Health & Medicine
Shedding light on liver metastasis in pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is an aggressive and lethal malignancy, largely as a result of its early spread, or ‘metastasis’, to the liver. Dr Tami Rubinek and Professor Ido Wolf, of the Oncology Division of Tel Aviv Medical Center, Israel, have extensively studied the molecular mechanisms behind liver metastasis in patient tumour samples. They revealed that the absence of certain […]
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Biofield therapy: Evidence for the health benefits of Johrei
Johrei is an important form of biofield therapy developed by Mokichi Okada in Japan in 1935. It is said to provide health benefits when a practitioner absorbs life-force energy from the universe and channels it toward the recipient. While it is practised in some countries such as Japan, the US, the UK, Brazil, and Thailand, the mechanisms are not well […]
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Are bacteria that secrete protein degradation enzymes responsible for preterm births?
Preterm births occur before the 37th week of gestation and are the leading cause of infant deaths around the world. Although there are many factors contributing to preterm labour, including multiple gestation and diseases such as diabetes, approximately 40% of cases are associated with bacterial infection of the uterus. Dr Laura Sycuro and her team at the University of Calgary, […]
How does sleep affect immune-related disease risk?
Sergio Garbarino, adjunct professor in the Department of Neuroscience, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health, at the University of Genoa, Italy, is an internationally recognised sleep expert. In his recent work, he explores the interrelationships between sleep deprivation, immunity, inflammation, and chronic diseases. It is well established that sleep is essential for health. However, modern lifestyles are not conducive to […]
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Trastuzumab-based therapeutics: Choosing the appropriate species for safety studies
Trastuzumab is a clinically approved monoclonal antibody therapy which targets HER2 (or ErbB2) for treatment of HER2-overexpressing breast and gastric cancers. Safety studies are important in the development of antibody therapeutics and should use animal species which bind the target antigen (HER2) to understand target-mediated effects, in addition to a non-binding species to observe non-targeted effects. It is acknowledged that […]
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Healing with star power: Using plasma to treat skin wounds
New resistant bacteria strains and viruses are appearing all the time, making the treatment of infections increasingly difficult. Humanity is in dire need of new weapons to fight this worldwide war against emerging pathogens. Dr Eric Robert, Thierry Prazuck, and their teams at GREMI, CNRS/Université d’Orléans, and CHRO, Orléans, France, perform pioneering work using cold plasma to treat bacterial infections. […]
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Epidemiology–laboratory interactions for developing resilience against future infectious diseases
Bacteria are one of the leading causes of public health burden associated with food and waterborne diseases. In addition, they have many abilities that allow them to survive decontamination methods, such as biofilm formation. With the rise in antibiotic resistance and climate change also driving bacterial proliferation, new approaches are needed to mitigate the public health burden of infectious diseases. […]
Can we do more to get college students vaccinated against HPV?
Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection globally. It can cause genital warts and several types of cancer, including cervical, anal, penile, and throat cancer. Although an effective and safe vaccine against HPV infection has been available since 2006, the vaccination rates in the US remain low. The fact that more than 80% of sexually active people […]
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Riding the cardiac wave: The link between incremental pulse wave velocity and cardiovascular risk factors
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major health concern. Arterial stiffening is known to be linked to CVD risk; therefore, establishing effective ways to measure this provides a novel way to screen populations and to detect early signs of CVD. Dr P M Nabeel, Dr Jayaraj Joseph, and Professor Mohanasankar Sivaprakasam at the Healthcare Technology Innovation Centre, Indian Institute of Technology […]
Post-pandemic suicide trends in Japan
While health authorities have measured the impact of COVID-19 in terms of infections and deaths, less attention has been given to the mental illness the pandemic has left in its wake. One leading researcher in suicide prevention, Professor Masahito Fushimi, a psychiatrist at the Akita University Health Centre in Akita, Japan, has uncovered a worrying trend in suicidal behaviour sparked […]