Lifeboat Foundation

You could be walking around with an unruptured brain aneurysm. But don’t panic – the Brain Aneurysm Foundation estimates that about 1 in 50 people in the U.S. has an unruptured brain aneurysm. Director of Endovascular Neurosurgery Koji Ebersole, MD, says people are surprised to learn that the majority of aneurysms don’t cause any symptoms.

An aneurysm develops when a vessel in the brain has a thin spot, which then fills with blood, creating a bulge or balloon shape. Most brain aneurysms are small, about the size of a pea. Because the brain itself has no sensory fibers, there is no pain and the brain doesn’t register that the aneurysm is there.

“Most patients find out they have an aneurysm for a completely unrelated reason,” Dr. Ebersole says. “Maybe they’re having trouble with their sinuses and have a CT scan and the doctors find an aneurysm. When you learn you have an aneurysm, it’s important to meet with a physician who’s practiced in neurology to talk about the implications.”

Can stem cells block organ transplant rejection?

Organ transplant patients traditionally go through a grueling journey post operation, which involves a copious amount of medication for life. After years of research, Dr. Jeffrey Veale has performed a first-of-its kind surgery that could entirely change the landscape for patients. Rudabeh Shahbazi reports.

June 14 — Bill Maris, Google Ventures chief executive officer, comments on artificial intelligence’s impact on biotech, the prospects for Theranos and the venture capital environment. He speaks with Bloomberg’s Emily Chang from the Bloomberg Technology Conference in San Francisco on “Bloomberg West.”

The accuracy of chatbot-delivered medical information may be an improvement over Dr. Google, but questions remain about how to integrate it into healthcare systems.

A recent study published in BMJ Gut conducted using a nationwide medical record network in the United States has shed light on potential links between gastrointestinal (GI) syndromes and the development of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Researchers led by Bo Konings aimed to determine whether specific GI conditions and interventions precede the onset of PD when compared with negative controls, Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and cerebrovascular diseases (CVD).

Here are the key findings from the study:

● PD-Specific Associations: The study identified several GI conditions that exhibited specific associations with PD in both case-control and cohort analyses. These conditions included gastroparesis, dysphagia, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) without diarrhoea, and constipation.

Researchers Antoni Gondia and Andrew Adamatzky recently gave a robot living skin made of fungus (via Futurism). Any science enthusiast understands that the power of science can be quite astounding at times, but recreating the Terminator in real life might be a little terrifying for some.

Inspired by the skin of the Terminator, researchers are using fungus to create a bio-organic skin over non-killer robots.

In fact, the scientists openly admit that their goal was to recreate a pivotal scene in The Terminator (1984) where one of the robots is seen receiving an implantation of living skin. Though the robot’s skin is an external addition, it is able to collect data from the addition and heal any wounds incurred.

In the form of DNADNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is a molecule composed of two long strands of nucleotides that coil around each other to form a double helix. It is the hereditary material in humans and almost all other organisms that carries genetic instructions for development, functioning, growth, and reproduction. Nearly every cell in a person’s body has the same DNA. Most DNA is located in the cell nucleus (where it is called nuclear DNA), but a small amount of DNA can also be found in the mitochondria (where it is called mitochondrial DNA or mtDNA).

He added the study may lead doctors to try finding medications to mimic the effect of exercise without actually requiring physical activity.

“While this research shows promising results, a lot more research would be needed to show how much of an impact it would make on people with Alzheimer’s and how much would be needed for a preventive effect,” Voci said. “But I would argue that this gives more evidence to the broad spectrum of what exercise can treat. Exercise is medicine.”

The findings support the hypothesis that a diet high in saturated fatty acids can lead to leptin resistance. At the same time as leptin resistance is developing, the body’s fat storage tissue, known as white adipose tissue, also becomes less responsive to leptin.

Is coconut oil healthy? A study found that it disrupted mice’s ability to use leptin and insulin, two critical hormones, and as a result, may lead to diabetes and obesity.