Curated News: Featured: MedWire

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Research led by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital highlights the importance of immune cell metabolism for maintaining a balanced immune response.

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A study lead by Northern Arizona University bioengineer Zach Lerner found that wearing a robotic exoskeleton—a leg brace powered by small motors—could alleviate crouch gait in children with cerebral palsy.

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University at Buffalo researchers have assembled a team of three antibiotics that, together, are capable of eradicating E. coli carrying mcr-1 and ndm-5 — genes that make the bacterium immune to last-resort antibiotics.

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Nanoengineers at the University of California San Diego have demonstrated for the first time using micromotors to treat a bacterial infection in the stomach. These tiny vehicles, each about half the width of a human hair, swim rapidly throughout the stomach while neutralizing gastric acid and then release their cargo of antibiotics at the desired pH.

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Unlike other back-saving devices, this one was tested with motion capture, force plates and electromyography.

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Older adults who consume alcohol moderately on a regular basis are more likely to live to the age of 85 without dementia or other cognitive impairments than non-drinkers, according to a University of California San Diego School of Medicine-led study.

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People who are diagnosed with coronary artery disease and then develop depression face a risk of death that’s twice as high as heart patients without depression, according to a major new study by researchers at Intermountain Healthcare in Salt Lake City.

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Dosenbach, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of pediatric and developmental neurology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, and colleagues used imaging techniques to collect a massive amount of data on individual brains. Their work led to 10 individual-specific connectomes — detailed maps of neural brain connections that reveal spatial and organizational variability in brain networks.

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Scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine have found that stem cells in the brain’s hypothalamus govern how fast aging occurs in the body. The finding, made in mice, could lead to new strategies for warding off age-related diseases and extending lifespan. The paper was published online today in Nature.

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Stem cell centers claim to offer effective treatment to patients with heart failure, despite the fact that the treatment is not approved for such use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), says the author of research letter in the current issue of JAMA Internal Medicine.

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An ice cream cone on a hot July day can be a tasty way to beat the heat, but if you’re one of the millions of people who have sensitive teeth, then that cold treat can be a real pain. So, what causes your teeth to fear the sweet embrace of cold, delicious treats?

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A report by the first Lancet Commission on Dementia Prevention and Care identifies powerful tools to prevent dementia and touts the benefits of nonmedical interventions for people with dementia.

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In a small study of opioid prescriptions filled at a Johns Hopkins Medicine outpatient pharmacy, researchers found that handwritten orders for the drugs contribute heavily to a trio of prescribing and processing errors in contrast to those created electronically.

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Researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology and the Piedmont Heart Institute are using new 3-D printing technologies to create heart valve models that mimic the look and feel of the real valves. Their aim is to improve the success rate of transcatheter aortic valve replacements (TAVR) by picking the right prosthetic and avoiding a common complication known as paravalvular leakage.

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Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have found evidence that the most difficult C. difficile cases, known as multiple recurring C. difficile infections (mrCDI), are rapidly becoming more common.

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The connection between slowed walking speed and declining mental acuity appears to arise in the right hippocampus, a finger-shaped region buried deep in the brain at ear-level, according to a 14-year study conducted by scientists at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health.

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This research found that light makes migraine headaches more painful and induces negative emotions and unpleasant physical sensations. Laboratory studies identify previously unknown connections between nerve cells in the eye and neurons in the brain that regulate physiological, autonomic, endocrine and emotional responses. These findings offer promising path forward for researchers in treatment of migraines.

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Different types of memories stored in the same neuron of the marine snail Aplysia can be selectively erased, according to a new study by researchers at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) and McGill University and published today in Current Biology.

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UAB’s Stefan Kertesz, M.D., provides commentary on a new trial comparing yoga and physical therapy for those who suffer from low back pain.

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At the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (CVM),veterinarians are working to educate pet parents about the recent outbreak of canine influenza in Georgia and Florida that could affect your dog.

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Most UTIs are caused by E. coli that live in the gut and spread to the urinary tract. A new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has found that a molecular decoy can reduce the numbers of UTI-causing bacteria in the gut, potentially reducing the risk of recurrent UTI.

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People who regularly use electronic cigarettes are less dependent on their product than those who regularly use traditional cigarettes, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers.

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In two previous studies, University of North Carolina researchers and colleagues linked infant brain anatomy differences to autism diagnoses at age two. Now they show differences in functional connections between brain regions at 6 months to predict autism at age two.

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Baby teeth from children with autism contain more toxic lead and less of the essential nutrients zinc and manganese, compared to teeth from children without autism, according to a study funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the National Institutes of Health. The researchers studied twins to control genetic influences and focus on possible environmental contributors to the disease. The findings, published June 1 in the journal Nature Communications, suggest that differences in early-life exposure to metals, or more importantly how a child’s body processes them, may affect the risk of autism.

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Chronic pain occurs when receptors are drawn inside the nerve cell, out of the reach of pain medications. The discovery may lead to a more potent class of medications for chronic pain that has fewer side effects.

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An analysis of billing records for more than 12,000 emergency medicine doctors across the United States shows that charges varied widely, but that on average, adult patients are charged 340 percent more than what Medicare pays for services ranging from suturing a wound to interpreting a head CT scan.

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Zika virus infection passes efficiently from a pregnant monkey to its fetus, spreading inflammatory damage throughout the tissues that support the fetus and the fetus’s developing nervous system, and suggesting a wider threat in human pregnancies than generally appreciated.

