News • In children
Long COVID symptoms rarely persist beyond 12 weeks
Long COVID symptoms rarely persisted beyond 12 weeks in children and adolescents unlike adults.
News • Better ventilation needed
COVID-19 virus gets better at becoming airborne
Study suggests need for better ventilation and tight-fitting masks, in addition to widespread vaccination to help stop spread of the virus.
News • Fastball EEG
EEG test could increase early diagnosis of Alzheimer's
A two-minute passive-test that measures people’s brain waves in response to a series of images, 'Fastball EEG', could help expand early dementia diagnosis.
News • Obesity
People should focus more on fitness over weight loss
When it comes to getting healthy and reducing mortality risk, increasing physical activity and improving fitness appear to be superior to weight loss.
News • Combined with antibiotics
Bacteria-killing viruses to fight antibiotic-resistant bacteria
Researchers have found a way to defeat the multi-resistant bacterium Mycobacterium abscessus, a relative of the causes of tuberculosis and leprosy.
News • QCovid tool
Vaccinated groups at highest risk of Covid-19 hospitalisation
According to new research, vaccinated people are at greatest risk from severe Covid-19 leading to hospitalisation or death from 14 days post the second dose vaccination, when substantial immunity should be expected.
News • Promising approach
New nanoparticles suppress resistance to cancer immunotherapy
Hokkaido University scientists and colleagues in Japan have found a way that could help some patients overcome resistance to an immunotherapy treatment for cancer. The approach, proven in mice experiments, was reported in the Journal for Immunotherapy of Cancer.
News • Enhancing T cell response
New targets for cancer vaccines identified
Over the past decade, scientists have been exploring vaccination as a way to help fight cancer. These experimental cancer vaccines are designed to stimulate the body’s own immune system to destroy a tumor, by injecting fragments of cancer proteins found on the tumor.
News • Ground-breaking
Researchers identify likely cause of Alzheimer’s disease
The study identified that a probable cause of Alzheimer's disease was the leakage from blood into the brain of fat-carrying particles transporting toxic proteins.
News • Microscopy enhanced
3D imaging of human organs with micrometer resolution
Researchers at Umeå University now demonstrate a method by which specific cell types in human organs can be studied with micrometer precision. The method can be used to reveal previously unrecognised alterations in the pancreas, but it can also be used to study other human organs and diseases.
News • Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
New predictive biomarkers for ALS identified
Some blood lipid biomarkers linked to cardiovascular disease risk are also associated with a lower risk of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) suggest the findings of a large epidemiology study. ALS is the commonest form of motor neuron disease - a progressive nervous system disease that destroys nerve cells responsible for voluntary movement such as walking and talking.
News • Altered bacterial function
Accumulation of drugs in the gut may reduce their effectiveness
Common medications can accumulate in gut bacteria, a new study has found, altering bacterial function and potentially reducing the medications’ effectiveness. These interactions - seen for many drugs including those used to treat depression, diabetes, and asthma - could help researchers to better understand how drug effectiveness and side-effects differ between individuals. The study is…
News • Respiratory research
Covid-19 infection does not affect lung function in kids, young adults
Covid-19 infection does not appear to affect the lung function of young adults, according to new research presented at the ‘virtual’ European Respiratory Society International Congress. In the first study to investigate the impact of Covid-19 infection on lung function, researchers led by Dr Ida Mogensen, a post-doctoral fellow at the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden, found that even…
News • Understanding oncogenesis
How normal cells turn into liver cancer cells
Researchers at the University of Helsinki could show for the first time that normal human fibroblast cells can be converted to specific cancer cells using only factors that are commonly detected in actual human patients. Previous studies have achieved this only by using powerful viral factors that are not common in human cancers. Since many human cancer types still lack specific diagnostic…
News • Immune system research
How the gut microbiome can help prevent brain damage in preemies
Extremely premature infants are at a high risk for brain damage. Researchers at the University of Vienna and the Medical University of Vienna have now found possible targets for the early treatment of such damage outside the brain: Bacteria in the gut of premature infants may play a key role.
News • New cause for tumor spread found
Blood vessels produce growth factor that promotes metastases
Scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and the Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, have identified a new growth factor produced by blood vessels that enables tumor cells to metastatically colonize organs.
News • Prevention of toxic DNA lesions
Promising mechanism to stop Huntington's progression
A new mechanism that stops the progression of Huntington’s disease in cells has been identified by scientists at the University of Cambridge and University College London (UCL), as part of their research groups at the UK Dementia Research Institute. Researchers say the breakthrough study, published in Cell Reports, could lead to much needed therapies for the rare genetic disease, which is…
News • Cardiac arrest help takes flight
AED drone delivery shows great potential
Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden can now report the results of a unique pilot project where drones were used to deliver defibrillators to real-life alerts of suspected cardiac arrest. The drones were dispatched in more than a fifth of the emergencies and arrived on target and ahead of the ambulance in most cases.
News • Cardiovascular disease prevention
Why a good night's sleep can save your heart
In a new study, researchers at Lund University and Uppsala University have seen a clear connection between how long a person sleeps and a number of biomarkers linked to cardiometabolic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.
Video • Coronavirus medication research
Lab-grown beating heart cells could identify Covid drugs
Scientists have grown beating heart cells to attempt to identify drugs to prevent Covid-19-related heart damage. Concerns over the extent of cardiac damage among Covid patients emerged during the coronavirus pandemic and there are also suggestions that the impact on cardiomyocytes could contribute to the symptoms of long Covid. To explore these issues, a research team at the University of…
News • Atrial fibrillation
Night shift work could increase risk of heart problems
People who work night shifts are at increased risk of developing an irregular and often abnormally fast heart rhythm called atrial fibrillation (AF), according to research published in the European Heart Journal. The study is the first to investigate the links between night shift work and AF. Using information from 283,657 people in the UK Biobank database, researchers found that the longer and…
News • Revealed in CT scans
Lung damage: New cause for breathing troubles in asthmatics found
A novel CT scan-based approach has revealed significant changes in a parameter indicating lung destruction in some asthmatics. This finding could lead to more personalized treatments for asthma accompanied by persistent airflow limitation. Clinicians have long thought that some people with asthma experience declines in their lung function, called fixed airflow obstruction (FAO), due to changes to…
News • Infection research
Researchers pinpoint Covid-19's most contagious phase
Each wave of the pandemic has underscored just how contagious Covid-19 is, but there is less clarity among experts on exactly when—and to what extent—infected individuals are most likely to spread the virus.
News • Nephrolith research
Fatty liver disease promotes formation of kidney stones
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common liver disease in western countries, with an increasing incidence worldwide. Consequences of NAFLD can also include kidney disease and kidney stones, although the mechanisms for the development of these kidney complications as a result of NAFLD have not yet been fully explained. Researchers at the Leibniz Research Centre for Working…
News • More nurses, less ventilation and medication
A new approach to improve outcomes for critically-ill children
A major UK clinical trial led by Queen’s University Belfast has shown how a new approach to reduce the use of mechanical ventilation can greatly improve outcomes for critically ill infants and children. The study, funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Programme, found that a greater involvement of nurses, minimising sedation use and increasing daily…