A common gut microbe might curb the risk of developing multiple sclerosis—at least in women—suggests the largest study of its kind published online in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry.

Regular exercise doesn't erase the higher risk of serious illness or premature death that comes from sitting too much each day, a new review reveals.

An animal study led by Johns Hopkins investigators has uncovered what controls the ability of healthy hearts to speed up in response to circumstances ranging from fear to a jog around the block.

Even in its quietest moments, the brain is never "off." Instead, while under anesthesia, during slow-wave sleep, or even amid calm wakefulness, the brain's cortex maintains a cycle of activity and quiet called "up" and "down" states. A new study by Brown University neuroscientists probed deep into this somewhat mysterious cycle in mice, to learn more about how the mammalian brain accomplishes it.

Recent research has linked autism with a lack of "pruning" in developing brain connections, but a new Dartmouth study suggests instead it is the excessive growth of new connections that causes sensory overload in people with the disorder.

Regular physical activity improves brain function even in young adults considered in their prime and at the height of cognitive ability, according to a new University of Otago study.

A new study has revealed important details of a molecular signaling system in the brain that is involved in the control of body weight and metabolism. The study, published January 19 in Nature, provides a new understanding of the melanocortin pathway and could lead to new treatments for obesity.

A new analysis opens the door to discovery of thousands of potential new cancer biomarkers.

Existing cancer therapies are geared toward massacring tumor cells, but Johns Hopkins researchers propose a different strategy: subtly hardening cancer cells to prevent them from invading new areas of the body. They devised a way of screening compounds for the desired effect and have identified a compound that shows promise in fighting pancreatic cancer. Their study appears this week in the early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Women rate emotional images as more emotionally stimulating than men do and are more likely to remember them. However, there are no gender-related differences in emotional appraisal as far as neutral images are concerned. These were the findings of a large-scale study by a research team at the University of Basel that focused on determining the gender-dependent relationship between emotions, memory performance and brain activity. The results will be published in the latest issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.

Risk of stroke, coronary heart disease, depression and other life-threatening conditions can be reduced through regular outdoor walking in groups, according to research from the University of East Anglia (UEA).

Evidence already exists for the beneficial effects of drinking moderate amounts of alcohol on the risk of developing a number of heart conditions; however, the role it plays in the risk of developing heart failure has been under-researched with conflicting results.

A new 'microcapsule' treatment delivery method developed by researchers at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) could reduce inflammation in cartilage affected by osteoarthritis and reverse damage to tissue. The research was funded by Arthritis Research UK and the AO Foundation.

Challenging the long-standing belief that city dwellers suffer disproportionately from asthma, the results of a new Johns Hopkins Children's Center study of more than 23,000 U.S. children reveal that income, race and ethnic origin may play far more potent roles in asthma risk than kids' physical surroundings.

For the first time since the 1970s, researchers are on the verge of developing a new class of anesthetics. According to a study published in the February issue of Anesthesiology, the official medical journal of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA), a new approach to identifying compounds may lead to the next generation of anesthetics.

Your chance of having a heart attack or stroke increases significantly if you have been hospitalized for pneumonia, according to a paper published today in the influential JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association).

Haemoplasmas are a group of blood borne bacteria found in a wide range of mammals, including domestic and wild cats, and can cause severe anaemia. The findings of a new study have significantly advanced researchers' knowledge of immunity for these pathogens.

The use of an assisted reproduction technique known as intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) doubled between 1996 and 2012, although compared with conventional in vitro fertilization (IVF), use of ICSI was not associated with improved reproductive outcomes, according to a study in the January 20 issue of JAMA.

Medical students who worked in pairs were more accurate in diagnosing simulated patient cases compared to students who worked alone, according to a study in the January 20 issue of JAMA.

Results from a preliminary study indicate that among patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS), treatment with nonmyeloablative hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (low intensity stem cell transplantation) was associated with improvement in measures of disability and quality of life, according to a study in the January 20 issue of JAMA.

Exposure to the endocrine-disrupting chemical bisphenol A (BPA) during pregnancy can cause oxidative damage that may put the baby at risk of developing diabetes or heart disease later in life, according to a new study published in the Endocrine Society's journal Endocrinology.

Pregnant women in Austria commonly suffer from an iodine deficiency. This may have a negative impact on the development of their unborn child's brain. These are the key findings of a joint study by the Endocrinology and Metabolism Unit at the University Department of Internal Medicine III together with the University Department of Gynaecology at the MedUni Vienna and AGES, which have now been published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

University of Michigan alumna Brooke Kendrick and her husband Stephen were ready to start a family.

Thousands of chickens have been culled in southern Nigeria after the discovery of bird flu in some poultry farms, the local health authorities said on Tuesday.

