Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog

Category: biotech/medical – Page 599

12,000-Year-Old Preserved Human Brains Defy Soft Tissue Decay Assumptions

The human brain, it turns out, can be surprisingly resistant to the ravages of time.

A new study has cataloged human brains that have been found on the archaeological record around the world and discovered that this remarkable organ resists decomposition far more than we thought – even when the rest of the body’s soft tissues have completely melted away.

Led by molecular taphonomist Alexandra Morton-Hayward of the University of Oxford, a team of scientists has identified more than 4,400 preserved human brains, dating back as far as 12,000 years ago. The results contradict previous evidence that the human brain is among the first organs to decay after death.

Scientists Find ‘Switch’ That Stops Immune System Attacking Healthy Cells

Our immune system is talented at telling the difference between the chemistry of our own body and that of an invading pathogen. When it malfunctions, our body can become host to an intense civil war.

Scientists are keen to understand this in more detail, and a newly identified ‘switch’ that deactivates a sensor of foreign DNA may provide important insight.

A key part of this discovery, made by a team from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne, is an enzyme called cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS).

Your Blood Could Be Aging Your Brain, Increasing Risk of Dementia

Our brains change more rapidly at various times of our lives, as though life’s clock was ticking faster than usual. Childhood, adolescence and very old age are good examples of this.

Yet for much of adulthood, the same clock seems to tick fairly regularly. One lap around the Sun; one year older.

However, there may be a stage of life when the brain’s clock starts speeding up. The brain starts changing without you necessarily noticing it. It may even be caused (partly) by what’s in your blood.

Surgical Management and Predictors of Postoperative Complications of Retrosternal Goiters: A Retrospective Study

Delve into insights from a captivating retrospective study on Surgical Management and Predictors of Postoperative Complications of Retrosternal Goiters!

Tap the link to know more 🔗

Background: The preferred standard treatment for retrosternal goiter (RSG), a slow-growing, often benign tumor, remains thyroidectomy. An alternative strategy may be required when the goiter is intrathoracic. Data on the results of RSG procedures are rarely reported. Careful patient selection and assessment are critical to avoiding an unexpected sternotomy during surgery and postoperative complications. This study aims to examine the clinical findings and treatment outcomes of RSG and to identify the variables affecting postoperative complications in a resource-limited setting.

Method: A retrospective study was conducted at Al-Thawra Modern General Hospital in Sana’a, Yemen, on 69 patients diagnosed with RSG and undergoing thyroidectomy between April 2019 and February 2023.