Author Archives: Karely Vega, MD

Osteoarthritis is the most common joint disease in the United States, affecting an estimated 32.5 million adults. Osteoarthritis is caused by the wear and tear of the synovial joint, leading to the degeneration of the articular cartilage that forms the synovial joint. Studies suggest that changes in the composition of the synovial fluid reduce its […]

Scientists have been trying to find ways to minimize the damage following a stroke and speed up recovery. Now, a study led by scientists from Weill Cornell Medicine has found changes in gene activity in small blood vessels following a stroke.  The findings suggest that these changes could be targeted with existing or future drugs […]

Led by researchers from NYU Grossman School of Medicine, the new work focused on cells in the skin of mice and also found in humans called melanocyte stem cells, or McSCs.  Hair color is controlled by whether nonfunctional but continually multiplying pools of McSCs within hair follicles get the signal to become mature cells that […]

Houston Methodist nanomedicine researchers have found a way to tame pancreatic cancer — one of the most aggressive and difficult to treat cancers — by delivering immunotherapy directly into the tumor with a device that is smaller than a grain of rice. In a paper recently published in Advanced Science, Houston Methodist Research Institute researchers […]

Hibernating bears, paralyzed humans, and pigs kept in small enclosures all avoid dangerous blood clots, despite being immobile for extremely long periods. Research from the University of Reading, with partners in Denmark, Germany, Norway and Sweden, shows that reduction of a key protein prevents the formation of blood clots in all three mammal species when […]

Early diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease requires reliable and cost-effective screening methods. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have now discovered that a type of sugar molecule in blood is associated with the level of tau, a protein that plays a critical role in the development of severe dementia.  The study, which is published […]

Discovery of a gene in multiple mammalian species could pave the way for a highly effective, reversible and non-hormonal male contraceptive for humans and animals. Washington State University researchers identified expression of the gene, Arrdc5, in the testicular tissue of mice, pigs, cattle and humans. When they knocked out the gene in mice, it created […]

A type of cell usually characterized as the brain’s support system appears to play an important role in obsessive-compulsive disorder-related behaviors, according to new UCLA Health research published recently in Nature. The new clue about the brain mechanisms behind OCD, a disorder that is incompletely understood, came as a surprise to researchers.  They originally sought […]