Health & Medicine

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, […]

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Health & Medicine

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 […]

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Health & Medicine

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 […]

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Health & Medicine

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 […]

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Health & Medicine

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 […]

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Health & Medicine

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 […]

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Health & Medicine

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 […]

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Health & Medicine

COVID toe: A dermatological manifestation of COVID-19

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, different strains of the SARS-CoV-2 virus have resulted in a variety of clinical symptoms. As well as the more common respiratory symptoms, doctors also began to notice possible skin manifestations of the disease, which appeared similar to chilblain-type lesions. Dr Kazuhiro Komura of the Department of Dermatology, Kanazawa Red Cross Hospital, Japan, has explored the link […]

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Health & Medicine

Effect of β-glucan from oats and barley on weight loss and adiposity

Obesity is a growing public health concern, but studies suggest that soluble fibre from certain cereal whole grains can help weight management. Specifically, the cell wall carbohydrate β-glucan found in oats and barley may impact body weight, body mass index (BMI), and adipose tissue. Rebecca Mathews and her collaborators in the US conducted a thorough review of key studies demonstrating […]

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Health & Medicine

New delivery technology may improve dietary supplement efficacy

More now perhaps than ever before, the world is focusing on immune health and sourcing ways to support health, including through dietary supplements. However, supplements are not held up to the same rigorous standards of efficacy as pharmaceutical products, nor are they permitted to use most of the additives currently used for controlled release in drug-delivery systems. Therefore, Dr Junichiro […]

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