ScienceDaily: Top Health News

Researchers report that patients with chronic hepatitis C who are treated with direct-acting antiviral medicines are less likely to be hospitalized or seek emergency care for liver and non-liver related health issues. The study underscores the extraordinary effect of these newer antivirals, which have been shown to cure hepatitis C in 98 percent of patients who take them.

Latest advance in chronopharmacology, based on mouse models, suggests that time-of-day matters when using steroids to treat muscle diseases.

Researchers show how major disturbances occur in the gut microbiome of patients suffering from heart disease. Given this latest evidence from microbiome research, researchers now call for stronger and more focused public health initiatives to prevent or delay these common diseases that are a leading cause of premature death worldwide through encouraging a plant-based and energy-controlled diet, avoidance of smoking and compliance with daily exercise.

Children with insomnia symptoms are likely to persist with them as young adults and are significantly more likely to develop an insomnia disorder in early adulthood compared to children who do not have difficulty sleeping, according to new research. The study describes the developmental trajectories of childhood insomnia symptoms through adolescence and into young adulthood.