Those pesky dimples around your thighs and buttocks that make you squirm at the thought of exposing your legs in the summer months? That’s cellulite. According to Healthline, cellulite “forms when fatty tissue deep in the skin pushes up against connective tissue.” And guess what? It’s completely normal. Despite the role it might play in […]
First-in-human clinical trial to assess gene therapy for Alzheimer’s disease
Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine have launched a first-in-human Phase I clinical trial to assess the safety and efficacy of a gene therapy to deliver a key protein into the brains of persons with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) or Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), a condition that often precedes full-blown dementia. The […]
Do you have to tell your boss if you've had the Covid vaccine?
Now that the vaccine rollout has been underway for some time, questions are being raised about eventually being allowed to return to the workplace. Every adult in the UK could have both doses of the Covid vaccine by August or September, according to the head of the UK’s vaccine task force, Dr Clive Dix. As […]
WHO says more than 11,000 Ebola vaccines will go to Guinea
The World Health Organization says it will be sending more than 11,000 Ebola vaccinations to the West African nation of Guinea in the coming days to combat the recent epidemic of the deadly hemorrhagic fever that has been declared in the country’s southern N’Zerekore region. WHO regional director for Africa Dr. Matshidiso Moeti said Thursday […]
California Aims to Address the ‘Urgent’ Needs of Older Residents. But Will Its Plan Work?
Even as the pandemic derailed some of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s biggest health care proposals, such as lowering prescription drug costs, it crystallized another: the pressing need to address California’s rapidly aging population. Already nine months into their work when Newsom issued the nation’s first statewide stay-at-home order last March, members of a state task force […]
Proton therapy induces biologic response to attack treatment-resistant cancers
Mayo Clinic researchers have developed a novel proton therapy technique to more specifically target cancer cells that resist other forms of treatment. The technique is called LEAP, an acronym for “biologically enhanced particle therapy.” The findings are published today in Cancer Research, the journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. “The human body receives […]
Antibiotic could be repurposed and added to tuberculosis treatment arsenal
Research has found fidaxomicin, an antibiotic usually used to treat bowel infections, prevents growth of resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTb) in the lab. Published in the Journal of Medical Microbiology, the research found that fidaxomicin was more effective than existing tuberculosis (TB) medication at preventing growth of the bacterium that causes TB. Researchers compared […]
Coping with loss: We need a national strategy to address grief beyond the coronavirus pandemic
The new president of the United States has been referred to as having grief as a superpower. U.S. citizens have expectations about their president as “comforter-in-chief,” something at which President Biden’s predecessor failed miserably. As we surpass the grim milestone of 20,000 deaths in Canada to COVID-19, I am left wondering who is demonstrating leadership […]
Researchers develop algorithm to find possible misdiagnosis
It does not happen often. But on rare occasions, physicians make mistakes and may make a wrong diagnosis. Patients may have many diseases all at once, where it can be difficult to distinguish the symptoms of one illness from the other, or there may be a lack of symptoms. Errors in diagnosis may lead to […]
Teens may be more likely to use marijuana after legalization for adult recreational use
Adolescents who live in California may be more likely to use marijuana since adult recreational marijuana use was legalized in 2016, according to a new report in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. “The apparent increase in marijuana use among California adolescents after recreational marijuana legalization for adult use in 2016 is surprising […]