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Some behaviors—yawning and scratching, for example—are socially contagious, meaning if one person does it, others are likely to follow suit. Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that socially contagious itching is hardwired in the brain.
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Anti-cancer drugs blocking the PD-1 pathway - known as checkpoint inhibitors - are now FDA-approved for melanoma, lung cancer and several other types of cancer. These drugs are often described as "releasing the brakes" on dysfunctional T cells.
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The U.S. medical community needs a better understanding of the biology of pain and how it plays out in individuals to be able to combat the national epidemic of addiction to painkillers, according to researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, in Science this week.
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A new UCLA study could change scientists' understanding of how the brain works—and could lead to new approaches for treating neurological disorders and for developing computers that "think" more like humans.
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A new model of healthcare that focuses on a stronger role for nurses in primary care has been associated with a higher uptake of insulin treatment among patients with type 2 diabetes, reports a study published in The BMJ today.
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It has been nearly three decades since experts published a classification system related to epilepsy. Now, the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) provides an update to systems that includes many types of seizures not captured in the older version, allowing clinicians and patients to make more informed decisions concerning treatment. The three companion articles are published today in Epilepsia.
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The diagnosis, understanding and management of Crohn's disease may have just received a helping hand from a joint ASU Biodesign Institute and Mayo Clinic study aimed at developing a better blood test for the disease.
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That the first public health revolution occurred more than a century ago might surprise people, according to some historians. Before the discovery of penicillin or the polio vaccine, life expectancy improved dramatically because of relatively simple ideas implemented on a massive scale, including improved sanitation, safer food storage and quarantines to prevent the spread of infectious disease.
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Online weight management tools and weekly peer coaching resulted in greater weight loss for people with serious mental illness than when they visited health professionals in person in clinics, according to a new study led by Dr. Alexander Young, a professor of psychiatry at UCLA.
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For 130 years, surgery has been the standard treatment for appendicitis—inflammation of the appendix, a short tube extending from the colon.
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Women experience higher stress, more chronic disease, more depression, more anxiety and are more likely to be victims of violence. Women earn less than men, and in many countries they don't have the same human rights as men.
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Training service coordinators in low-income public housing to better assist aging residents could not only improve community members' health outcomes but also save the government money in hospital visits, nursing home stays and rehabilitation costs, according to an article by researchers at the University of Georgia published recently in the Journal of Housing for the Elderly.
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A new, non-invasive test developed by researchers at the University of Georgia shows how exercise can help people with neurological injuries and illnesses.
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Semi Ryu had performed "Parting on Z"—her play about a farewell between lovers—a couple of times before that 2013 night in London. Ryu doesn't know what made this performance different, but something unexpected happened: She found herself sobbing in the middle of it.
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Think of a tumour like a rapidly growing city within a patient's body.
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For the most part, adjusting our clocks an hour ahead—as we will do this weekend—comes as good news: it is a welcome change from the long, dark winter.
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A new report from the Office of the Surgeon General, "Facing Addiction in America," suggests that an overhaul of U.S. drug policy is long overdue, according to a new issue brief from a drug policy expert at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy.
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Changes in tiny blood vessels of the eye may predict a higher risk of later narrowing in the large blood vessels in the legs, according to a study presented at the American Heart Association's Epidemiology and Prevention | Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health 2017 Scientific Sessions.
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A new study finds that caffeine may protect the lungs from damage caused by prolonged oxygen therapy, such as oxygen supplementation given to premature babies. The article is the first of its kind to study the positive effects of caffeine on the lungs' minute tissue structures. It is published ahead of print in the American Journal of Physiology—Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology.
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Researchers often observe inadequate parenting, a negative emotional climate and household chaos in families of children with ADHD. A research group at Goethe University Frankfurt and the universities of Bremen, Heidelberg, Tübingen and Kiel has now explored how these factors interrelate. The result is astounding.
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Victoria University of Wellington research shows that for New Zealand to combat its high cyberbullying rates, everyone needs to take responsibility: from teachers to school management and Government organisations.
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Previous research has shown that suppressing your emotions can result in increased stress, burnout and poor relationships. However, there has been very little research into how managers regulate their emotions – until now.
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Good genes only go so far in resisting aging. For those who want to up their arsenal of beauty boosters, there is a range of over-the counter and prescription medications available to fight skin redness, wrinkles and other beauty battles. Researching why the products were manufactured—and how they work—is important to selecting the best option for you.
