Cart is empty After spending 38 years in the Alabama prison system, one of the most violent and crowded in the nation, Larry Jordan felt lucky to live long enough to regain his freedom.
Some patients with a rare disease face hurdles getting the only treatment
Victor A. Mejias had been taking a drug to treat a rare skin disease for about two years when its manufacturer effectively cut off his supply.
Male, female knee cartilage disparities may explain differences in rates of degeneration
Researchers have long known there are sex disparities when it comes to the prevalence and severity of knee osteoarthritis, a disease that causes cartilage degeneration. Now, investigations underway at UT Southwestern Medical Center point to biological differences in the knee cartilage of male and female animals that could explain substantial variances in rates of osteoarthritis between the sexes and may eventually lead to tailored treatments that take these into account.
Scientists discover anatomical changes in the brains of patients with restored sight
For many decades, neuroscientists believed there was a “critical period” in which the brain could learn to make sense of visual input, and that this window closed around the age of 6 or 7.
Evidence of consciousness-like activity in the dying brain
Reports of near-death experiences—with tales of white light, visits from departed loved ones, hearing voices, among other attributes—capture our imagination and are deeply engrained in our cultural landscape.
Chances of eliminating HIV infection increased by novel dual gene-editing approach
Gene-editing therapy aimed at two targets—HIV-1, the virus that causes AIDS, and CCR5, the co-receptor that helps the virus get into cells—can effectively eliminate HIV infection, new research from the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University and the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) shows. The study, published online in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), is the first to combine a dual gene-editing strategy with antiretroviral drugs to cure animals of HIV-1.
Study finds that improved access to mental health care is associated with reductions in suicide risk
Amid historically high suicide rates and mental health care provider shortages, new research from Incite at Columbia University suggests that interventions to alleviate mental health care access disparities can prevent unnecessary death and suffering. In an article pending publication in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences next week, “Differential Spatial-Social Accessiblity to Mental Health Care and Suicide,” Daniel Tadmon and Peter S. Bearman find that in the United States improved access to mental health care is associated with reductions in suicide risk.
Cortisol is essential for a healthy stress response, say researchers
Have you been craving certain foods and gaining weight? Maybe you’re fatigued and can’t concentrate, then wake up in the middle of the night. The latest TikTok wellness trend would have you believe high cortisol levels are to blame.
The tricky economics of subsidizing psychedelics for mental health therapy
Australia is the world’s first country to legalize the medical use of psychedelics. But not everyone is sure the timing is right. There are still major issues to work out for this move to benefit those most in need.
How good is ChatGPT at diagnosing disease?
For years, many have feared that artificial intelligence (AI) will take over national security mechanisms, leading to human slavery, domination of human society and perhaps the annihilation of humans. One way of killing humans is medical misdiagnosis, so it seems reasonable to examine the performance of ChatGPT, the AI chatbot that is taking the world by storm. This is timely in light of ChatGPT’s recent remarkable performance in passing the US medical licensing exam.