ScienceDaily: Top Health News

How relaxing COVID-19 restrictions could pave the way for vaccine resistance

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 04:53 PM PDT

A new article outlines how relaxing Covid-19 restrictions could pave the way for new vaccine-resistant virus mutations. It describes how we are in an 'arms race' with the virus and how rising cases could provide opportunities for it to evolve into even more transmissible variants. The researchers say that any new variants could be more virulent, more vaccine resistant, and more dangerous for children and vulnerable groups such as transplant patients.

Differences in financial risk preferences can make or break a marriage

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 02:17 PM PDT

While it is well known that fighting over money can lead couples to divorce court, new research finds that differences in risk preferences, especially when it comes to financial matters, are likely a root cause of marital separation.

Global dementia cases forecasted to triple by 2050

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 02:17 PM PDT

Positive trends in global education access are expected to decrease dementia prevalence worldwide by 6.2 million cases by the year 2050. Meanwhile, anticipated trends in smoking, high body mass index and high blood sugar are predicted to increase prevalence by nearly the same number: 6.8 million cases.

More than just walking: A new role for core brain region

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 02:17 PM PDT

For decades, a key brain area has been thought to merely regulate locomotion. Now, a research group has shown that the region is involved in much more than walking, as it contains distinct populations of neurons that control different body movements. The findings could help to improve certain therapies for Parkinson's disease.

Patients report long-term favorable effects of weight loss surgery in their daily lives

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 02:16 PM PDT

A new study shows that over the course of five years, patients who had bariatric and metabolic surgery to treat uncontrolled type 2 diabetes reported greater physical health, more energy, less body pain, and less negative effects of diabetes in their daily lives, compared with patients who had medical therapy alone for their diabetes.

Fruit fly offers lessons in good taste

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 02:15 PM PDT

The fruit fly has multiple taste organs throughout its body to detect chemicals, called tastants, that signal whether a food is palatable or harmful. It is still unclear, however, how individual neurons in each taste organ act to control feeding. To explore this question, a team used the fly pharynx as a model to study whether taste information regulates sugar and amino acid consumption at the cellular level.

Model can predict how drug interactions influence antibiotic resistance

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 02:15 PM PDT

A model using simple changes in microbe growth curves could predict how drug resistance evolves in response to different antibiotic combinations, doses and sequences.

Black American women with vitamin D insufficiency more likely to test positive for COVID-19, study finds

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 01:32 PM PDT

In a recent study of Black American women, low levels of vitamin D appeared to be related to increased incidence of COVID-19 infection.

Emphasize personal health benefits of COVID-19 vaccination, experts say

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 01:32 PM PDT

Several forms of public messages can increase vaccination intentions, but messaging that emphasizes personal health benefits has the largest impact.

Early signs: Perceptual distortions in late-teens predict psychotic symptoms in mid-life

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 01:32 PM PDT

Subtle differences in perception during late-teen years can predict the development of hallucinations, delusions, and, in some instances, psychosis later in life, according to new research.

New strategy for drug design: Keeping copper atoms closer to keep bacteria away

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 01:32 PM PDT

Hydrogen peroxide reacts with copper to produce hydroxyl radicals with strong antibacterial properties. However, this requires high copper concentrations because two copper atoms have to come close together, which occurs by chance. Now, scientists have engineered a long polymer with copper-containing side units that create regions with locally high copper density, boosting the antibacterial activity of hydrogen peroxide and paving the way to a new drug design concept.

New insights into the relationship between how we feel and our views on aging

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 11:52 AM PDT

A new study finds that the disconnect between how old we feel and how old we want to be can offer insights into the relationship between our views on aging and our health.

Scientists uncover how decisions about what we see are relayed back through the brain

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 11:52 AM PDT

Researchers have discovered that decisions based on visual information, which involve a complex stream of data flowing forward and backwards along the brain's visual pathways, is broadcast widely to neurons in the visual system, including to those that are not being used to make the decision.