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Broken bones do not always repair fully, especially after major trauma such as a car accident. Complications can occur when the bone is broken in several places, the blood flow is reduced or infection sets in. Patients can suffer long-term from loss of income and disability.
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People with asthma are likely to have worse symptoms when they get the flu because they have weaker immune systems, new Southampton research has shown..
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Researchers of Ghent University analysed data on volunteering, employment and health of more than 40,000 European citizens. Their results, just published in PLOS ONE, show that volunteering is associated with better employment and health outcomes.
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Researchers have for the first time shown that standard tuberculosis (TB) diagnostic tests can be replaced by a sub-24 hour genetic test applied to the TB bacteria in a patient's sputum.
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A total of 185 cases of thyroid cancer found in youngsters in the Japanese region hit by the 2011 nuclear disaster cannot be linked to radiation, which is not the biggest cause of health problems for residents, doctors said Thursday.
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Indian doctors said Thursday that an Egyptian who is believed to be the world's heaviest woman had successfully undergone weight-loss surgery after losing over 100 kilograms (220 pounds).
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Cancer survival rates plummet when the disease spreads around the body. An estimated 90 % of cancer deaths are caused when tumours enter other organs or tissues, according to researchers.
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Leishmaniasis, caused by the bite of a sand fly carrying a Leishmania parasite, infects around a million people a year around the world. Now, making progress toward a vaccine against the parasitic disease, researchers reporting in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases have characterized the structure of a protein from sand flies that can convey immunity to Leishmania.
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Most community-dwelling older adults with dementia have multiple other chronic diseases, which are linked to increased risk of hospitalizations and emergency department (ED) visits, a new retrospective study has concluded. The study, by Luke Mondor and Colleen Maxwell of the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Toronto, Canada, and colleagues, is published in PLOS Medicine's Special Issue on Dementia.
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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 Northwestern Medicine study. The persistent erectile dysfunction continued despite stopping these drugs, in some cases for months or years.
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Cedars-Sinai investigators have identified a stem cell-regulating gene that affects tumor growth in patients with brain cancer and can strongly influence survival rates of patients. The findings, published in the online edition of Scientific Reports, could move physicians closer to their goal of better predicting the prognosis of patients with brain tumors and developing more personalized treatments for them.
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People with epilepsy resort to cannabis products when antiepileptic drug side-effects are intolerable and epilepsy uncontrolled.
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Mayo Clinic researchers have uncovered three new agents to add to the emerging repertoire of drugs that aim to delay the onset of aging by targeting senescent cells - cells that contribute to frailty and other age-related conditions. A recent study of human cell cultures shows that the drugs, fisetin and two BCL-XL inhibitors - A1331852 and A1155463 - cleared senescent cells in vitro. Findings appear online in Aging.
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Confidence in doctors, therapists and nursing staff leads to an improvement in subjectively perceived complaints, satisfaction and quality of life in patients. This is the conclusion of a meta-analysis by psychologists at the University of Basel, published in the journal PLOS ONE.
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If you were asked to describe the shape of a kidney, you may visualize a kidney bean. But Wes Nance's kidneys had a different shape, plus they were positioned atypically inside his body—plus, he had roughly a dozen painful kidney stones.
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In 2001 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted priority review for imatinib mesylate, sold under the name Gleevec, as an oral therapy for patients with chronic myeloid leukemia, or CML.
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Eyewitnesses identify more than 75,000 suspects each year in the United States and their testimonies are one of the most compelling and powerful forms of evidence for a jury. But, it's not foolproof—just ask the 242 individuals who were mistakenly identified by eyewitnesses and served years in prison for crimes they did not commit until they were exonerated thanks to the introduction of DNA testing.
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According to a nutrition study led by the German Institute of Human Nutrition (DIfE), a partner of the German Center for Diabetes Research, the so-called internal clock also influences how people with impaired glucose metabolism react to carbohydrate-rich food. For example, in men with prediabetes, abundant consumption of foods containing starch and sugar in the evening had a negative effect on their blood glucose regulation. In comparison, in healthy study participants the timing of carbohydrate intake did not play a significant role in blood glucose regulation.
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Surgery patients often go home from the hospital with a prescription for painkillers to take as they recover.
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In her recent doctoral dissertation, researcher Sanna Heikkinen from the University of Helsinki and Finnish Cancer Registry evaluates the contribution of the use of hormonal contraceptives and hair dyes to the spectrum of breast cancer risk factors.
