ScienceDaily: Top Health News

Mindfulness meditation is effective in reducing pain relief; a new study reveals the underlying neural circuitry.

A new universal flu vaccine protects against influenza B viruses, offering broad defense against different strains and improved immune protection, according to a new study.

From pandemics to nuclear energy -- the world is full of risks. Psychologists have developed a new method of determining how risk is perceived within a society.

Immunotherapies, such as immune checkpoint inhibitors, have transformed the treatment of advanced stage cancers. Unlike chemotherapies that kill cancer cells, these drugs help the body's immune system to find and destroy cancer cells themselves. Unfortunately, only a subset of patients responds long-term to immune checkpoint inhibitors -- and these treatments can come at a high cost and with side effects. Researchers have developed a two-step approach using whole exome sequencing to zero in on genes and pathways that predict whether cancer patients will respond to immunotherapy. The study, published in Nature Communications and conducted by researchers at New York University, Weill Cornell Medicine, and the New York Genome Center, illustrates how the use of whole exome sequencing can better predict treatment response than current laboratory tests.

A discovery could offer new methods for treating HIV, while uncovering the innate immune system's role in other diseases.

Bioengineers have developed the first biohybrid model of human ventricles with helically aligned beating cardiac cells, and have shown that muscle alignment does, in fact, dramatically increases how much blood the ventricle can pump with each contraction.

Researchers provide some of the first empirical evidence that brain ripples exist. These electrical waves have long been hypothesized as a way for the brain to integrate and encode memories.

People with two pediatric-onset neurodevelopmental disorders are prescribed opioids at a rate up to five times higher than those who do not have those conditions, a new study finds. Researchers say the findings raise concerns over addiction, overdose and mental health issues.

When robots appear to engage with people and display human-like emotions, people may perceive them as capable of 'thinking,' or acting on their own beliefs and desires rather than their programs, according to new research.

The growing incidence of a potentially cancer-causing liver disease in children is associated with prenatal exposure to several endocrine-disrupting chemicals, researchers report.

Hospital readmissions for asthma are increasing among children, according to a new study, highlighting the gaps in health care for the most common chronic pediatric illness.

Outpatient antibiotic management of selected patients with appendicitis is safe, allowing many patients to avoid surgery and hospitalization, and should be considered as part of shared decision-making between doctor and patient.