ScienceDaily: Top Health News

A recently developed method provides new insights into cancer biology by allowing researchers to show how fatty acids are absorbed by single cells.

A new study has found that the antibiotic azithromycin was no more effective than a placebo in preventing symptoms of COVID-19 among non-hospitalized patients, and may increase their chance of hospitalization, despite widespread prescription of the antibiotic for the disease.

Messenger RNA vaccines against COVID-19 were not detected in human milk, according to a small study, providing early evidence that the vaccine mRNA is not transferred to the infant.

Researchers have described a novel primary immunodeficiency due to a mutation in AIOLOS. This acts through a novel pathogenic mechanism termed 'heterodimeric interference', whereby when two different proteins bind together in a heterodimer, the mutant protein hijacks the function of the normal protein. In a mouse model, they were able to restore some of the lost functions by interfering with the mutated protein, suggesting a possible therapeutic approach to disorders of this nature.

The brain mechanisms underlying the suppression of fear responses have attracted a lot of attention as they are relevant for therapy of human anxiety disorders. Despite our broad understanding of the different brain regions activated during the experience of fear, how fear responses can be suppressed remains largely elusive. Researchers have now discovered that the activation of identified central amygdala neurons can suppress fear responses.

A scientific review has found evidence that a disruption in blood clotting and the first line immune system could be contributing factors in the development of psychosis.

Although the risk of a child being admitted to hospital due to COVID-19 is small, a new UK study has found that around 1 in 20 of children hospitalized with COVID-19 develop brain or nerve complications linked to the viral infection.

Researchers have taken a big step toward developing targeted treatments and vaccines against a family of viruses that attacks the gastrointestinal tract.

There are substantial differences among low- and middle-income countries in the association between BMI and diabetes risk. Individual countries can optimize diabetes screening by tailoring guidelines to their specific population's risk threshold for BMI, age and gender. In some parts of the world, diabetes risk is greater at lower BMI thresholds and in younger ages than reflected in currently used cutoffs.

Among 6- and 7-year-olds who were born extremely preterm -- before the 28th week of pregnancy -- those who had more than two hours of screen time a day were more likely to have deficits in overall IQ, executive functioning (problem solving skills), impulse control and attention, according to a new study.

Adenovirus vaccine vectors, such as the ChAdOx1 nCov-19 construct which has risen to prominence as a major vaccine for COVID-19, may generate robust long-term immune system responses, according to scientists.

What are the fundamental skills that young children need to develop at the start of school for future academic success? Researchers examined the links between emotion knowledge, cooperation, locomotor activity and numerical skills in 706 pupils aged 3 to 6. The results show that emotion knowledge, cooperative social behavior and locomotor activity are interrelated and associated with numerical skills. These results suggest that locomotor activity should be added to these fundamental skills.