A Yale-led study examines the potential environmental benefits of more carefully selecting patients for prostate biopsy in a way that can also spare low-yield and potentially harmful procedures.
Income affects maternal and infant health in some unexpected ways, study finds
While higher income improves maternal and infant health over time, it’s not enough to offset the impact of race, according to new University of Michigan research.
Post-COVID syndrome visible in DNA, shows study
A reprogramming of which genes are active, and which are not, is visible in post-COVID sufferers. This is shown in a study from Linköping University, Sweden, on a small group of individuals. The researchers can see that genes associated with taste and smell, as well as cell metabolism, are affected in individuals with post-COVID syndrome. These findings may ultimately contribute to the development of new diagnostic tools for this and similar diseases.
Injectable tissue provides significant, long-term relief for chronic back pain, finds research
A minimally invasive treatment that injects allograft disk tissue into the spine to relieve pain associated with degenerative disk disease provides significant improvement in pain and function over a sustained period, according to new research to be presented at the Society of Interventional Radiology Annual Scientific Meeting in Phoenix, March 4–9.
US drugmaker Eli Lilly says slashing insulin prices by 70%
US pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly announced Wednesday it was cutting the cost of its most commonly prescribed insulins by 70 percent after years of soaring prices that hit millions of Americans living with diabetes.
Unique alcohol avoidance program is associated with lower death rates
A statewide alcohol-monitoring program in South Dakota that requires people arrested for drunk driving and other alcohol-involved offenses to be tested frequently for alcohol use can reduce the likelihood that participants die during the years after their involvement with the program, according to a new RAND Corporation study.
How bacteria invade the brain
A new study led by researchers at Harvard Medical School details the step-by-step cascade that allows bacteria to break through the brain’s protective layers—the meninges—and cause brain infection, or meningitis, a highly fatal disease.
Study reinforces potential use of zika virus to combat prostate cancer but points to possible side-effect
Preclinical trials have shown that zika virus can inhibit the spread of prostate cancer, suggesting its potential use in treating the disease. However, a new study by researchers at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in São Paulo State, Brazil, shows that zika can trigger a persistent inflammatory process in healthy epithelial cells and damage the male reproductive system.
Researchers reveal how oxygen is delivered to tissues, opening the door to a new class of drugs
Cardiovascular medicine, hematology and pulmonary medicine may soon have the first-ever therapies to correct poor tissue oxygenation, a key driver of disease in millions, including peripheral artery disease, sickle cell disease, heart failure, stroke, emphysema and many others.
How gut bacteria can impact treatments for cancer
A large team of cancer researchers affiliated with multiple institutions in Germany, working with a colleague from the U.S., has discovered some of the ways gut bacteria can positively impact treatments for cancer. In their study, published in the journal Nature, the group studied the impact of gut microbiota on chemotherapy given to patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Le Li and Florencia McAllister with the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, have published a News and Views piece in the same journal issue, outlining the work done by the team in Germany.