Health & Medicine
Shining a light on sarcoidosis: The path from infection to treatment
Sarcoidosis can often be difficult to diagnose and tricky to treat. The disease, which produces ball-like conglomerates of inflammatory cells called granulomas in the affected organs, looks likely to be caused by a bacterium called Propionibacterium acnes. Dr Yoshinobu Eishi and his team at Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Japan, investigate the previously unknown path from P. acnes infection to […]
Nuts about nuts: The Mediterranean solution to diabetes control
Professor David Jenkins and his team at The University of Toronto investigate the impacts of exchanging carbohydrates for mixed nuts – a source of unsaturated fats – on critical risk factors for cardiovascular disease, such as low-density lipoprotein particle size and apolipoprotein B levels. They also discern that adopting a lower-carb, high-fat diet, reminiscent of the Mediterranean diet, increases glycaemic […]
Collaboration between specialist and primary health services in psychiatry: Development and implementation of the Pomor model to Arkhangelsk County, Russia
Historically, mental health problems have been met with reactions of stigma and discrimination. Due in large part to widespread campaigns to reduce this, attitudes are changing and mental health issues are finally being given the attention and investment they deserve. That said, there are still several issues related to care that need to be addressed. Dr Tore Sørlie and colleagues […]
The role of IL-33 in preventing metabolic disease
Dr Amal Hasan is based at the Dasman Diabetes Institute, State of Kuwait. Her work looks at the mechanics behind the relationship between obesity and metabolic disease. In particular, Dr Hasan’s research has shed light on the involvement of a molecule called IL-33 in metabolic disease. IL-33 and its interactions with another molecule, ST2, may play a role in metabolic […]
Dry needling could hold the key to relieving lower back pain
Lower back pain is a common health issue in adults. Many treatments, both conventional and alternative, are available. Dry needling is an alternative medicine technique that is gaining popularity among physical therapists and their patients. In an upcoming study, Dr Ulrike Mitchell of Brigham Young University, Provo, USA and her team will investigate the potential of dry needling to relieve […]
Gestational diabetes: A novel detection strategy
Gestational diabetes is a complication arising in pregnancy that can lead to serious and lifelong health concerns for the mother and child. Currently all pregnant women undergo screening for gestational diabetes, a time-consuming and demanding procedure. However, diagnosis often comes late in pregnancy, leaving limited time for intervention. Dr Jonatan Dereke and his fellow researchers at Lund University, Sweden are […]
Therapeutic drug monitoring of methotrexate in disease
Professor Dr Robert de Jonge, Dr Gerrit Jansen, Ittai Muller MSc and Helen Gosselt MSc, Amsterdam University Medical Center, are pioneering analytical approaches which can be used to understand why patients respond differently to the anchor drug used to manage rheumatoid arthritis, called methotrexate. Their work has begun to unravel the key factors behind the mechanism of action of methotrexate, […]
Targeted protein degradation: A new direction for treatment of diseases
Many illnesses are currently treated with drugs that block the action of disease-causing proteins. Often, these drugs work well initially, but over time can become toxic or less effective. A new class of therapeutics called protein degraders, including proteolysis targeting chimeras (‘PROTACs’) and molecular glues shows promise to overcome these challenges. They do so by targeting the disease-causing protein for destruction, […]
Disruptive change in contemporary medical education:
Unintended consequences and risks
Undergraduate medical education in the United States is undergoing a process of change in the way teaching is delivered and educational outcomes are assessed. Latterly however there have been questions raised about the pedagogical methods behind the changes, particularly how they affect the teaching of pathology as the basis of medicine, and the development of physician-scientists. Here, we learn more […]
Integrating molecular epidemiology and microbiome science
How cancer patients respond to therapy
Understanding the variation in responses to cancer therapeutics would create better treatment for many patients and provide an important basis for further research into new or personalised treatments. It is understood there is a connection between patient response to treatment and their microbiome. However, there is currently a lack of consensus on the microbial signatures present in responsive versus unresponsive […]