Half of all young people treated for severe obesity have neuropsychiatric problems, according to a new study by researchers from Lund University and Gothenburg, Sweden, among others. Two thirds of the teens suffered from some type of mental health problem, as reported by themselves or their parents. Both obesity and mental illness have increased among […]
British virus variant prompts new measures in Belgium
Belgium on Monday prepared to fight the spread of the British variant of the coronavirus after outbreak reports in schools and retirement homes of the strain believed to be more infectious. Carl Decaluwe, the governor of West Flanders, which includes the postcard city of Bruges, said he had ordered a massive wave of testing in […]
New insights into the control of inflammation
Scientists at The Wistar Institute discovered that Early Growth Response 1 (EGR1), a protein that turns on and off specific genes during blood cell development, inhibits expression of pro-inflammatory genes in macrophages. As part of their function to protect the body against pathogens, macrophages play a major role in initiation, maintenance, and resolution of inflammation. […]
Pakistan launches new anti-polio drive amid tight security
Despite a steady rise in coronavirus cases, Pakistan on Monday launched a five-day vaccination campaign against polio amid tight security, hoping to eradicate the crippling children’s disease this year. The drive is the first anti-polio campaign in 2021. The previous campaign took place last August—during a brief decline in fatalities and infections from the coronavirus—and […]
Using mathematics to test new approaches to cancer therapy
Cancer therapy is typically applied at the highest dose that a patient can tolerate. Although this approach succeeds in shrinking tumors, it often fails in the long run because a minority of cancer cells are resistant to the treatment. These cells rapidly expand to fill the space left by the cells that were destroyed. Cancer […]
New drug form may help treat osteoporosis, calcium-related disorders
A novel form of a drug used to treat osteoporosis that comes with the potential for fewer side effects may provide a new option for patients. The work is supported by the National Institutes of Health and is published in Biophysical Journal. Purdue University innovators developed a stabilized form of human calcitonin, which is a […]
New clues why gold standard treatment for bipolar disorder doesn’t work for majority of patients
Lithium is considered the gold standard for treating bipolar disorder (BD), but nearly 70 percent of people with BD don’t respond to it. This leaves them at risk for debilitating, potentially life-threatening mood swings. Researchers at the Salk Institute have found that the culprit may lie in gene activity—or lack of it. A new study […]
New COVID-19 RNA test gives accurate results within minutes
University of Birmingham researchers have invented a COVID-19 test that reduces testing time from 30 minutes to under five, and delivers accurate results. The method is described in a preprint paper (yet to be peer-reviewed) published on MedRxiv, where the researchers also demonstrate the rapidity and sensitivity of their method using patient sample RNA provided […]
Research team reports new class of antibiotics active against a wide range of bacteria
Wistar Institute scientists have discovered a new class of compounds that uniquely combine direct antibiotic killing of pan drug-resistant bacterial pathogens with a simultaneous rapid immune response for combatting antimicrobial resistance (AMR). These finding were published today in Nature. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared AMR as one of the top 10 global public […]
EU scrambles to tackle holiday season chaos as new virus strain spreads
Europe scrambled Monday to thrash out a coordinated response to a new strain of the coronavirus which has prompted an international suspension of travel links with the UK, while the United States saw its own caseload top 18 million. With travellers in Europe facing a nightmare holiday season, EU ambassadors were to meet Tuesday to […]