Reports of near-death experiences — with tales of white light, visits from departed loved ones, hearing voices, among other attributes — capture our imagination and are deeply engrained in our cultural landscape. The fact that these reports share so many common elements begs the question of whether there is something fundamentally real underpinning them — […]
Although it has long been known that women and men experience pain differently, most pain research uses male rodents. The new study is unique because it used female and male spinal cord tissue from both rats and humans. By examining the spinal cord tissue in the laboratory, the researchers were able to show that a […]
After a stroke, physical activity can be pivotal to successful recovery. People who spend four hours a week exercising after their stroke achieve better functional recovery within six months than those who do not, a University of Gothenburg study shows. The study, now published in the scientific journal JAMA Network Open, is based on data […]
Researchers at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at UCLA and the National Institutes of Health have developed a zebrafish model that provides new insight into how the brain acquires essential omega-3 fatty acids, including docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and linolenic acid (ALA). Their findings, published in Nature Communications, have […]
Depression due to psychological stress affects millions of people worldwide. However, most of the existing antidepressant drugs are slow, prone to development of resistance, and have severe side effects, demanding the need for more effective treatment options. Delta opioid receptors (DOPs) are known to play a key role in the development of depression and similar […]
A new Nature Immunologystudy led by University of Pittsburgh and National Institutes of Health researchers sheds light on how a rare type of helper T cell, called Th9, can drive allergic disease, suggesting new precision medicine approaches to treating allergies in patients with high levels of Th9. “Th9 cells are kind of like the black […]
Scientists from Singapore have demonstrated the critical role played by a special transporter protein in regulating the brain cells that ensure nerves are protected by coverings called myelin sheaths. The findings, reported by researchers at Duke-NUS Medical School and the National University of Singapore in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, could help to reduce the […]
Approximately one in six people worldwide is affected by infertility, according to the World Health Organization. With a 78% failure rate, each IVF cycle can be an emotional rollercoaster that often ends in heartbreak. “While much work has been done around selecting eggs and embryos to boost the success rates of IVF, sperm selection, an […]
Inflammatory bowel disease, or IBD, describes Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, two chronic diseases that cause inflammation in the intestines. IBD is an autoimmune disorder in which the body’s immune system attacks healthy tissues. The intestinal epithelium, made up of a layer of cells that lines the intestine, plays an important role in IBD because […]
It’s generally accepted that we will lose muscle strength and slow down as we age, making it more difficult to perform simple tasks such as getting up, walking and sitting down. But new Edith Cowan University research indicates this could also be a signal for another sinister health concern of aging: late-life dementia. To investigate […]