Category: Education
Potentially deadly gas in foam form found to soothe inflammation
Despite the toxic and dangerous effects of carbon monoxide gas, a team of researchers has discovered that, when incorporated into stable foams, carbon monoxide can reduce inflammation and aid tissue regeneration. Researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the University of Iowa, and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center have developed a […]
Music “speaks” to patients with dementia
Dementia is a degenerative condition that is hard to escape from as we age. Different therapy-based interventions have been developed to help people with dementia including talking therapy and pet therapy alongside cognitive stimulation methods – these continue to be improved on to help more people improve their quality of life as the illness progresses. […]
Weight control in a pill?
A collaborative effort led by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine (Baylor) looks into the possibility of packaging the benefits of exercise – in relation to weight management – into pill form. The researchers have identified a molecule in the blood that is produced during exercise that might be used in oral form to effectively […]
Giving away money voluntarily and excessively may be a sign of Alzheimer’s
Different from healthy financial altruism, research from the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California suggest that willingness to give away money among older adults as well as their susceptibility to scam, fraud, or financial exploitation, could be linked to early-stage Alzheimer’s disease. Using a behavioural economics paradigm, researchers studied the ease […]
Similarities between brain protein aggregations in long COVID and Alzheimer’s patients
Researchers from La Trobe University in Australia have found proteins generated by the SARS-CoV-2 virus – especially in patients diagnosed with long COVID – can form into aggregations of amyloid proteins often seen in the brains of patients with neurodegenerative disease. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least one in five […]
Transparent face masks’ dual benefit over surgical face masks
The use of transparent face masks may be better than surgical face masks, say researchers from Japan. While face masks have been effective at controlling the spread of the coronavirus, they also conceal much of the face, making it hard to communicate and interact as we once did. Instead, transparent face masks can allow for […]
Glucose monitor used to detect SARS-CoV-2 antibodies
Adapting glucose monitors/meters to sense other target molecules can be an inexpensive method for infectious disease detection. Researchers report on such a test in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, whereby a simple glucose-meter-based test incorporating a novel fusion protein accurately detected SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and allowed users to monitor antibody levels at-home, over a […]
Hotter human brains are actually healthy and protective
Healthy brain function is indicated by warmer human brain temperatures, and varies depending on the time of day, brain region, sex and menstrual cycle, and age, according to researchers from the UK. In healthy participants of a study at the Edinburgh Imaging Facility, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, the average brain temperature was found to be […]
New method to boost growth of insulin-producing cells
A study of zebrafish and mammalian cells has led researchers at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden to identify a small molecule that may help regenerate pancreatic beta cells that produce insulin. Diabetes (type 1- and type 2 diabetes) is brought on by the lack of, or inability to produce insulin, the hormone that regulates blood […]
Injectable gel implant seen to greatly reduce chronic back pain
Results of the first study looking at how a particular hydrogel could be used in humans reveals a promising treatment for chronic lower back pain caused by degenerative disc disease (DDD). The specially developed hydrogel cushions the vertebrae in the same way as natural spinal discs, and also features similar biomechanical properties, unlike prosthetics, to […]
