Posts in category: Uncategorized

The origin of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID, has long been a topic of heated debate. While many believe SARS-CoV-2 spread to humans from an animal at Wuhan’s Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market, others have argued the virus was accidentally leaked from a lab at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Microglia, the primary immune cells in the central nervous system, defend humans and animals from infections by “eating” pathogens, dead cells, toxic proteins and other debris in the brain. Recent neuroscience studies have consistently highlighted the role of microglia in the development of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other neurodegenerative diseases, suggesting that they can sometimes start “eating” or engulfing crucial connections between neurons.

Cannabis is a widely used psychoactive drug worldwide, and its popularity is growing: The U.S. market for recreational cannabis sales could surpass US$72 billion by 2023.

Physical exercise practiced by patients submitted to bariatric surgery acts on brain regions involved in food intake, reducing hunger or accelerating satiety, for example. This was the result observed in a clinical trial conducted at Hospital das Clínicas (HC), the hospital complex run by the University of São Paulo’s Medical School (FM-USP) in Brazil. An article on the study, pointing to positive effects of exercise on obesity-related conditions in post-bariatric patients, is published in the International Journal of Obesity.

Neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer, Parkinson and Huntington disease each cause their own distinct set of symptoms, yet they share a common feature: abnormal protein aggregation. It’s been unknown if overlapping cellular pathways underly the damaging accumulation of proteins in these diseases. Mounting evidence demonstrates how glial cells such as astrocytes and microglia play a key part in neurodegenerative disease.

Clinicians and other professionals trying to stop the opioid crisis in the United States need all the tools they can to accurately identify communities at risk of large increases in deaths from opioid use and prevent deaths. A study led by a team of computer scientists at Stony Brook University and published in npj Digital Medicine presents a unique approach using artificial intelligence (AI) and social media posts to predict opioid mortality rates.

You’re getting to the gym regularly. Meeting your friends for a walk around the block. Maybe aerobics class is your go-to exercise. But is your exercise program the best for your heart health?

Researchers from Tel Aviv University compared treatment with a dedicated protocol of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) to the pharmacology (drugs) treatment available today for patients suffering from fibromyalgia as a result of a traumatic brain injury (TBI). The researchers found that the dedicated hyperbaric oxygen therapy is much more effective in reducing pain than the drug treatment, and it even resulted in the healing of 2 out of 5 patients.

New insights into chronic gut pain offer hope for improved treatments for irritable bowel syndrome and anxiety treatment.

Women often talk about the struggles they face feeling pinched between family and work obligations. As a result, many have trouble getting enough quality sleep, managing stress and maintaining a healthy work-life balance. These issues are very near and dear to the heart of Notre Dame’s Jessica Payne, professor of psychology and director of the Sleep, Stress and Memory (SAM) Lab, whose research focuses on how sleep and stress influence psychological function, well-being and human memory.