Health & Medicine
Nanomedicine for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 and other viruses
While many viral infections can be prevented through vaccination, it can take a long time for vaccinations to be developed for new diseases and many people object to themselves or children taking vaccines. There is a high need for quicker, readily available alternative treatments. Serial entrepreneur Professor Thomas J Webster thinks this could be achieved using nanomaterials. Webster’s research has […]
Facilitating open discussions: New guidelines for paediatric blended diets
Homemade blended diets are becoming more popular in children with long-term feeding tubes. Due to the challenges and intricacies of a blended diet, open discussions and multidisciplinary team working are crucial if we are to ensure consistency and plan for the best outcomes for the child and family. In 2020, Nestlé Health Science UK launched a paediatric tube feed containing […]
Cooling Cryosim drops for treatment of cough
A cough can significantly impact our quality of life, disrupting sleep and daily activities. Coughing is usually a symptom of benign viral infections – but sometimes a cough can linger long after the infection has cleared and persist for months. There is a need for new treatments to alleviate lingering coughs. Professor Edward T Wei at the University of California, […]
Unlocking the mechanism of action of arsenic trioxide in leukaemia
The blood cancer acute promyelocytic leukaemia (APL) has recently been transformed from a fatal condition to a curable one, thanks to the development of treatments including vitamin A1 and arsenic trioxide (ATO). Although very effective, the mechanism of action of ATO has remained unclear until now. Changing this is Professor Paul B Tchounwou and his team at Jackson State University, […]
A new strategy for the treatment of chronic wounds
Wound healing is highly regulated, but oxidative stress (OS) can disturb this healing process in chronic wounds. To better understand the process of initiating chronicity, Dr Manuela Martins-Green and her colleagues at the University of California investigated the impact of increased OS levels on wound healing by stimulating chronic wound development in a diabetic mouse model. The team provides insight […]
Shining a spotlight on diabetic retinal detachment
Diabetes mellitus affects millions of people globally. Patients are at risk of associated diseases and often encounter problems with their eyesight. Dr Miguel A Quiroz-Reyes, retina specialist at Oftalmologia Integral ABC, Mexico City, Mexico, set out to investigate the outcomes of diabetic patients with advanced complications of the retina. These patients had developed diabetic macula-off tractional retinal detachment, a known […]
Bolstering brawn with the brain
Nervous system and muscle adaptations cause strength gains during resistance training. Nervous system adaptations primarily cause the gains during the first few weeks, while muscle adaptations primarily cause gains over the longer term. There remains a gap in the research regarding the effect of chronic resistance training on the nervous system, however, due to challenges involved in collecting data over […]
Detecting dental diseases with AI dental image analysis
Dentists often use panoramic dental radiography, capturing the entire mouth in a single image, to diagnose dental diseases. The manual examination of these complex images is time consuming and laborious. Sangyeon Lee at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), together with Donghyun Kim, Dr Hogul Jeong, and Jaehyeong Park from InVisionLab, has developed a deep-learning model for […]
Pulmonary tuberculosis: Biomarker discovery in the quest for new therapies
Pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) presents a significant health burden worldwide with treatments remaining suboptimal. In the pursuit of new or adjunctive therapies, Esmeralda Juárez and researchers at the Department of Research in Microbiology at the National Institute of Respiratory Diseases in Mexico City investigate the lungs’ immune-response mechanisms to TB infection. By sampling the breath of TB patients using a non-invasive […]
Knee pain: ‘The hidden lesions’ and novel treatments
Knee pain and osteoarthritis (knee OA) impact hugely on quality of life. Drawing from clinical experience and research studies, Professor Shaw-Ruey Lyu and colleagues at the School of Medicine, Tzu-Chi University, Taiwan, describe ‘the hidden lesions’ of knee OA and propose the concept of Knee Health Promotion Option (KHPO) for effective treatment. The team highlight the role of medial abrasion […]