Researchers are closer to understanding why babies born with smaller kidneys have a high risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

What causes cancer – and what can be done to prevent it – is one of the biggest questions in research – and although we've come a long way to answering it, there's always more to learn.

A quiet time scheduled every afternoon could improve the health of newborns and mothers in maternity wards according to researchers at McGill University.

Researchers have tracked the genetic mutations that have occurred in the Ebola virus during the last four decades. Their findings, published in mBio, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology, identified changes in the current West African outbreak strain that could potentially interfere with experimental, sequence-based therapeutics.

Both epidemiological and pre-clinical studies have suggested that coffee consumption has a protective effect against non-melanoma skin cancers. However the protective effect for cutaneous melanoma (malignant and in situ) is less clear, according to a study published January 20 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Our subconscious motivation to eat is powerfully and dynamically regulated by hormone signals. The gut-derived hormone ghrelin is one such key regulator, promoting appetite through its effects on neurons in a small region of the brain called the hypothalamus.

What motivates Penn State scientists and their students to devote countless hours trying to solve tough research mysteries? For Gong Chen, a biology professor at Penn State, the answer is rooted in a desire to help relieve the suffering of patients and their loved ones.

Immunotherapy could have a place in the treatment of substance abuse in the future. A specific antibody can reduce the acute effects of heroin, according to a new experimental study at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.

Do you eat only when you're actually hungry? Many of us eat even when our bodies don't need food. Just the thought of food entices us to eat. We think about food when we see other people eating, when we pass a favorite fast-food restaurant, when we see a scrumptious snack near the check-out at a convenience store. In addition, we're the targets of sophisticated advertising techniques designed to keep thoughts of food and the pleasures of eating almost constantly in our minds.

Multiple myeloma is a malignant disease characterised by proliferation of clonal plasma cells in the bone marrow and typically accompanied by the secretion of monoclonal immunoglobulins that are detectable in the serum or urine. Increased understanding of the microenvironmental interactions between malignant plasma cells and the bone marrow niche, and their role in disease progression and acquisition of therapy resistance, has helped the development of novel therapeutic drugs for use in combination with cytostatic therapy.

Dogs are man's best friend and partner. The origins of this dog-human relationship were subject of a study by behavioural scientists from the Messerli Research Institute at the Vetmeduni Vienna and the Wolf Science Center. They showed that the ancestors of dogs, the wolves, are at least as attentive to members of their species and to humans as dogs are. This social skill did not emerge during domestication, as has been suggested previously, but was already present in wolves. The researchers have published a summary of their results and present their new theory in the journal Frontiers in Psychology.

Despite its name, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) isn't actually a disease of the ovary.

New research from the University of Adelaide shows that young Asian Australians could be placing themselves at greater risk of developing skin cancer by engaging in "dangerous" sun behaviour.

Scientists from the Center of Advanced European Studies and Research (caesar) in Bonn, an Institute of the Max Planck Society, have succeeded for the first time in controlling the function of sperm by optogenetics. They inserted a light-activated enzyme for cAMP synthesis into mouse sperm that lacked the endogenous enzyme. Sperm of these mice are usually non-motile, and the mice consequently infertile. After stimulation of these sperm with blue light, they produce cAMP, start to swim again, and are even able to fertilise eggs. Using optogenetics, the scientists are now able to control not only the influx of ions into nerve cells, and thus their activity, but also signalling pathways in other cell types.

Leah Katzelnick was all set for a career as an anthropologist until she contracted dengue fever. She was in hospital for a week with severe symptoms. It changed her life. She is now working on a new perspective on dengue fever which involves mapping the complex interaction between different strains of the virus, based on similar work done by Cambridge experts on flu.

(HealthDay)—The best medications to use if you suffer migraine headaches are listed in a new study.

(HealthDay)—Google Glass technology for remote electrocardiogram (ECG) interpretation is significantly less reliable than paper ECG, according to a study published in the Feb. 1 issue of The American Journal of Cardiology.

(HealthDay)—Nonesterified fatty acids (NEFAs) are associated with type 2 diabetes, and the association is modified by n-3 FA levels, according to a study published online Jan. 8 in Diabetes Care.

(HealthDay)—An electronic alert triggered on order of intravenous (IV) proton pump inhibitors (PPI) can decrease the proportion of IV PPIs ordered, according to a research letter published online Jan. 19 in JAMA Internal Medicine.

(HealthDay)—About one in five children and adolescents had adverse lipid concentrations, and one in ten had borderline high or high blood pressure (BP) in 2011 to 2012, according to research published online Jan. 19 in JAMA Pediatrics.

