As probiotics grow in popularity, a recent study investigates the reliability of online information. They find that the majority of “top” websites provide information that lacks scientific evidence. As scientists have become increasingly interested in the role of gut bacteria, so have the public. In parallel with the microbiome’s rise to fame, probiotics have grown…
(Jan. 20) Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP) today welcomed the American College of Physicians’ (ACP) endorsement of single-payer Medicare for All. The ACP, a national organization of 159,000 internists, is the largest medical specialty society and second-largest physician group in the U.S. after the American Medical Association (AMA). The ACP announced its endorsement…
A bone marrow transplant can be a lifesaving treatment, but it can come with life-threatening risks. The encouraging news for patients: Those risks have been plummeting for years. The overall risk of death after transplant dropped 34% between 2003-2007 and 2013-2017, according to an analysis published in the Jan. 21 issue of the Annals of…
A technique that enables patients suffering from heart conditions to hold their breath safely for over 5 minutes could have potential as part of a new treatment for cardiac arrhythmias, say researchers at the University of Birmingham. In a new study, published in Frontiers in Physiology, researchers initially proposed the technique as a new means…
Breast cancer progression can vary significantly between patients. Even within the same tumor, different areas may be composed of different types of cells and characterized by different tumor structures. This heterogeneity makes it challenging to ascertain the severity of a tumor and assess its molecular subtype, thereby affecting the precision of diagnosis and the choice…
Drugs for diabetes, inflammation, alcoholism — and even for treating arthritis in dogs — can also kill cancer cells in the lab, according to a study by scientists at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The researchers systematically analyzed thousands of already developed drug compounds and found nearly 50 that…
Boston, MA — For most patients, melanoma begins with a small, pigmented spot on their skin that they notice starts to change. Many primary melanomas can be cured by having this lesion removed, but melanoma can also recur and spread; an analysis of the removed lesion can offer some information on the likelihood that the…
A new type of scan that involves magnetising molecules allows doctors to see in real-time which regions of a breast tumour are active, according to research funded by Cancer Research UK* and published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences today (Monday). This is the first time researchers have demonstrated that this scanning technique,…
Like motley bandits, certain enzymes implicated in cancer and other diseases also annihilate each other. A new study reveals details of their mutual foils in the hopes that these behaviors can be leveraged to fight the enzymes’ disease potential. The bandits are cathepsins, enzymes that normally dispose of unneeded protein in our cells. But in…
Marijuana use is on the rise as more states legalize it for medicinal and recreational purposes, and physicians are fielding more questions about its safety. Although smoking tobacco is responsible for approximately one in four deaths from cardiovascular disease, the effects of smoking marijuana on the heart are not fully understood. Some studies suggest that…