The most commonly consumed vitamin and mineral supplements provide no consistent health benefit or harm, suggests a new study led by researchers at St. Michael’s Hospital and the University of Toronto. Published today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, the systematic review of existing data and single randomized control trials published in English […]
Parents who spend a lot of time on their phones or watching television during family activities such as meals, playtime, and bedtime could influence their long-term relationships with their children. This is according to Brandon T. McDaniel of Illinois State University and Jenny S. Radesky of the University of Michigan Medical School, both in the […]
Psychedelic drugs may have mind-altering powers in the physical sense, too. A new study, published June 12 in the journal Cell Reports, found psychedelics, specifically DOI, DMT, and LSD, can change brain cells in rats and flies, making neurons more likely to branch out and connect with one another. The work supports the theory that psychedelics […]
Neuroscientists at Western University’s Brain and Mind Institute, have confirmed and detailed a rare case of a blind woman able to see objects — but only if in motion. A team led by neuropsychologist Jody Culham has conducted the most extensive analysis and brain mapping to date of a blind patient, to help understand the […]
After a patient has a heart attack, a cascade of events leading to heart failure begins. Damage to the area in the heart where a blood vessel was blocked leads to scar tissue. In response to scarring, the heart will remodel to compensate. This process often ends in ventricular or valve failure. A team of […]
Over the last decade, bariatric surgeons have made strides in performing weight loss surgery that not only reverses obesity but can also reverse type 2 diabetes in patients with both conditions. Despite dramatic improvements in quality of life and diabetes remission, the number of patients who pursue surgery remains relatively low, according to Ali Tavakkoli, […]
New, higher-quality assemblies of great ape genomes have now been generated without the guidance of the human reference genome. The effort to reduce “humanizing” discovery bias in great ape genomes provides a clearer view of the genetic differences that arose as humans diverged from other primates. In the June 8 issue of Science, researchers report on […]
A new blood test for pregnant women detects with 75-80 percent accuracy whether their pregnancies will end in premature birth. The technique can also be used to estimate a fetus’s gestational age — or the mother’s due date — as reliably as and less expensively than ultrasound. Developed by a team of scientists led by […]
Researchers have shown that a new nuclear medicine procedure could safely and more effectively detect cancerous gastrointestinal and pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors than current methods. The study is featured in the June issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine. Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) can occur in almost any organ, but they are most commonly observed in the pancreas […]
Bioengineers may be able to use the unique mechanical properties of diseased cells, such as metastatic cancer cells, to help improve delivery of drug treatments to the targeted cells, according to a team of researchers at Penn State. Many labs around the world are developing nanoparticle-based, drug delivery systems to selectively target tumors. They rely […]