Nima Majlesi, director of Medical Toxicology at Staten Island University Hospital, also not part of the research, said the new study is “fascinating, and the more research that can be done on neurodegenerative diseases such as [Alzheimer’s disease], the more answers that can then be obtained for the betterment of everyone’s health.”
“There has never been any doubt that excessive alcohol use and recurrent intoxication [are] unhealthy in the medical community. There has occasionally been some doubt on whether a small amount of alcohol use daily can have health benefits. Even in patients not at risk for [Alzheimer’s disease], excessive alcohol use and recurrent intoxication [have] many detrimental effects on human health.” — Dr. Nima Majlesi
However, Dr. Majlesi cautioned that “in this study, they exposed mice to ethanol vapors, which is not the typical route for human consumption.”
Hospitals and cancer centers are running out of two major injectable cancer drugs: carboplatin and cisplatin. Dr. Eleonora Teplinsky, head of breast medical oncology for the Valley Health System in New Jersey, joins Ali Rogin to discuss the causes and effects of the shortages, and the dilemmas that providers and their patients now face.
Researchers from the Gothelf lab at Aarhus University.
Established in Aarhus, Denmark in 1928, Aarhus University (AU) is the largest and second oldest research university in Denmark. It comprises four faculties in Arts, Science and Technology, Health, and Business and Social Sciences and has a total of 27 departments. (Danish: Aarhus Universitet.)
Imagine a dressing that releases antibiotics on demand and absorbs excessive wound exudate at the same time. Researchers at Eindhoven University of Technology hope to achieve just that, by developing a smart coating that actively releases and absorbs multiple fluids, triggered by a radio signal. This material is not only beneficial for the health care industry, it is also very promising in the field of robotics or even virtual reality.
TU/e-researcher Danqing Liu, from the Institute of Complex Molecular Systems and the lead author of this paper, and her PhD student Yuanyuan Zhan are inspired by the skins of living creatures. Human skin secretes oil to defend against bacteria and sweats to regulate the body temperature. A fish secretes mucus from its skin to reduce friction from the water to swim faster. Liu now presents an artificial skin: a smart surface that can actively and repeatedly release and reabsorb substances under environmental stimuli, in this case radio waves. And that is special, as in the field of smart materials, most approaches are limited to passive release.
The potential applications are numerous. Dressings using this type of material could regulate drug delivery, to administer a drug on demand over a longer time and then ‘re-load’ with a different drug. Robots could use the layer of skin to ‘sweat’ for cooling themselves, which reduces the need for heavy ventilators inside their bodies. Machines could release lubricant to mechanical parts when needed. Or advanced controllers for virtual reality gaming could be made, that get wet or dry to enhance the human perception.
The basis of the material, the coating, is made of liquid-crystal molecules, well-known from LCD screens. These molecules have so-called responsive properties. Liu: “You could imagine this as a communication material. It communicates with its environment and reacts to stimuli.” With her team at the department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry she discovered that the liquid-crystal molecules react to radio waves. When the waves are turned on, the molecules twist to orient with the waves’ direction of travel.
Nanoscientists have developed a wearable textile that can convert body movement into useable electricity and even store that energy. The fabric potentially has a wide range of applications from medical monitoring to assisting athletes and their coaches in tracking their performance, as well as smart displays on clothing.
The research team responsible for the textile describe how it works in a paper published in Nano Research Energy.
From smart watches to cordless headphones, people already have access to a wide range of wearable electronic devices. A range of health, sport and activity monitors are now integrated into smartphones.
A study in Australia found that men with anxiety disorders tended to have reduced bone mineral density in their lumbar spine and femoral neck bones. This association was found even when controlling for sociodemographic, biometric and lifestyle factors, other diseases, and medication use, but disappeared when participants with a history of mood disorders were excluded from the sample. The study was published in Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica.
Bone mineral density refers to the quantity of minerals, primarily calcium and phosphorus, present in a segment of bone. It serves as an indicator of bone strength and density.
Studies have shown that certain psychiatric disorders might negatively impact bone health. These include unipolar depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and anorexia nervosa. A meta-analytic review of 21 studies conducted in 2016 reported a very clear link between depression and reduced bone mineral density in several regions.
If you’ve ever struggled with insomnia, you’ve likely heard of melatonin. This nutritional supplement has been widely available in drug stores, health food stores and grocery stores for years, and touted as a natural sleep aid. It even comes in doses meant for children.
But what is melatonin? And is it safe for cancer patients to take during treatment?
Scientists from the NIHR Great Ormond Street Hospital Biomedical Research Centre (a collaboration between GOSH and UCL), London, and University of Padova, Italy, have shown for the first time how 3D printing can be achieved inside “mini-organs” growing in hydrogels—controlling their shape, activity, and even forcing tissue to grow into “molds.”
This can help teams study cells and organs more accurately, create realistic models of organs and disease, and even better understand how cancer spreads through different tissues.
A particularly promising area of research at the Zayed Centre for Research (a partnership between Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), GOSH Charity and University College London Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health (UCL GOS ICH)) is organoid science—the creation of micro-versions of organs like the stomach, the intestines and the lungs.
BRISBANE, Australia — COVID-19 infections have a lengthy track record of impacting both neurological health and thinking abilities. Some patients experience brain inflammation, while others are…
BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) — Before Fred Kalfon began exercising at the Grey Team veterans center a couple months ago, the 81-year-old rarely left his Florida home.
Parkinson’s disease, an inner ear disorder and other neurological problems, all likely caused by the Vietnam vet’s exposure to the infamous defoliant Agent Orange, made it difficult for him to move. His post-traumatic stress disorder, centering on the execution of a woman who helped his platoon, was at its worst.
