Medicine, Health

EU-funded RNA-based therapy targets the direct cause of some neurodegenerative diseases, not just their symptoms.

How the body regulates its heat is the subject of intense study as it is an area of interest in research into diabetes and obesity treatment. A new study shows the mechanism may not be as previously thought.

The Human Brian Project released the first version of its Medical Informatics Platform last year and the powerful new tool is already producing results. The Platform allows interactive access to brain-related medical information throughout European hospitals and research centres and the project reports five European hospitals and research cohorts have already been recruited.

Around 1.5 billion people worldwide are overweight or affected by obesity. They are at risk cardiovascular disease and related metabolic and inflammatory disturbances. While the links between being over-weight and the clinical conditions associated with adiposity are not clear, recent research shows it may influence DNA methylation.

Premature lambs have been kept alive for weeks using artificial wombs resembling plastic bags. It is hoped the advancement will one day offer premature babies a better chance of survival.

Bronchitis and pneumonia may be harmful, but by studying the genetic structure of the bacteria that causes them, EU-funded scientists have been able to gain a better understanding of how genes function. Their research suggests DNA is organised the same way in all living organisms, a finding that may hold the key to new vaccines and drug therapies.

A new study, drawing on the work of the EU-funded ERA project along with the further support of two others, finds more evidence that dietary restriction increases life-span, as well as delaying and protecting against age-related health problems.

By studying the interaction between touch stimuli and neural processing to improve robotic prosthetics, EU-funded projects such as NEBIAS and NANOBIOTOUCH, are also shedding light on how the whole brain functions.

A team of scientists from Wisconsin have unpicked the regions of the brain involved in dreaming and even claim to be able to predict the contents of a dream based on a person’s brain activity. The new findings promise to have important ramifications on our understanding of the purposes of dreams and of human consciousness itself.

The development of gene therapy vectors for the hereditary immunodeficiency Chronic Granulomatous Disease (CGD) is hampered by the absence of human cell lines, necessary for rapid and effective gene therapy vector testing. A new model supported by EU funding can make the process more efficient.

A new study supported by the EU-funded AIRPROM project has raised the prospect of a new treatment for asthma, a condition which afflicts 10 million people in Europe under the age of 45.

Researchers and scientists have provided a clearer picture into the true dangers of progressive brain diseases in repeated head sport injuries that must now be tackled head-on.

Clinical trials offer hope of new treatment for complicated bone injuries.

Building on EU-funded research, scientists have identified genetic traits that heighten the risk of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Commission Regulation (EU) 432/2012 lists a series of requirements for producers to legally advertise the health benefits of polyphenols in their olive oil. Thanks to the OLEUM project, an easy method can now be applied to certify compliance with this regulation.

EU-funding under the ALTEREGO project has helped researchers develop a ‘mirror game’ using artificial intelligence that could provide an affordable, non-invasive way to diagnose and monitor schizophrenia.

Various studies have established the link between high body-mass index (BMI) in pregnancy and overweight newborn babies. But does this link apply to children and teenagers? New research funded in part under the OBESITYDEVELOP project has set out to verify this hypothesis.

Part-supported through the EU-funded LUMINOUS project, neuroscientists have developed a revolutionary brain-computer interface with those in complete locked-in state (CLIS).

The EU funded POLYACT project applied textile fabrication principles to the production of microactuators, offering a range of biomedical applications both inside and outside the body.

US-based researchers have identified how the compound lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) attaches to serotonin receptors in the brain and why it is so potent.

Through a better understanding of how the HIV virus gets past the body’s immune defence, EU-funded scientists hope to be on the path towards a cure.

A new technology combining photoacoustics with ultrasounds has enabled the University of Twente to differentiate between arthritic and healthy fingers, diagnose liber fibrosis and even measure blood velocity. Soon, this device could also be tested for mapping the likes of skin cancer, burns or hardening of the arteries.

The EU-funded DISEASES project has been exploring how the Victorians diagnosed, understood and dealt with many of the phenomena related to stress and overload that characterise today’s modern globalised society. One intriguing discovery has been on the Victorian emphasis on phobias, particularly ailurophobia – the fear of cats.

Researchers have found that our increasing thirst for digital technology can have negative effects on our mental and physical health, neurological development and personal relationships.

It has been said that spending too much time on a smartphone can negatively impact brain development or even cause damage to the neck. But don’t toss yours in the bin just yet. An EU-funded project is working on smartphones’ health cred by developing ‘Sniffphone’ - a module capable of analysing the user’s breath to detect as many as 17 diseases.