New approach for cell therapy shows potential against solid tumors with KRAS mutations

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 10:14 AM PDT

A new technology for cellular immunotherapy showed promising anti-tumor activity in the lab against hard-to-treat cancers driven by the once-considered "undruggable" KRAS mutation, including lung, colorectal, and pancreatic.

Eating for hunger or pleasure? Regulating these feeding behaviors involves different brain circuits

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 10:14 AM PDT

Researchers discovered that although the brain regulates feeding for pleasure and for hunger through serotonin-producing neurons in the midbrain, each type of feeding is wired by its own independent circuit that does not influence the other type of feeding.

Turning the molecular clock back on suppresses neuroblastoma tumor growth

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 10:14 AM PDT

Researchers show that restoring normal function of the molecular clock suppresses tumor growth in advanced neuroblastoma and can make tumors more sensitive to conventional chemotherapy.

Leader effectiveness may depend on emotional expression

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 09:13 AM PDT

Women leaders must often battle sexist stereotypes that label them 'too emotional' for effective leadership. A surprising new study shows that when they express calm, happy emotions, however, women are perceived as more effective leaders than men. The effect is most pronounced for leaders in top positions in an organization.

Measuring creativity, one word at a time

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 08:19 AM PDT

Can you think of three words that are completely unrelated to one another? What about four, five, or even ten? According to researchers, this simple exercise of naming unrelated words and then measuring the semantic distance between them could serve as an objective measure of creativity.

DNA tags enable blood-based tests to assess cancer treatment outcomes

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 08:02 AM PDT

Cell-free DNA (cfDNA) shed into the blood was discovered in the late 1940s but with rapid advances in genomics and computational analytics in just the past few years, researchers now believe that studying tags, or modifications to this type of DNA, may lead to a better understanding of how to assess, and possibly modulate, treatment approaches for cancer and other diseases.

T cell response not critical for immune memory to SARS-CoV-2 or recovery from COVID-19, study finds

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 07:47 AM PDT

New research conducted in monkeys reveals that T cells are not critical for the recovery of primates from acute COVID-19 infections.

Scientists discover early signs of frontotemporal dementia in personalized cerebral organoids

Posted: 26 Jul 2021 08:48 PM PDT

Frontotemporal dementias are a group of fatal and debilitating brain disorders for which there are no cures. Researchers describe how they were able to recreate much of the damage seen in a widely studied form of the disease by growing special types of cerebral organoids in petri dishes. This form of the disease is caused by a genetic mutation in tau, a protein that is a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. By studying these organoids, the scientists discovered how the mutated tau protein may trigger the death of a specific class of neurons known to be vulnerable in frontotemporal dementia. They also showed that they could prevent the death of these neurons by treating the organoids with an experimental drug, originally designed to combat Crohn's disease.

New breakthrough to help immune systems in the fight against cancer

Posted: 26 Jul 2021 12:29 PM PDT

New research has identified potential treatment that could improve the human immune system's ability to search out and destroy cancer cells within the body. Scientists have identified a way to restrict the activity of a group of cells which regulate the immune system, which in turn can unleash other immune cells to attack tumours in cancer patients.

Using silicone wristbands to measure air quality

Posted: 23 Jul 2021 12:45 PM PDT

Inexpensive and convenient devices such as silicone wristbands can be used to yield quantitative air quality data, which is particularly appealing for periods of susceptibility such as pregnancy.

New dietary treatment for epilepsy well tolerated and reduced seizures, study finds

Posted: 22 Jul 2021 04:49 PM PDT

A clinical trial of a new dietary treatment for children and adults with severe forms of epilepsy based on the ketogenic diet has been successfully completed.

Advanced bladder cancers respond to immunotherapy regardless of gene mutation status

Posted: 22 Jul 2021 04:49 PM PDT

Researchers report a study has demonstrated that patients with advanced bladder cancers whose tumors have a mutated FGFR3 gene respond to immunotherapy in a manner that is similar to patients without that mutation. This discovery runs counter to previous research that suggested FGFR3-mutated bladder cancers should not be treated with immunotherapy.