Schizophrenia, a brain disorder that produces hallucinations, delusions, and cognitive impairments, usually strikes during adolescence or young adulthood. While some signs can suggest that a person is at high risk for developing the disorder, there is no way to definitively diagnose it until the first psychotic episode occurs
Health professionals require more guidance to prepare and support children when a parent is dying, a new study in the journal Palliative Medicine reports
Estrogens are hormones that play central roles in the development and the physiology of the breast, but they are also involved in breast cancer. Like all hormones, estrogens exert their biological effects by binding to dedicated receptors in the target cell
Australians are increasingly using prescription or over-the-counter painkillers to ease emotional, rather than physical, pain. Our cultural understanding of pain is changing, and as a result, it's becoming more difficult to distinguish intoxication from relief
People with autoimmune diseases such as psoriasis, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis are at high risk of developing cardiovascular disease, even though none of these conditions seem to target the cardiovascular system directly. Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis believe they have begun to understand the link between the two
When melanoma turns metastatic, it spreads to the brain in more than 40% of patients. A study by Yale Cancer Center researchers published today in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO) shows a checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy drug has meaningful benefit for these patients. The study is one of the first clinical trials aimed at treating the brain metastases with this type of cancer drug
Social media can positively influence breastfeeding related attitudes, knowledge and behavior, according to a new study from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Breastfeeding support groups on social media create a sense of community for new moms to share experiences and support each other in the breastfeeding practice and could be considered pillars of support for new moms
There are over six million fractures per year in the US with direct costs in the billions, not to mention lost productivity. The only drug currently available to accelerate the healing process must be applied directly to the fracture surface during surgery, but not all breaks require such intervention
Ocular inflammation uveitis is a serious disease that can destroy eye tissue and cause irreversible blindness. Fortunately, blindness and eye damage can be prevented by suppressing the immune system and treating the disease with corticosteroids, said Sai Chavala, MD, Professor of Pharmacology and Neuroscience and Director of Translational Research at the North Texas Eye Research Institute at UNT Health Science Center.
The immune system of a pregnant woman is altered during pregnancy, but not in the way previously believed, according to results from a study at Linkoping University, Sweden. This study, published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, shows that the thymus, an organ of the immune system located close to the heart, plays an important role during a normal pregnancy in ensuring that the mother's immune system protects against infection while at the same time tolerating the fetus
Spontaneous remission is common in patients with undiagnosed classic fever of unknown origin (FUO). Although identifying reliable predictors of spontaneous remission in such diagnostically challenging cases could improve their management strategies, few studies have assessed such clinical factors
The emergence of autism in children has been linked to genes encoding synaptic proteins-among others-but also environmental insults such as zinc deficiency. Although it is unclear if zinc deficiency contributes to autism, scientists have now defined in detail a possible mechanistic link