Our blogs explain health conditions and clinical research in a way that is easy to follow, so readers can feel more informed
Potential Flu Drugs Target Immune Response
The seriousness of disease often results from the strength of the immune response, rather than with the virus, itself. Turning down that response, rather than attacking the virus, might be a better way to reduce that severity, said Juliet Morrison of...
New Brain Protein Tied to Alzheimer’s Disease
Scientists have linked a new protein to Alzheimer’s disease, different from the amyloid and tau that make up the sticky brain plaques and tangles long known to be its hallmarks. The discovery could give a new target for developing drugs and...
Research Shows Cannabis Compound Could Slow Tumor Growth
Scientists at the University of East Anglia have shown how the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis could reduce tumor growth in cancer patients. Research reveals the existence of previously unknown signaling platforms which are responsible for the drug’s success in shrinking tumors....
Governor Pushes for Trials of Marijuana Derivative
Georgia’s governor is pushing clinical trials for a marijuana-derived drug that proponents say could help treat severe seizure disorders among children, an unlikely election-year move for a Republican in a conservative part of the country that is just beginning to warm...
Study Says 99% of Alzheimer’s Drug Trials Fail
Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health have conducted the first-ever analysis of clinical trials for Alzheimer’s disease (AD), revealing an urgent need to increase the number of agents entering the AD drug development pipeline and progressing...
FDA Approves Inhalable Diabetes Drug Afrezza
The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved a long-delayed inhalable diabetes medication to help patients control their blood sugar levels during meals. The FDA cleared MannKind Corp.’s Afrezza, a fast-acting form of insulin for mealtime use, for adults with the...
Gene’s Role in Diabetes Revealed in Research
New research described details of how a diabetes-related gene functions on a biological pathway that affects the release of insulin. The study authors say that finding drugs that act on that pathway may eventually lead to a new treatment for type...
“Alter-the-Backbone” Approach Promising in Osteoporosis & Diabetes
By swapping replacement parts into the backbone of a synthetic hormone, UW-Madison graduate student Ross Cheloha and his mentor Sam Gellman, along with collaborators at Harvard Medical School, have built a version of a parathyroid hormone that resists degradation in laboratory...
Insulin Pump Outperformed by ‘Bionic Pancreas’
From right, researcher Dr. Steven Russell of Massachusetts General Hospital stands with Frank Spesia and Colby Clarizia, two participants in a type 1 diabetes trial testing an electronic device called a bionic pancreas – the cellphone-sized device shown – which replaces...
Researchers Discover Way to Develop Fast-Acting Antidepressants
UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have generated fresh insights that could aid in the development of rapid-acting antidepressants for treatment-resistant depression. The researchers found that by blocking NMDA receptors with the drug ketamine, they could elicit rapid antidepressant effects in patients...
Drug Discovery May be Revolutionized by Scientists’ Findings
Proteins are chains of amino acids that, when folded into certain structural patterns and also when unfolded, exert functions within cells. Proteins receive signals that are transmitted from one to the next and that are essential for life. However, within a...
Study: Red Meat may be related to Breast Cancer
Women who often indulge their cravings for all types of processed meats containing foods like hamburgers, steaks and other red meat may have a slightly higher risk of breast cancer due to carcinogens discovered in it, a new study suggests. Doctors have...