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BOSTON - In individuals with functional neurological disorder (FND), the brain generally appears structurally normal on clinical MRI scans but functions incorrectly (akin to a computer software crashing), resulting in patients experiencing symptoms including limb weakness, tremor, gait abnormalities and non-epileptic seizures. In some cases, childhood maltreatment may have been a contributing factor, yet links between risk factors such as childhood abuse and brain mechanisms for the development of FND remain poorly understood.
BOSTON - In a new discovery, researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have detected widespread inflammation in the brains of veterans diagnosed with Gulf War Illness (GWI). These findings, published online in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity on February 3, could serve as a guidepost for identifying and developing new therapies for people with GWI, as well as many other chronic conditions that have recently been linked to inflamed brain tissue, or neuroinflammation.
BOSTON -- Scientists report promising activity of a novel drug that targets a key molecular driver of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) in patients with metastatic disease.
Researchers from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute report a response rate of 24 percent across all risk categories of patients given an oral first-in-class agent that targets hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) 2-a, which promotes new blood vessel growth that fuels kidney tumors.
Bioengineers from Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, have developed a prototype patch that does the same job as crucial aspects of heart tissue.
Their patch withstands the mechanical demands and mimics the electrical signalling properties that allow our hearts to pump blood rhythmically round our bodies.
Their work essentially takes us one step closer to a functional design that could mend a broken heart.
Women who go on to develop type 2 diabetes after having gestational, or pregnancy-related, diabetes are more likely to have particular genetic profiles, suggests an analysis by researchers at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions. The findings provide insight into the genetic factors underlying the risk of type 2 diabetes and may inform strategies for reducing this risk among women who had gestational diabetes.
February 13, 2020, CLEVELAND: In a new Cleveland Clinic-led study published in JAMA Oncology, researchers show that a testosterone-related genetic variant - HSD3B1(1245C) - is associated with more aggressive disease and shorter survival in men with metastatic prostate cancer.
This study - the first clinical trial validation of the relationship between HSD3B1 status and clinical outcomes - suggests that genetic testing for HSD3B1(1245C) may help physicians identify patients most likely to benefit from additional and more aggressive treatment.
The A143T variant of the GLA gene is associated with an increased risk of Fabry cardiomyopathy, according to a new study. The variant plays a role in lipid metabolism. According to the researchers, patients carrying the mutation and manifesting changes in the heart should initiate treatment to prevent the disease from progressing. The study, conducted at the University of Eastern Finland and Kuopio University Hospital, was published in the journal Heart.
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (Feb. 13, 2020) - Most clinical practice guidelines in the U.S. are created by medical specialty societies. While there is widespread awareness of the potential for intellectual and financial conflict of interest by individual panel members, there is little recognition of the potential for the processes used by guideline panels to create conflict of interest. This is particularly important for medical specialty societies, which have the dual obligation to advocate for patients served by the specialty and for the professional interest of their physician members.
Lansoprazole, an over-the-counter acid reflux drug that is often taken by pregnant women, may be a promising therapy to reduce preterm birth, according to a computational drug repurposing study that also tested several of the drugs in mice.
The study also identified 12 other FDA-approved drugs that are deemed safe in pregnancy. While the drugs encompass a variety of modalities, the scientists said they all appear to act on biological pathways that affect the immune response, which is implicated in preterm birth.
DUARTE, Calif. -- City of Hope scientists have identified an unlikely way to potentially prevent or slow the progression of aggressive breast cancer: target one's internal clock.
A world-first clinical trial has called into question the effectiveness of using more than one antibiotic to treat the deadly 'super-bug', Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) Bacteremia, commonly known as Golden Staph.
Researchers from The University of Queensland, in collaboration with global counterparts, have found using two antibiotics to treat MRSA infection provides no advantage over using a single antibiotic.
The three-year multi-centre study involved 352 patients at 27 hospitals in Australia, Singapore, Israel and New Zealand.
A decade-spanning trial found that for patients with antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis, two common methods of treatment actually do not have an impact on their long-term survival. The study, called PEXIVAS, was co-led by Peter A. Merkel, MD, MPH, chief of Rheumatology in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and was the largest ever conducted in vasculitis.
Columbia biomedical engineers have designed a novel probiotic strain that after a single dose can seek out solid tumors and safely deliver immune checkpoint inhibitors, resulting in tumor regression of treated and untreated cancer lesions.
As the second-leading cause of death in the United States, cancer is a public health crisis that afflicts nearly one in two people during their lifetime. Cancer is also an oppressively complex disease. Hundreds of cancer types affecting more than 70 organs have been recorded in the nation's cancer registries--databases of information about individual cancer cases that provide vital statistics to doctors, researchers, and policymakers.
LOS ANGELES (Feb. 12, 2020) -- Maternal factors, such as breast milk, have been shown to affect a baby's development, and previous animal studies have determined that a carbohydrate, the oligosaccharide 2'FL found in maternal milk, positively influences neurodevelopment. Now, in the first study done in humans, investigators at Children's Hospital Los Angeles in collaboration with the University of California, San Diego, have shown that 2'FL found in breast milk enhances cognitive development.