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Specific cells in the retina trigger inflammation and vision impairment associated with diabetes, according to new research out of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. The findings unexpectedly implicate Mueller cells—which provide structural support in the retina—as key drivers of the process. Researchers now have a therapeutic target in hand and understand initial steps of diabetic retinopathy, one of the most common and debilitating side effects of diabetes.
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There's an ongoing debate among public health officials about how quickly they should notify the public about foodborne illness outbreaks, and how much information should be shared. Is it better to tell people as early as possible, or could that create panic that is counterproductive?
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A new workshop report, Building on Canada's Strengths in Regenerative Medicine, released today by the Council of Canadian Academies (CCA), confirms that Canadian researchers continue to be recognized as scientific leaders in the field of regenerative medicine and stem cell science.
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OICR researchers, together with international collaborators, have invented a technique to avoid a major problem with common laboratory techniques and improve the sensitivity of important cancer tests.
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A new paper co-written by a University of Illinois expert in health care economics provides the first evidence that the increase in drug utilization attributable to Medicare Part D saved lives.
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Researchers have been able to demonstrate the hereditary nature of certain forms of tinnitus. Bilateral tinnitus - that is, tinnitus in both ears - has been shown to depend on genetic factors, particularly in men. The twin study, which is published in the journal Genetics in Medicine, was conducted by researchers at Karolinska Institutet together with colleagues from the European research network TINNET.
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Music, more than any art, is a beautiful mix of science and emotion. It follows a set of patterns almost mathematically to extract feelings from its audience. Machines that make music focus on these patterns, but give little consideration to the emotional response of their audience. An international research team led by Osaka University together with Tokyo Metropolitan University, imec in Belgium and Crimson Technology has released a new machine-learning device that detects the emotional state of its listeners to produce new songs that elicit new feelings.
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The first year of free lung cancer screening in the Augusta, Georgia area found more than double the rate seen in a previous large, national study as well as a Massachusetts-based screening for this number one cancer killer.
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Researchers from Turku Centre for Biotechnology have observed that a protein called SHANK prevents the spread of breast cancer cells to the surrounding tissue. The SHANK protein has been previously studied only in the central nervous system, and it is known that its absence or gene mutations are related to autism. The research was conducted at Turku Centre for Biotechnology.
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Adults older than 60 years face an increased risk of dying in the first 8 months following a pelvic fracture, new research indicates.
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Researchers at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee have discovered that in zebrafish, decreased levels of the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) cue the retina, the light-sensing tissue in the back of the eye, to produce stem cells. The finding sheds light on how the zebrafish regenerates its retina after injury and informs efforts to restore vision in people who are blind. The research was funded by the National Eye Institute (NEI) and appears online today in Stem Cell Reports. NEI is part of the National Institutes of Health.
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Say you're reaching for the fruit cup at a buffet, but at the last second you switch gears and grab a cupcake instead. Emotionally, your decision is a complex stew of guilt and mouth-watering anticipation. But physically it's a simple shift: instead of moving left, your hand went right. Such split-second changes interest neuroscientists because they play a major role in diseases that involve problems with selecting an action, like Parkinson's and drug addiction.
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In the struggle of life, evolution rewards animals that master their circumstances, especially when the environment changes fast. If there is a recipe for success, it is not: savor your victories when you are fortunate to have them. Rather it is: win big, and win often.
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The Zika virus attacks tissues in the nervous system, male and female reproductive and urinary tracts, muscles, joints and lymph nodes, and persists for at least 35 days, according to a study conducted in a nonhuman primate model by a multidisciplinary team of researchers at OHSU in Portland, Oregon.
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People with social anxiety avoid situations in which they are exposed to judgment by others. Those affected also lead a withdrawn life and maintain contact above all on the Internet. Around one in ten people is affected by this anxiety disorder over the course of their life. Researchers at the University of Bonn have now found evidence for a gene that is believed to be linked to the illness. It encodes a serotonin transporter in the brain. Interestingly, this messenger suppresses feelings of anxiety and depressiveness. The scientists want to investigate this cause more precisely and are thus looking for more study participants. The results will be published in the journal Psychiatric Genetics.
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Jason Dyck has long believed in the beneficial properties of resveratrol—a powerful antioxidant produced by some plants to protect against environmental stresses. The professor of pediatrics at the University of Alberta has spent years studying the natural compound, exploring its potential benefits for exercise performance, reduced blood pressure and heart health. Now his work is revealing resveratrol's potential for the treatment of diabetes.
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Eating more gluten may be associated with a lower risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Epidemiology and Prevention / Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health 2017 Scientific Sessions.
