Since the 1950s at least, researchers have speculated that the brain is a kind of computer in which neurons make up complex circuits that perform untold numbers of calculations every second. Decades later, neuroscientists know that these brain circuits exist, yet technical limitations have kept most details of their computations out of reach. Now, neuroscientists…
Research shows that white blood cells in the human brain are regulated by a protein called CD33–a finding with important implications in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new study by University of Alberta chemists. “Immune cells in the brain, called microglia, play a critical role in Alzheimer’s disease,” explained Matthew Macauley, assistant…
Opioid use among psychiatric hospital patients needs to be addressed through an integrated approach to managing mental illness, pain and substance use, a study by researchers at the University of Waterloo has found. The study found that 7.5 per cent of 165,434 patients admitted to psychiatric hospitals in Ontario between 2006 and 2017 had used…
(SACRAMENTO) — Allison Brashear, Dean of the UC Davis School of Medicine, is working to save the future workforce of neurology and to reduce the gender gap in the medical specialty. More trained neurologists are needed to meet the demand for care in the U.S. More trained neurologists are needed to meet the demand for…
Phillip Picardi joined Out magazine as editor in chief last year and was let go this week by the publication’s parent company, Pride Media. As many as 11 staffers were let go in total, according to employees there. “It has actually been the most rewarding work of my career to publish this magazine for the…
WASHINGTON — The House, delivering on one of Democrats’ central campaign promises, passed ambitious legislation on Thursday to lower the rising cost of prescription drugs by empowering the federal government to negotiate prices with pharmaceutical manufacturers. The bill, known as H.R. 3 — a numerical designation that reflects its position on Democrats’ priority list —…
To treat more than two dozen tourists severely burned in a volcanic explosion earlier this week, doctors in New Zealand are rushing to obtain a unique medical export from the United States. The doctors are buying nearly 1,300 square feet of human skin. At a briefing on Thursday in Auckland, health officials outlined the desperate…
A new government report released Thursday found health insurance companies had combed through patient charts to obtain billions of dollars of additional payments from the federal Medicare program. The report, from the federal inspector general’s office, examined payments billed by insurers for those covered by private Medicare Advantage plans, which are increasingly popular and heavily…
Everyone dies, but almost nobody expects to die today. Yet, accidents do happen. In 2017, accidents and unintentional injuries were the third-most-common cause of death of Americans. Although we live in a remarkably safe world by historical standards, many of us needlessly increase our risk of sickness, injury and even death without realizing it. Let’s…
A recent article about a highly unconventional experiment involving a man who had received a bone marrow transplant has raised some questions for readers of The New York Times. Four years after the lifesaving procedure, all the DNA in the patient’s semen had been replaced by that of his donor. This came as a surprise…