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Blog – Page 1969

Inflammation is the signature characteristic of arthritis. Quite literally, “arthritis” means swelling or inflammation of a one or more joints. A common diagnosis among older individuals, the primary cause is inconclusive, but the medical community agrees that it is most likely the cause of disease, genetic defect, an injury, or overuse. The major symptoms include joint pain and stiffness. There are many different types of arthritis, which can have varying symptoms and dictate treatment. Two of the most common include osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Osteoarthritis is caused by the deterioration or break down of cartilage. Cartilage is the slick tissue between bones to allow for easy movement. Rheumatoid arthritis occurs when the immune system attacks the joints. There are many different treatments to target arthritis, but the overall goal is to reduce symptoms and improve the patient’s quality of life. Researchers are currently finding new ways to overcome the disease and possibly reverse the effects of inflammation.

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Pure water is an almost perfect insulator.

Yes, water found in nature conducts electricity – but that’s because of the impurities therein, which dissolve into free ions that allow an electric current to flow. Pure water only becomes “metallic” – electronically conductive – at extremely high pressures, beyond our current abilities to produce in a lab.

But, as researchers demonstrated for the first time back in 2021, it’s not only high pressures that can induce this metallicity in pure water.

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Scientists have designed a striking new contact lens that could revolutionize ophthalmology. It’s based on a spiral pattern that lets the eye focus at different distances and in varying lighting conditions.

Beyond contact lenses, its inventors say the tech could be applied to a range of miniaturized imaging systems, including consumer gadgets like virtual reality headsets, to offer more versatility and flexibility than existing lenses.

The lens, called a spiral diopter, causes incoming light to spin in an optical vortex, making allowances for the various deformations in the cornea of the eye that can happen as we age.

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A new stool test appears to detect colorectal cancer precursors better than the current fecal immunochemical test. This could further reduce the number of new colorectal cancer cases as well as the number of people dying from the disease. A study led by the Netherlands Cancer Institute compared both tests.

Their results are published in The Lancet Oncology.

Each year worldwide, approximately 1.9 million people are diagnosed with colorectal cancer, and 935,000 people lose their lives as a result of the condition. If detected early, colorectal cancer is curable. However, by the time symptoms such as or blood in the stool appear, it is often too late. That is why many countries have introduced population-based screening programs. In The Netherlands, for example, people between the ages of 55 and 75 are invited to be tested every two years.

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according to a recent study.

Type 2 diabetes is associated with excess risk for kidney stones. Sodium–glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT-2) inhibitors increase urine output and alter urine composition in ways that might lower risk for kidney stones. In this U.S. study, researchers compared risks for kidney stones among 600,000 adults with type 2 diabetes who were new users of SGLT-2 inhibitors versus 600,000 propensity score–matched patients who initiated glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists and dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors, which do not have the same renal effects.

During median follow-up of 6 months, risk for kidney stones was significantly lower in patients who began using SGLT-2 inhibitors than in patients who began using GLP-1 receptor agonists (15 vs. 22 events/1000 person-years) or DPP-4 inhibitors (15 vs. 20 events/1000 person-years). The effect was larger for younger patients (age, 70).

This study suggests that initiating SGLT-2 inhibitors, compared with GLP-1 receptor agonists or DPP-4 inhibitors, is associated with lower risk for kidney stones in the short term; whether this effect will persist long term is unknown. For a patient in whom the decision to start an SGLT-2 inhibitor (vs. another diabetes drug) is otherwise a toss-up, a history of recurrent kidney stones might tip the balance toward the SGLT-2 inhibitor.

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