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A 12-month study mapping bacterial diversity within a hospital — with a focus on the flow of microbes between patients, staff and surfaces — should help hospitals worldwide better understand how to encourage beneficial microbial interactions and decrease potentially harmful contact. The Hospital Microbiome Project is the single biggest microbiome analysis of a hospital performed, and one of the largest microbiome studies ever.

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A new Iowa State University study may have identified the link that explains years of conflicting research over a mitochondrial gene and the risk for Alzheimer’s disease.

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After analyzing the blood of a survivor of the 2013-16 Ebola outbreak, a team of scientists from academia, industry and the government has discovered the first natural human antibodies that can neutralize and protect animals against all three major disease-causing ebolaviruses. The findings, published online today in the journal Cell, could lead to the first broadly effective ebolavirus therapies and vaccines.

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Colon cancer patients who have a healthy body weight, exercise regularly and eat a diet high in whole grains, fruits and vegetables have a significantly lower risk of cancer recurrence or death, according to a research team led by UC San Francisco investigators. This finding represents an analysis of data collected on patients participating in a national study for people with stage III colon cancer.

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In a small and preliminary clinical trial, Johns Hopkins researchers and their collaborators have shown that an experimental gene therapy that uses viruses to introduce a therapeutic gene into the eye is safe and that it may be effective in preserving the vision of people with wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

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A new study from The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center finds athletes with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are more likely to compete in team contact sports than individual sports, which could increase their risk of injury.

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According to the American Stroke Association, the number of people 65 and older who were treated for ischemic stroke declined between 2000 and 2010. However, hospitalization rates for those younger than 65 rose.

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In experiments with human colon cancer cells and mice, a team led by scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center say they have evidence that cancer arises when a normal part of cells' machinery generally used to repair DNA damage is diverted from its usual task. The findings, if further studies confirm them, could lead to the identification of novel molecular targets for anticancer drugs or tests for cancer recurrence, the investigators say.

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Graves' eye disease trial led by the University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center shows success of 'breakthrough therapy" to reduce suffering and disfigurement.

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New research from the National Institutes of Health found that pairing the antidepressant amitriptyline with drugs designed to treat central nervous system diseases, enhances drug delivery to the brain by inhibiting the blood-brain barrier in rats. The blood-brain barrier serves as a natural, protective boundary, preventing most drugs from entering the brain. The research, performed in rats, appeared online April 27 in the Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism.

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A team of computer engineers and neurosurgeons, with an assist from Hollywood special effects experts, reports successful early tests of a novel, lifelike 3D simulator designed to teach surgeons to perform a delicate, minimally invasive brain operation.

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Hundreds of thousands of babies worldwide die every year from infections that ravage their digestive systems. New research in mice offers evidence that the difference in survival may come from certain bacteria in their guts, called Clostridia, which appear to provide key protection against infection, in addition to helping digest food.

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Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) in La Jolla have revealed new clues to the wiring of the brain. A team led by Associate Professor Anton Maximov found that neurons in brain regions that store memory can form networks in the absence of synaptic activity.

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Although human population studies have linked air pollution to chronic inflammation of nasal and sinus tissues, direct biological and molecular evidence for cause and effect has been scant. Now, Johns Hopkins researchers report that experiments in mice continually exposed to dirty air have revealed that direct biological effect.

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At a glance: People who suffer heart attacks and cardiac arrests in the vicinity of major marathons are more likely to die within a month. The bleaker survival odds are linked to delays in transportation to nearby hospitals. The delays are believed to stem from widespread road closures within the radius of the race. The study findings underscore the need for citywide strategies that ensure rapid transport for medical emergencies in the vicinity of major public events.

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A Houston Methodist-led research team showed that the systemic administration of nanoparticles triggers an inflammatory response because of blood components accumulating on their surface.

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Statistical mapping technique shows widely dispersed population could pose challenges for initiative

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Bill Kochevar, who was paralyzed below his shoulders in a bicycling accident, is believed to be the first person with quadriplegia in the world to have arm and hand movements restored with the help of two temporarily implanted technologies.

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In experiments with a protein called Ephexin5 that appears to be elevated in the brain cells of Alzheimer's disease patients and mouse models of the disease, Johns Hopkins researchers say removing it prevents animals from developing Alzheimer's characteristic memory losses. In a report on the studies, published online March 27 in The Journal of Clinical Investigation, the researchers say the findings could eventually advance development of drugs that target Ephexin5 to prevent or treat symptoms of the disorder.

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In a new study, researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, University of Cyprus and Stanford University map the complex biological cascade caused by MIA: the expression of multiple genes involved in autism are turned up or down by MIA, affecting key aspects of prenatal brain development that may increase risk for atypical development later in life.

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Standard antidepressant medications don’t work for everyone, and even when they do they are slow to kick in. In an effort to find better depression treatments, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine discovered that inhibiting an enzyme called Glyoxalase 1 (GLO1) relieves signs of depression in mice. Moreover, inhibiting GLO1 worked much faster than the conventional antidepressant Prozac.

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In a small-scale study of women with previously diagnosed mood disorders, Johns Hopkins researchers report that lower levels of the hormone allopregnanolone in the second trimester of pregnancy were associated with an increased chance of developing postpartum depression in women already known to be at risk for the disorder.

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Men with longer exposure to the drugs finasteride and dutasteride had a higher risk of getting persistent erectile dysfunction than men with less exposure, reports a new study. The persistent erectile dysfunction continued despite stopping these drugs, in some cases for months or years. Prior to the study, there was no strong evidence the drugs cause sexual problems that continue after men stop taking them or that taking these drugs for a longer time increases the chance of experiencing sexual problems.