Category: 4. Health

  • Mindfulness and cognitive behavioral therapy improve chronic low back pain

    Mindfulness and cognitive behavioral therapy improve chronic low back pain

    The list of treatments for low back pain is endless, but few offer relief for the one in four Americans who suffer from this persistent pain and leading cause of disability globally. More than 80% of those with chronic low back pain wished there were better treatment options. Yet, without sufficient pain relief, many people need to take opioids, which can be addictive.

    The good news? A multi-institutional team, led by researchers from the Penn State College of Medicine and the University of…

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    News Source: www.sciencedaily.com

  • Researchers use AI to improve diagnosis of drug-resistant infections

    Researchers use AI to improve diagnosis of drug-resistant infections

    Drug-resistant infections — especially from deadly bacteria like tuberculosis and staph — are a growing global health crisis. These infections are harder to treat, often require more expensive or toxic medications and are responsible for longer hospital stays and higher mortality rates. In 2021 alone, 450,000 people developed multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, with treatment success rates dropping to just 57%, according to the World Health Organization.

    Now, Tulane University scientists…

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    News Source: www.sciencedaily.com

  • Childhood experiences shape the brain’s white matter with cognitive effects seen years later

    Childhood experiences shape the brain’s white matter with cognitive effects seen years later

    Mass General Brigham investigators have linked difficult early life experiences with reduced quality and quantity of the white matter communication highways throughout the adolescent brain. This reduced connectivity is also associated with lower performance on cognitive tasks. However, certain social resiliency factors like neighborhood cohesion and positive parenting may have a protective effect. Results are published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

    White matter…

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    News Source: www.sciencedaily.com

  • A gentle approach offers new hope for inflammatory lung diseases

    A gentle approach offers new hope for inflammatory lung diseases

    Pulmonary sarcoidosis is a lung disease characterized by granulomas — tiny clumps of immune cells that form in response to inflammation. It’s the most inflammatory of the interstitial lung diseases (ILDs), a family of conditions that all involve some level of inflammation and fibrosis, or scarring, of the lungs. In the U.S., pulmonary sarcoidosis affects around 200,000 patients. The cause is unknown, and no new treatments have been introduced in the past 70 years.

    In a paper published in…

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    News Source: www.sciencedaily.com

  • Hantavirus Killed Three More People—How You Can Stay Safe

    Hantavirus Killed Three More People—How You Can Stay Safe

    To everyone’s surprise, the virus that killed Gene Hackman’s wife Betsy Arakawa in February was found to be hantavirus, an uncommon viral infection spread by rodents.

    Arakawa had called a clinic for feeling “congested” and was given an appointment. She did not keep that and was later…

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    News Source: www.forbes.com

  • Perceiving one’s own body: Babies sense their heartbeat and breathing

    Perceiving one’s own body: Babies sense their heartbeat and breathing

    Body signals such as heartbeat and breathing accompany us constantly, often unnoticed as background noise of our perception. Even in the earliest years of life, these signals are important as they contribute to the development of self-awareness and identity. However, until know little has been known about whether and how babies can perceive their own body signals.

    A recent study from Wiener Kinderstudien Lab at the University of Vienna demonstrates for the first time that babies as young as…

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    News Source: www.sciencedaily.com

  • Findings on T cell exhaustion: The body prepares early for mild to severe disease

    Findings on T cell exhaustion: The body prepares early for mild to severe disease

    Even in the case of uncomplicated infections, the body prepares itself early on for the possibility of a more severe course. A research team from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and Helmholtz Munich has now uncovered this mechanism. The scientists showed that, right at the onset of mild illness, the body also produces special T cells previously known only from chronic, severe infections and tumors.

    There are different types of T cells in the body, all of which play a crucial role in…

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    News Source: www.sciencedaily.com

  • Diagnostic uncertainty in Parkinson’s disease: Study calls for improved diagnostic processes

    Diagnostic uncertainty in Parkinson’s disease: Study calls for improved diagnostic processes

    A new study by the University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Finland, found that a significant proportion of Parkinson’s disease diagnoses are later corrected. Up to one in six diagnoses changed after ten years of follow-up, and the majority of new diagnoses were made within two years of the original diagnosis.

    A recent study published in Neurology reveals significant diagnostic instability in Parkinson’s disease, with 13.3% of diagnoses revised over a 10-year follow-up period. When…

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    News Source: www.sciencedaily.com

  • Researchers discover way to predict treatment success for parasitic skin disease

    Researchers discover way to predict treatment success for parasitic skin disease

    Nearly one million people worldwide are plagued annually by cutaneous leishmaniasis, a devastating skin infection caused by the Leishmania parasite. Predominantly affecting vulnerable populations in tropical and subtropical regions like North Africa and South America, this disease thrives in areas marked by malnutrition, poor housing and population displacement. Left untreated, it can lead to lifelong scars, debilitating disability and deep social stigma. Despite its global impact, there is…

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    News Source: www.sciencedaily.com

  • AI tool can track effectiveness of multiple sclerosis treatments

    AI tool can track effectiveness of multiple sclerosis treatments

    A new artificial intelligence (AI) tool that can help interpret and assess how well treatments are working for patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) has been developed by UCL researchers.

    AI uses mathematical models to train computers using massive amounts of data to learn and solve problems in ways that can seem human, including to perform complex tasks like image recognition.

    The tool, called MindGlide, can extract key information from brain images (MRI scans) acquired during the care of…

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    News Source: www.sciencedaily.com