The virus that causes COVID-19 probably originated in wild bats that live in caves around Wuhan, China, and may have been passed to a second animal species before infecting people, according to the World Health Organization. Many of the most devastating epidemics of recent decades – including Ebola, avian influenza and HIV/AIDS – were triggered […]
There’s new evidence that a 2,000-year-old medicine might offer hope against a modern scourge: COVID-19. The medication, called colchicine, is an anti-inflammatory taken as a pill. It’s long been prescribed for gout, a form of arthritis, and its history goes back centuries. The drug was first sourced from the autumn crocus flower. Doctors also sometimes […]
In women with a history of miscarriage, higher levels of physical activity were associated with a greater risk of subclinical, or very early, pregnancy loss, according to new research at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Among women with confirmed pregnancy, physical activity and miscarriage risk were unrelated. “Risk related to physical activity is different for […]
New imaging technology allows scientists to see the widespread loss of brain synapses in early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, a finding that one day may help aid in drug development, according to a new Yale University study. The research, published May 13 in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, compared the density […]
A paper published in the Journal of Biomedical Optics (JBO), “Imaging hydroxyapatite in sub-retinal pigment epithelial deposits by fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy with tetracycline staining,” demonstrates a potential new diagnostic option for catching a degenerative eye disease in its earliest stages. Tiny deposits of lipids, proteins, and minerals, sometimes known as drusen, can collect under […]
Early GP referrals are likely to lead to cancer patients surviving longer, a study by King’s College London and funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) has found. The analysis of 1.4 million cancer patients in England published today in the British Journal of General Practice, led by King’s College London and Public […]
Swift and strict containment measures in California appear to have succeeded in reducing hospital overcrowding and mass deaths from coronavirus, according to health experts in the country’s most populous state. California, one of the first states struck by the deadly disease, has been under lockdown for nearly four weeks. During that time its confirmed case […]
The prevalence of the virus that causes COVID-19 was tracked during the early days of the pandemic by pooling samples from people with upper respiratory symptoms in a study conducted by researchers at the Stanford School of Medicine. Combining samples from several people at a time allowed the scientists to estimate the prevalence of the […]
Scientists have developed a new immunotherapy that eradicates solid tumours in mice without adverse side effects, according to a new study published today in eLife. The newly developed chimeric antigen receptor-T cell (CAR-T cell therapy) could soon be tested in clinical trials. In addition, the researchers used a new mouse model that could be used […]
Analysis of human mobility and epidemiological data by a global consortium of researchers, led by the University of Oxford and Northeastern University, shows that human mobility was predictive of the spread of the epidemic in China. Restrictions of travel from Wuhan unfortunately came too late and research showed that the impact of travel restrictions declines […]