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If you become resistant to insulin, a condition that is a precursor to type 2 diabetes, your body tries to compensate by producing more of the "beta" cells in the pancreas that produce the critical hormone. Researchers have long sought to understand why these cells often fail to proliferate in people who go on to develop the disease. Studying both humans and mice, scientists at Joslin Diabetes Center now have pinpointed one key biological mechanism that can prevent the cells from dividing successfully.
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A major contributor to most neurological diseases is the degeneration of a wire-like part of nerve cells called an axon, which electrically transmits information from one neuron to another. The molecular programs underlying axon degeneration are therefore important targets for therapeutic intervention - the idea being that if axons can be preserved, rather than allowed to die in diseased conditions, then loss of critical processes like movement, speech or memory will be slowed.
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Learning and memory are crucial aspects of everyday life. When we learn, our neurons use chemical and molecular signals to change their shapes and strengthen connections between neurons, a process known as synaptic plasticity. In Ryohei Yasuda's lab at Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience (MPFI), scientists are working to understand how these molecules send messages throughout the neuron. To achieve this, his team is constantly working to develop high-resolution imaging techniques to visualize the activity and location of the molecules involved in the process. Ada Tang, Ph.D., a postdoctoral researcher in Yasuda's lab, developed new molecular biosensors, which helped her visualize the activity of two signaling proteins crucial to synaptic plasticity, ERK and PKA. These proteins send messages to other proteins by adding a phosphate group to the target proteins. The team found that these proteins, which were already known to play a role in synaptic plasticity, learning, and memory, have surprising properties in their activity. The work was published in March 2017 in Neuron.
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Because innovation is part of the American culture, adults in the United States may be less likely to associate children's conformity with intelligence than adults from other populations, according to research from developmental psychologists at The University of Texas at Austin.
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Targeting cancer stem cells may be a more effective way to overcome cancer resistance and prevent the spread of squamous cell carcinoma—the most common head and neck cancer and the second-most common skin cancer, according to a new study by cancer researchers at the UCLA School of Dentistry.
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The symptoms of ADHD foster important traits associated with entrepreneurship. That conclusion was reached in a study conducted by an international team of economists, who found that entrepreneurs with ADHD embrace new experiences and demonstrate passion and persistence. Their intuitive decision making in situations involving uncertainty was seen by the researchers as a reason for reassessing existing economic models.
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Coronary artery disease is caused by plaque buildup in the vessels that deliver blood to the heart. Narrowed or blocked coronary arteries can result in a heart attack or sudden cardiac death. A study at the University of Missouri School of Medicine revealed that ammonia plays an important role in maintaining cardiovascular health. Researchers say that non-toxic amounts of the gas could help prevent coronary artery disease.
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March 9, 2017 - Scientists on the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have designed two new drug candidates to target prostate and triple negative breast cancers.
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The American College of Cardiology, with the American Heart Association and the Heart Rhythm Society, today released a guideline on the evaluation and management of patients with syncope. The 2017 ACC/AHA/HRS Guideline for the Evaluation and Management of Syncope will publish online today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Circulation and HeartRhythm.
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Some chemicals added to furniture, electronics and numerous other goods to prevent fires may have unintended developmental consequences for young children, according to a pilot study released today.
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Mayo Clinic scientists have identified a specific protein implicated in drug resistance, as well as a possible therapeutic tool. Their work appears in the EMBO Journal.
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Men who filled prescriptions for erectile dysfunction drugs in the years following a heart attack had a substantially lower risk of dying or being hospitalized for heart failure than men who did not use these drugs, according to a study scheduled for presentation at the American College of Cardiology's 66th Annual Scientific Session.
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Measuring concentrations of a class of lipids known as ceramides in the blood may hold the key to helping clinicians identify individuals with suspected coronary heart disease who need treatment or should be followed more closely, according to research scheduled for presentation at the American College of Cardiology's 66th Annual Scientific Session.
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As the Zika virus continues to spread globally, new evidence has emerged about the virus's potentially detrimental effects on the heart, according to data scheduled for presentation at the American College of Cardiology's 66th Annual Scientific Session.
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Using marijuana raises the risk of stroke and heart failure even after accounting for demographic factors, other health conditions and lifestyle risk factors such as smoking and alcohol use, according to research scheduled for presentation at the American College of Cardiology's 66th Annual Scientific Session.
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Scientists identified a molecular driver of inflammation that may finally answer a key question about what causes mild systemic prenatal infections to trigger preterm birth.
