Our noses may be able to adapt themselves to tell the brain, as efficiently as possible, about the most typical smells in our environment, suggests new research published in eLife. The findings contribute to our understanding of how and why the mammalian nose adapts to smells. They could also help us understand how decreases in the number…
US states with more relaxed gun control laws and higher rates of gun ownership have higher rates of mass shootings; reveals a time trends analysis, published today in The BMJ. And the gap in the rate of mass shootings between these states and those with more restrictive laws; seems to have widened in recent years, the…
As adults, childhood cancer survivors have a 30-fold higher risk than the general population; but of developing basal cell carcinoma, a Dutch study suggests. Compared to other adults, survivors had a more than two-fold higher risk of getting melanoma – the most aggressive and deadly type of skin cancer and a more than seven-fold risk…
Of the 30 million Americans with diabetes, 90 to 95 percent have type 2, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. New research shows building muscle strength may be one way to lower risk for the disease. The study of more than 4,500 adults found moderate muscle mass reduced the risk for type…
Each year there are nearly 11 million cases of typhoid; a disease that is spread through contaminated food, drink and water. However, researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine are leading an international consortium; that is studying the impact of a typhoid conjugate vaccine (TCV) in an effort; to accelerate introduction of the…
Researchers have started pilot clinical studies in head and neck cancer patients to determine if Raman spectroscopy, a noninvasive imaging technique, can effectively spare some patients of the toxic side effects of ineffective radiation therapy. Researchers used the imaging technique and discovered differences between treatment-sensitive and treatment-resistant tumors in mice after radiation. Their findings, published…
Due to their simultaneous expression, enveloped virus-like particles (VLPs) and extracellular vesicles (EVs) are difficult to distinguish and separate for analytical purposes. In addition to their co-expression, EVs and VLPs exhibit morphological, biophysical and molecular similarities. To address this separation challenge, researchers recently devised a two-step chromatography method that can isolate VLPs and EVs for…
A new study published in Wilderness & Environmental Medicine demonstrated that trekkers and climbers taking a lower dose of acetazolamide (62.5 mg twice daily) were no more likely to develop acute mountain sickness symptoms than those who took twice that amount, which is the standard prophylactic dose. Side effects. Many trekkers and climbers use acetazolamide to…
“Microbial communities run the world,” says Jo Handelsman, director of the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.”People always laugh when I say that,” she adds. “But it’s true.” Our rich new understanding of microbial communities and their influence on human health or crop productivity has led to the dream of changing these…
Medication options can limited for people with chronic kidney disease; which is why they often get prescribed opioids to help manage pain. But new research finds that opioids could increase the risk of hospitalization and even death. Researchers examined electronic health records for about 100,000 adults; in a Pennsylvania health care system and compared people…
Young adults are increasingly developing colon cancer and it’s often diagnosed at a late stage, after they’ve seen several doctors and been misdiagnosed, a new survey shows. Researchers questioned nearly 1,200 colon cancer patients diagnosed before age 50. Most cases were correctly identified only after the cancer was more advanced. In fact, about two-thirds waited…
In tumors, the hypoxic environment is an important factor for tumor growth, angiogenesis, metastasis; response to chemotherapy and irradiation. Tumor cells in the hypoxic environment show resistance to chemotherapy; irradiation and enhancement of angiogenesis. In addition, the hypoxic environment in a tumor is unlike that in normal tissues. Therefore, compounds that selectively inhibit the growth…