(HealthDay)—Among women who initiate highly-active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) during pregnancy, 13.1 percent have detectable viral load (VL) at delivery, according to a study published online in the Jan. 20 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday sided with Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. in the company's high-profile patent dispute with rival firms over the top-selling multiple sclerosis drug.

New biosciences research at the University of Kent could point the way to greater understanding of the heart mutations that cause sudden cardiac arrest.

In new research published in Endocrinology, Thomas Burris, Ph.D., chair of pharmacological and physiological science at Saint Louis University, reports that his team has found a way to prevent type I diabetes in an animal model.

Parkinson's disease is a slowly degenerative neurological disease that is expressed as impaired motor control, tremors, stiffness and, in later stages, problems with balance.

A new study conducted jointly by The Water Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine calls for a new global standard for improvements in household drinking water and sanitation access.

Years of diabetes research carried out on mice whose DNA had been altered with a human growth hormone gene is now ripe for reinterpretation after a new study by researchers at KU Leuven confirms that the gene had an unintended effect on the mice's insulin production, a key variable in diabetes research.

An analysis of 10 years' worth of data on human influenza B viruses has shed new light on the pathogen which can cause the seasonal flu. Findings from this study could help make flu immunization programs more effective; by better targeting vaccines or by eventually eliminating one of the flu lineages completely.

Out of a library with billions of artificial antibodies, researchers have identified ten that can possibly prevent cancer tumours from growing.

Bariatric surgery—as a last resort when conservative interventions have failed—can improve liver disease and other obesity-related health problems in severely obese children and adolescents, according to a position paper in the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, official journal of the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN) and the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition.

A recently published study by a University of Colorado School of Medicine researcher and her colleagues suggests potential therapies for central core disease, a condition that can delay development of motor skills such as sitting, crawling and walking in affected infants.

Lung transplant patients who receive lungs from heavy drinkers are nearly nine times more likely to experience a life-threatening complication called primary graft dysfunction, a Loyola University Medical Center study has found.

While the rapid aging of China's population is thought to condemn the nation to a dismal future, past policies on education and new policies to improve health and foster internal migration could ease the challenges posed by an older citizenry, according to a new study of the impact of aging on China's future.

Current government-mandated nutrition labeling is ineffective in improving nutrition, but there is a better system available, according to a study by McGill University researchers published in the December issue of the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

New research is challenging what many obstetricians and physician anesthesiologists believe is the best way to position women during labor. According to a study published in the February issue of Anesthesiology, the official medical journal of the American Society of Anesthesiologists® (ASA®), the traditional practice of positioning women on their side, with hips tilted at 15 degrees, during labor does not effectively reduce compression of the inferior vena cava, a large vein located near the abdominal area that returns blood to the heart, as previously thought. In fact, not until the degree of tilt reached 30 degrees did blood flow only partially increase in patients, the study found.

There are many benefits to being supported by a strong social network. But can having more friends actually make you healthier? New research from Concordia shows that social relationships affect not only our mental but also our physical wellbeing.

In a new study published online in Biological Psychiatry on January 16, 2015, researchers from Butler Hospital identify an association between biological changes on the cellular level and both childhood adversity and psychiatric disorders. These changes in the form of telomere shortening and alterations of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), are important in the aging process, and this new research provides evidence that psychosocial factors—specifically childhood adversity and psychiatric disorders— may also influence these cellular changes and could lead to accelerated aging.

National Institutes of Health researchers have uncovered a key factor in understanding the elevated cancer risk associated with gene therapy. They conducted research on mice with a rare disease similar to one in humans, hoping their findings may eventually help improve gene therapy for humans. Researchers at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of NIH, published their research in the Jan. 20, 2015, online issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Once daily bathing with disposable cloths with the topical antimicrobial agent chlorhexidine of critically ill patients did not reduce the incidence of health care-associated infections, according to a study appearing in JAMA. The study is being released to coincide with its presentation at the Society of Critical Care Medicine's 44th Critical Care Congress.

(HealthDay)—Patient satisfaction is high for shared medical appointments (SMAs) for preoperative consultation regarding Mohs micrographic surgery, according to a study published in the February issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

(HealthDay)—Many physicians report encountering barriers when referring cancer patients to specialty care, according to research published in the Jan. 1 issue of Cancer.

(HealthDay)—Only about a quarter of Medicare beneficiaries fill a high-intensity statin prescription after discharge from hospitalization for a coronary heart disease (CHD) event, according to a study published in the Jan. 27 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

(HealthDay)—For 8- to 11-year-olds, bullying is associated with lower urinary tract symptoms, according to a study published in the February issue of The Journal of Urology.

Sri Lanka's new health minister said a mystery kidney disease that has ravaged farmers in part of the country for two decades will be given top priority under the newly elected government.

