Medicine News

Researchers Say Gut Microbiota Affects Our Physiology

Escherichia coli, a gram-negative bacterium of the genus Escherichia that is commonly found in the lower intestine of warm-blooded organisms. Image credit: CDC.
Jan 1, 2017 by News Staff

An international team of researchers from Spain and the UK has found that the protein TLR2 (Toll-like receptor 2) — a critical detector of the microbiota found in the intestine — regulates levels of serotonin, a neurotransmitter intimately connected to the brain’s regulation of appetite, sleep, and mood. Escherichia coli, a gram-negative bacterium of the genus Escherichia that is commonly found in the lower intestine of warm-blooded...

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Kraus et al show that children who sustained a concussion exhibit a signature neural profile. Image credit: Pete Linforth.

Researchers Discover Biological Marker for Concussion

Dec 28, 2016 by News Staff

According to new research published in the journal Scientific Reports, the secret to reliably diagnosing concussions lies in the brain’s ability to process...

Artemisinin is derived from the sweet wormwood (Artemisia annua) and is highly effective against drug-resistant malaria. Image credit: Kristian Peters / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Compound Found in Chinese Medicinal Herb Fights Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Dec 27, 2016 by News Staff

Artemisinin, a natural compound from the sweet wormwood (Artemisia annua), has been found to potentially aid in the treatment of tuberculosis. The study...

An anatomical illustration from Sobotta’s Human Anatomy, 1908.

Mesentery: Researchers Reclassify Part of Digestive System as Organ

Dec 23, 2016 by News Staff

The mesentery, which connects the intestine to the abdomen, had for hundreds of years been considered a fragmented structure made up of multiple separate...

According to Danmei Su et al., vitamin D improves gut flora. Image credit: Richard Stockton College of New Jersey.

Vitamin D Improves Gut Microbiota, Study Finds

Dec 22, 2016 by News Staff

According to a study published in the journal Frontiers in Physiology, extra vitamin D can restore good bacteria in the gut, giving hope in the fight against...

Capsaicin is found in Capsicum peppers. Image credit: Hans Braxmeier.

Hot Pepper Compound Inhibits Growth of Breast Cancer Cells

Dec 22, 2016 by News Staff

Capsaicin, a compound found in peppers of the genus Capsicum, inhibits the growth of breast cancer cells, according to a team of researchers in Germany. Capsaicin...

Andrew Rivera et al found that alcohol intake is associated with a modest increase in the risk of melanoma. Image credit: Skitterphoto.

Alcohol Consumption Associated with Increased Risk of Melanoma

Dec 16, 2016 by News Staff

A study by researchers at Harvard Medical School, Indiana University and Brown University reports an association between higher alcohol intake and incidence...

This transmission electron micrograph depicts a number of variola virions. Image credit: Fred Murphy & Sylvia Whitfield / CDC.

New Genetic Research Rewrites Evolutionary History of Smallpox

Dec 8, 2016 by News Staff

New research suggests that smallpox may not be an ancient disease but a much more modern killer that went on to become the first human disease eradicated...

This image illustrates the beginning stages of an influenza infection and shows what happens after the influenza viruses enter the human body. Image credit: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Scientists Find Long-Sought-After Mechanism that Creates Immunity to Influenza A Virus

Dec 7, 2016 by News Staff

An international team of researchers from Australia, China and the United States has shown for the first time that RNA interference is active in the response...

Astronaut Bruce McCandless II, STS 41-B mission specialist, participates in a historical spacewalk. He is pictured a few meters away from the cabin of the Earth-orbiting Space Shuttle Challenger. This spacewalk represented the first use of a nitrogen-propelled, hand-controlled device called the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU), which allows for much greater mobility than that afforded previous space walkers who had to use restrictive tethers. Image credit: NASA.

Researchers Identify Cause of Visual Impairment in Long-Duration Mission Astronauts

Dec 6, 2016 by News Staff

Astronauts on long-duration flights experience visual impairments due to volume changes in cerebrospinal fluid, the clear fluid that helps cushion the...

Compared with study participants who did not participate in the corresponding sport, risk of death from cardiovascular disease was: 56% lower among those who played racquet sports, 41% lower among swimmers, and 36% lower among those who participated in aerobics. Image credit: Geralt.

