, More

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in plastics pose a serious threat to public health and cost the U.S. an estimated $250 billion in increased health care costs in 2018, according to new research published in the Journal of the Endocrine Society. Plastics contain many hazardous, endocrine-disrupting chemicals that leach and contaminate humans and the environment. These chemicals […]