Our immune system’s capacity to mount a well-regulated defense against foreign substances, including toxins, weakens with age and makes vaccines less effective in people over age 65. At the same time, research has shown that immunotherapy targeting neurotoxic forms of the peptide amyloid beta (oligomeric Aβ) may halt the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, the most […]
Lying in bed, Elise Colquitt realised she needed to get up and use the bathroom. But when she tried to move her legs out of the bed, she just couldn’t do it. Elise was unable to lift her arms or move her legs, and quickly realised she couldn’t shout loud enough for help from her […]
While billions are being spent on the search for a COVID-19 vaccine and treatment, experts say there may be something you can do to help avoid the virus that costs nothing: open the window. Growing evidence suggests that allowing air to circulate around enclosed spaces can help disperse the air-borne viral droplets that cause infection. […]
Through the development of new technology, University of Minnesota researchers have developed a method that allows scientists to understand how a fruit fly’s brain responds to seeing color. Prior to this, being able to determine how a brain responds to color was limited to humans and animals with slower visual systems. A fruit fly, when […]
SATURDAY, Sept. 26, 2020 — Challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic may increase the risk of suicide, so it’s crucial to know the warning signs, a mental health expert says. Suicide is often preventable, because people considering suicide want help, according to Dr. Ahmad Hameed, a psychiatrist at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical […]
Clostridioides difficile, or C. diff, is the leading cause of health care-associated infection in the U.S. Only two antibiotics, vancomycin and fidaxomicin, are FDA approved for the treatment of C. diff, but even these therapies suffer from high treatment failure and recurrence. Now, Purdue University innovators have advanced novel compounds they developed to help treat […]
For many people who are struggling to conceive, in-vitro fertilization (IVF) can offer a life-changing solution. But the average success rate for IVF is only about 30 percent. Investigators from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital are developing an artificial intelligence system with the goal of improving IVF success by helping embryologists objectively […]
Some Muslims are reluctant to donate organs after death due to beliefs about the afterlife. So a new website encouraging British Muslims to learn more about organ donation has now launched in hopes that more people will open up to staying on the register. OrganDonationInIslam.com summarises what the Islamic position on organ donation is and […]
It became clear, very early on in the coronavirus pandemic, that lockdown would put domestic abuse victims and survivors at increased risk. But the pandemic has also taken its toll on the people who help them. I spoke to people on the front line to find out how they were coping. Over the past few […]
Many New Zealanders will be feeling anxious, disappointed and even angry about the return of COVID-19 in the community. Many of us prefer to suppress these emotions because they are unpleasant or we may feel under-equipped to manage them. But if left unrecognized and unchecked, they will drive our behavior. We may act without thinking […]