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The latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention update recommending that women who are pregnant or could become pregnant abstain from alcohol use prompted a Vanderbilt University Medical Center professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and her team to explore the patterns of alcohol use in early pregnancy.
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Twelve-year-old Janet Sylva of Gambia wants to be a doctor when she grows up, she says with a broad grin—one that surgeons in New York gave back to her after removing from her mouth one of the largest tumors they'd ever seen.
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Patients who choose not to intervene after a diagnosis of thyroid cancer face a challenging path—one that is often defined by a sense of isolation and anxiety, according to a first-of-its-kind study by researchers from The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice and the Veteran's Administration in White River Junction, Vermont.
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Researchers from Canada, South Africa and Italy have identified a new gene that can lead to sudden death among young people and athletes.
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Two Michigan State University chemists are bringing their impact sensors to market. The effective, yet inexpensive, headband sensors can be worn by athletes in a variety of sports who could be at risk of suffering concussions.
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The capacity for memory isn't exclusive to the brain. The immune system, with its sprawling network of diverse cell types, can recall the pathogens it meets, helping it to swiftly neutralize those intruders upon future encounters.
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Pregnancy and the time after giving birth can be particularly emotional for many women. In fact, when screened in their doctor's office, approximately 13 percent of women respond that they experience depression during those times. Low-income women are particularly vulnerable. A study in 2010 showed that more than half of urban, low-income women would meet the criteria for a depression diagnosis when screened between two weeks to 14 months postpartum.
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Researchers have known that part of the challenge in treating penicillin-resistant infections lies in understanding the way bacteria inactivate penicillin antibiotics. The enzymes that do this, beta-lactamases, chop up the antibiotics rendering them useless. One particularly problematic group of bacterial beta-lactamases, metallo-beta-lactamases (MBLs), is able to destroy even the newest penicillins. MBLs are often made by bacteria alongside other enzymes, including other beta-lactamases that allow certain bacteria to destroy the entire penicillin arsenal. Now, researchers in Cleveland, Ohio have taken a significant step toward defeating antibiotic-resistant infections by combining two different antibiotics that each block a different kind of drug-destroying enzyme secreted by bacteria. When combined, the antibiotics run interference for each other to fight infections. Now doctors have a new weapon to overcome one of the most pernicious infections caused by deadly bacteria endemic to hospitals.
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The vigors of youth and the greener pastures of yesteryears. Some might refer to these and other similar clichés as nothing more than rose-tinted literations of the past; a cognitive side effect of life. Romanticizing collective memories aside, however, it would be a challenge to find anyone who could argue against the physical degradations that accompany aging. One needs only to search for 'photos of aging' to realize that such yearnings are perhaps nothing more than ourselves giving form to the personal struggle with the byproducts of life.
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A study led by a Massachusetts General Hospital pediatrician finds that children ages 3 to 7 who don't get enough sleep are more likely to have problems with attention, emotional control and peer relationships in mid-childhood. Reported online in the journal Academic Pediatrics, the study found significant differences in the responses of parents and teachers to surveys regarding executive function - which includes attention, working memory, reasoning and problem solving—and behavioral problems in 7-year-old children depending on how much sleep they regularly received at younger ages.
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Advanced prostate cancer resistant to castration therapy appears to respond well to a combination of immune checkpoint blockades and treatments that target certain immune-busting cells commonly associated with poor patient prognosis and therapy resistance.
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Dried skin secretions from toads could soon be used in a treatment for the benefit of cancer patients.
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States that participated in Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act saw increased insurance rates and access to care, less worry about paying medical bills, but also longer wait times among low-income residents, according to new research.
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American Heart Association CEO Nancy Brown issued the following comments on the American Health Care Act, the draft legislation released by the House Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means Committees:
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A US congressional panel surpassed 24 straight hours of debate Thursday on Republican plans to kill Obamacare, highlighting deep divisions over the proposed health reforms.
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Highlights
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Canadian police on Thursday raided nearly a dozen stores selling marijuana in several cities, after arresting a prominent pot activist and his wife.
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Health officials have changed the gender listed on 731 birth certificates since January 2015, with applicants ranging in age from 5 to 76 years old, officials said Thursday.
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A profusion of biotechnology products is expected over the next five to 10 years, and the number and diversity of new products has the potential to overwhelm the U.S. regulatory system, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and other agencies involved in regulating biotechnology products should increase their scientific capabilities, tools, and expertise in key areas of expected growth, said the committee that conducted the study and wrote the report.
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