Aerobics, Racquet Sports and Swimming are Best for Heart Health, Researchers Say

Dec 2, 2016 by News Staff

A team of researchers from Australia, Austria, Finland and UK has found that swimming, aerobics, racquet sports (badminton, tennis and squash) and cycling...

This image is a digital reproduction of a painting by John Lewin of a platypus in 1808.

Platypus Venom Could Hold Key to Successful Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes

Dec 1, 2016 by News Staff

The same hormone produced in the gut of the duck-billed platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) to regulate blood glucose is also produced in the animal’s...

Illustration of the degradable system carrying treatment for hemophilia B. Image credit: University of Texas at Austin.

Scientists Develop Oral Delivery System to Treat Hemophilia

Nov 29, 2016 by News Staff

Treatment for hemophilia can now be administered via a biodegradable, pH-responsive hydrogel microcarrier system, a capsule, thanks to a breakthrough by...

A ripe areca nut. Image credit: Banni Pulikottil / CC BY 2.5.

Arecoline: Compound Found in Areca Nuts Has Anti-Cancer Potential

Nov 29, 2016 by News Staff

A new study published in the journal Molecular Cell reports that arecoline, an active compound found in areca nuts, has anti-cancer properties. A ripe...

Cannabis use in humans is associated with reduced dopamine in the striatum. PET studies have shown lower striatal dopamine synthesis and release capacity in cannabis users. Lower dopamine synthesis capacity in the dorsal striatum is directly associated with reduced motivation levels, whereas reduced dopamine release in the ventral striatum is directly associated with negative emotion levels and severity of addiction. Image credit: Michael A. P. Bloomfield et al, doi: 10.1038/nature20153.

Long-Term Marijuana Use Blunts Brain’s Reward System, Say Researchers

Nov 28, 2016 by News Staff

Regular use of cannabis over many years lowers levels of dopamine, a key chemical in the brain’s reward center, says an international team of researchers...

According to the study, participants aged 65 years and older have a greater rate of injury from practicing yoga when compared with other age groups. Image credit: Janeb13.

Yoga is Relatively Safe, Researchers Say

Nov 22, 2016 by News Staff

Participating in yoga is relatively safe, but know your limits, say researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) who conducted the first...

According to Hoel et al, the message of sun avoidance must be changed to acceptance of non-burning sun exposure sufficient to achieve serum 25(OH)D concentration of 30 ng/mL or higher in the sunny season and the general benefits of UV exposure beyond those of vitamin D. Image credit: Biedermann.

Study Says Avoiding the Sun is an Emerging Health Problem

Nov 20, 2016 by News Staff

Americans are increasingly at risk of insufficient sun exposure, according to a landmark study published this week in the Journal of Dermato-Endocrinology. According...

Colorized scanning electron micrograph of filamentous Ebola virus particles (blue) budding from a chronically infected cell (yellow). Image credit: NIAID / CC BY 2.0.

Symptom-Free Ebola Discovered in Sierra Leone

Nov 19, 2016 by News Staff

A research team headed by Stanford University scientist Eugene Richardson has identified twelve individuals with previously undetected Ebola virus infection...

Discovery and screening of the humimycins. Top: the humimycins were predicted from closely related gene clusters found in two Rhodococcus spp. cultured from human subjects. Center: chemical structures of humimycin A and B; the two antibiotics differ only at the fourth (F or Y) and sixth (V or I) residues. Bottom: MIC values for the humimycins against a panel of human commensal and pathogenic bacteria; the humimycins were particularly active against bacteria in the Staphylococcus and Streptococcus genus. Image credit: John Chu et al.

Humimycins: Scientists Discover Two New MRSA-Active Antibiotics

Nov 17, 2016 by News Staff

Using a novel approach called syn-BNP (synthetic-bioinformatic natural product) approach, scientists from the Rockefeller and Rutgers Universities have...

Scanning electron micrograph of HIV particles infecting a human T cell. Image credit: National Institutes of Health.

Newly Identified Antibody Neutralizes 98% of HIV Strains

Nov 16, 2016 by News Staff

A team of researchers led by Dr. Mark Connors of NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has identified an antibody from an HIV-infected...

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