Health News

Consuming more than five drinks a week could shorten your life

Even moderate alcohol drinking linked to heart and circulatory diseases, study finds

Regularly drinking more than the recommended UK guidelines for alcohol could take years off your life, according to new research. The study shows that drinking more alcohol is associated with a higher risk of stroke, fatal aneurysm, heart failure and death.

Smart people have better connected brains

In intelligent persons, some brain regions interact more closely, while others de-couple themselves.

Differences in intelligence have so far mostly been attributed to differences in specific brain regions. However, are smart people's brains also wired differently to those of less intelligent persons? A new study supports this assumption. In intelligent persons, certain brain regions are more strongly involved in the flow of information between brain regions, while other brain regions are less engaged.

The brain of more intelligent people is 'wired' differently from the brain of people with less intelligence, new research finds.

HPV (human papillomavirus) jab means women only need 3 cervical screens in a lifetime, research suggests.

Women who have had the HPV vaccine can still be effectively protected from cervical cancer with fewer screens, suggests new research.

Women may only need three cervical screens in their lifetime if they have been given the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, according to a new study published in the International Journal of Cancer. The Cancer Research UK-funded team from Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), found that three screens at 30, 40 and 55 would offer the same benefit to vaccinated women as the 12 lifetime screens currently offered in England.

Culled  from https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/11/171109224038.htm

Eye and heart complications are tightly linked in type 1 diabetes

People with chronic kidney disease have much higher risk of cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death for those with type 1 diabetes. In a new article researchers demonstrated that the eye condition known as proliferative diabetic retinopathy also is independently associated with cardiovascular disease.

Engineering non-immune cells to kill cancer cells
Researchers have reprogrammed normal human cells to create designer immune cells capable of detecting and destroying cancer cells.
T-cells are one of the immune system's major weapons. They detect the body's cells infected with a virus and trigger their ablation, effectively killing the virus. T-cells cannot do the same with cancer cells, however, as they do not recognise them as foreign cells and are therefore unable to eliminate them.

Eating regular variety of nuts associated with lower risk of heart disease

People who regularly eat nuts, including peanuts, walnuts and tree nuts, have a lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease or coronary heart disease compared to people who never or almost never eat nuts, according to a new study. The study is the largest to date looking at frequency of nut consumption in relation to incident cardiovascular disease.

Secrets of Ebola unlocked in the heart of devastating outbreak

In a comprehensive and complex molecular study of blood samples from Ebola patients in Sierra Leone, published in Cell Host and Microbe, a scientific team led by the University of Wisconsin-Madison has identified signatures of Ebola virus disease that may aid in future treatment efforts.

Strong maternal antibodies for HIV ineffective for protecting infants from HIV

Researchers caution against using antibodies to prevent transmission

HIV+ mothers who possess a strong neutralizing antibody response may be more likely to pass the virus on to her infant through breast feeding. In addition, infants born to mothers with a strong antibody response are significantly more likely to have a serious illness or death, regardless of whether or not they acquire the virus, report investigators.

Avatar therapy may help to reduce auditory hallucinations for people with schizophrenia.

An experimental therapy which involves a face-to-face discussion between a person with schizophrenia and an avatar representing their auditory hallucination may help reduce symptoms, when provided alongside usual treatment, according to a study.

Injectable gel helps heart muscle regenerate after heart attack

Researchers have used mouse models to demonstrate a new approach to restart cardiomyocyte replication after a heart attack: an injectable gel that slowly releases short gene sequences known as microRNAs into the heart muscle.

Interrupted reprogramming converts adult cells into high yields of progenitor-like cells

A modified version of iPS methodology, called interrupted reprogramming, allows for a highly controlled, safer, and more cost-effective strategy for generating progenitor-like cells from adult cells. Researchers converted adult mouse respiratory tract cells called Club cells into large, pure populations of induced progenitor-like cells, which retained a residual memory of their parental cell lineage. Moreover, these cells showed potential as a cell replacement therapy in mice with cystic fibrosis.