Medicine, Health

Scientists show that tiny, nano-engineered capsules relieve pain up to 20 times longer than a standard injection, and with no side effects.

The dramatic diversification of animals could be explained by a revolution within their own biology, rather than the planet’s rising oxygen levels. This is the novel hypothesis of a team of researchers who presented their findings of a recent study based on evidence from proteins found in tumours.

With the prevalence of allergy and asthma on the rise around the world, the race is on to explain this increase and stem the tide. A recent study finds a clue in an unlikely source… intestinal worms.

Empathy encourages prosocial behavior, while an empathy deficit has been linked to psychological disorders. By further examining the mechanisms involved, new research hopes to offer risk analysis and better treatment for antisocial behaviour.

Unhealthy food provokes our immune systems to react similarly to its response to a bacterial infection, apparently making the body’s defences more aggressive over the long term. These are the findings of a recent study, which also reveals an impact on genes.

A new study has shown that vaping, generally seen as a safer alternative to smoking, may still raise the risk of certain cancers and heart disease. The research team tested the effects of e-cigarette smoke on healthy mice and human cells, reaching the conclusion that although it is safer to drag on an e-cig, it’s still a major potential health risk.

Analysis of the skeletons of victims of the 1545-1550 cocoliztli epidemic in Mexico reveals the presence of salmonella enterica Paratyphi C, a pathogen that causes enteric fever.

Lack of access to a caesarean section, or complications arising from one, accounts for many deaths in developing countries, but now a team of scientists has identified that a simple drink of bicarbonate of soda could make all the difference.

A team of scientists and clinicians led by an EU-funded researcher has managed to record the brain activity of a premature, new-born baby during resting and during an epileptic seizure.

Old adage? Urban myth? Either way the saying ‘You are never further than two metres from a rat’ tends to make people look around themselves nervously. Since our move into settlements first gave rats the environment they needed to thrive, we’ve been battling their numbers – for the most part unsuccessfully.

A new study suggests human parasites were responsible for the spread of the plague and that the rat may have got a bad rap!

Frailty in the elderly has multiple adverse health outcomes, including disability, morbidity, falls, hospitalisation, institutionalisation, and even death. One project is adding tools to help healthcare professionals treat an ageing population.

Animal and human investigations indicate that the impact of trauma experienced by mothers affects early offspring development, but new research is also discovering that it is also actually encoded into the DNA of subsequent generations.

By mapping the brains of more than 800 people, scientists have found positive links between the way we behave and the way our working memory can carry out its functions.

New research from Cambridge University, supported by European Union funding, has added weight to the theory that education protects against Alzheimer’s disease.

Scientists studying glucose fermentation in yeast have found that proteins linked to cancer can be activated by sugar.

For the first time a treatment has been developed for Huntington’s, an incurable, degenerative disease which has been described by sufferers as Alzheimer’s, motor neuron disease and Parkinson’s all rolled into one. The new treatment raises hopes it can be controlled or even stopped.

Probably since the dawn of time women have thrown their hands up in despair as their men folk insist that they’ve succumbed to the dreaded ‘man flu’ and take to their beds for days at a time moaning and groaning about their plight. But now a Canadian scientist has argued that man flu is real and offers possible explanations as to why.

Do the flight or fight mechanisms triggered by responses to stress, diminish with age? And if so, is there a difference between biological and chronological ageing? Questions new research is answering.

Latest research seems to show human intelligence is linked to the way our brains are wired.

By verifying a cell-based computer model that replicates the mechanics of muscle and tissue against in vitro tests, researchers have brought us a step closer to the era of personalised medicine.

As most cities-dwellers know, urban environments offer both challenges and opportunities. But when it comes to birdlife, can telomeres provide an insight into which tips the balance?

Pervasive healthcare is an approach which addresses the challenge of straining health services with evidence-based, preventative strategies. The increased accessibility of personal monitoring devices is helping breathe life into efforts.

The 2017 Nobel Prize for Chemistry has gone to three scientists for their lasting work in the cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) field. The imaging techniques mark a significant breakthrough in atomic structures and biochemistry.

Advances in the manner in which we can visualise the atomic structures of cells have been recognised in 2017 Nobel prize for chemistry. These increasingly powerful methods shine a light on how we are constructed and now the use of advanced super-resolution microscopy reveals aspects of the interrelation of the genes to the mechanisms which control them.