In Finland, there is a clear increase in the number of sick days taken due to depression, anxiety and sleep disorders in October and November, whereas the number of absences is lower than expected between June and September. In late autumn, the number of sick days taken is almost twice as high as in the […]
Amino acids are the building blocks of life. We obtain them from the food we eat, and the body uses them to make proteins, which in turn are used for growth, development, and a multitude of other functions. When amino acids are available, a master regulator protein called TORC1 is switched on, causing proteins to […]
A surprising MIT study helped to spur interest in the possibility that light flickering at the frequency of a particular gamma-band brain rhythm could produce meaningful therapeutic effects for people with Alzheimer’s disease. Brain rhythms (also called brain “waves” or “oscillations”) arise from the synchronized, network activity of brain cells and circuits as they coordinate […]
MIT researchers have discovered a class of compounds that can kill a drug-resistant bacterium that causes more than 10,000 deaths in the United States every year. The researchers showed that these compounds could kill methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) grown in a lab dish and in two mouse models of MRSA infection. The compounds also show […]
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a chronic sleep condition affecting more than one billion people worldwide. Evidence suggests OSA can alter the gut microbiome (GM) and may promote OSA-associated comorbidities, including diabetes, hypertension and cognitive problems. David Gozal, MD, the Marie M. and Harry L. Smith said the study shows the gut microbiome plays a […]
A small molecule inhibitor that attacks the difficult to target, cancer-causing gene mutation KRAS, found in nearly 30 percent of all human tumors, successfully shrink tumors or stopped cancer growth in preclinical models of pancreatic cancer. Patients with pancreatic cancer have an overall poor prognosis with a five-year survival rate of 11 percent and limited […]
A research group has uncovered how rapid tendon regeneration occurs in newts. In the future, their findings could help physicians to treat human athletes recovering from tendon injuries. Tendon injuries are a serious obstacle for athletes, who currently require several months of treatment before they can return to competition. However, animals such as newts can […]
A gene mutation linked to Alzheimer’s disease alters a signaling pathway in certain immune cells of individuals with the disease, according to a new study by scientists at Weill Cornell Medicine. The study focused on microglia, immune cells of the central nervous system that are the first to respond when something goes wrong in the […]
Worldwide, 1 in 4 people will suffer from a depressive episode in their lifetime. While current diagnosis and treatment approaches are largely trial and error, a breakthrough study sheds new light on the biological basis of mood disorders, and offers a promising blood test aimed at a precision medicine approach to treatment. Led by Alexander […]
Asthma is a debilitating condition that affects millions of people each year. A group of scientists led by immunologists and pulmonologists used advanced tools of immunology, molecular biology and unbiased computational and bioinformatic approaches to characterize immune profiles of patients with severe asthma. These findings invite a new appreciation for the complexity of disease mechanisms […]