Nigeria was on Tuesday awarded $8.1 million in funding for a final push to eradicate polio, as it nears six months without a case of the disease.

Inflammation and immune system activation are complex processes controlled by elaborate signaling pathways and hundreds of genes that are turned on and off in response to external stimuli such as bacteria or viruses. A class of molecules called long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are now emerging as important regulators of inflammatory gene expression and potential targets for novel anti-inflammatory therapeutics, as described in a Review article in Journal of Interferon & Cytokine Research (JICR).

The Sainte-Justine University Hospital Center (CHU Sainte-Justine) affiliated to Université de Montréal is now the first institution in Québec, the second in Canada and among the world's top ten to perform a revolutionary back surgery technique in children with scoliosis. The number of such surgeries performed worldwide so far is less than a hundred. Unlike any other technique, this one enables children of seven years of age and up to 14 years old to gain a straight spine, with no limitation of movement. The intervention is performed at CHU Sainte-Justine by orthopedic surgeon Dr. Stefan Parent, who also carries research with the aim of identifying those children at-risk of major curvature progression who are likely to benefit from the new surgical technique. Straightening the spine by leveraging the child's growth

Men who live alone have a considerably greater long-term risk of dying prematurely than other patients. This is shown in a doctoral thesis that followed 1,090 stroke cases in western Sweden.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently declared a flu epidemic in the U.S., with the virus appearing in 46 states so far. Many people have stayed home sick, while officials have announced that this year's vaccine is not as effective as in years past. Alessandro Vespignani—a world-renowned statistical physicist and the Sternberg Distinguished Professor of Physics who holds joint appointments in the College of Science, the College of Computer and Information Science, and the Bouvé College of Health Sciences at Northeastern—and his team in the university's Laboratory for the Modeling of Biological and Socio-Technical Systems are utilizing large amounts of data to model the spread of the virus and predict when the outbreak will begin to taper off.

One in eight children born in 2002 or 2003 and living in remote Fitzroy Valley communities in Western Australia have Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, a landmark study has found.

Nancy Buccola, MSN, APRN, PMHCNS-BC, CNE, Assistant Professor of Clinical Nursing at LSU Health New Orleans School of Nursing, contributed samples used in a study reporting shared genetic risk factors and common pathways for schizophrenia, major depression and bipolar disorder. The results are published online January 19, 2015 in Nature Neuroscience.

Multipotent cells isolated from the human umbilical cord, called mesenchymal stromal cells (hUC-MSCs) have shown promise for use in cell therapy to treat a variety of human diseases. However, intriguing new evidence shows that hUC-MSCs isolated from women with gestational diabetes demonstrate premature aging, poorer cell growth, and altered metabolic function, as reported in an article in Stem Cells and Development.

Body temperature decreases during the first hour of surgery, even when patients are actively warmed with forced air, reports a new study published in the February issue of Anesthesiology, the official medical journal of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA). Furthermore, patients who experience the most hypothermia are more likely to require blood transfusions.

The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) for the first time announced its cancer Advance of the Year: the transformation of treatment for the most common form of adult leukemia. Until now, many patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) have had few effective treatment options. Four newly approved therapies, however, are poised to dramatically improve the outlook for patients with the disease.

Acute kidney injury often arises after major surgery because the kidneys can be deprived of normal blood flow during the procedure. The use of contrast media, or dyes, can contribute to this problem.

In a survey of 348 workers at a large psychiatric hospital, 99% of the staff reported verbal conflict with patients, and 70% reported being assaulted during the previous 12 months. Verbal conflict with other staff was also high, at 92%.

Disparities in cancer screening, incidence, treatment, and survival are worsening globally. In a new study on colorectal cancer, researchers found that the mortality-to-incidence ratio (MIR) can help identify whether a country has a higher mortality than might be expected based on cancer incidence.

When individuals wear their hearing aids for the first time, they are flooded with sounds they have not heard in months or years; yet, previous research has shown that not all new sounds are welcomed. Ambient noises such as air conditioners, wind and background conversations can be painful, irritating and difficult to ignore, causing some individuals to stop using their hearing aids right away. Now, a University of Missouri researcher has developed an intervention that helps older adults gradually increase their hearing-aid use and satisfaction with the devices.

The Veterans Affairs Department said Tuesday it is offering relief to more than two dozen employees who faced retaliation after filing whistleblower complaints about wrongdoing at VA hospitals and clinics nationwide.

A little bit of sensitivity training can help people form better first impressions of those with facial paralysis, reducing prejudices against people with a visible but often unrecognizable disability, new research from Oregon State University indicates.

The majority of lung cancers are classified as non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Even with early detection, the 5-year survival rate for patients with NSCLC is less that 50%. Compared to the surrounding tissue, cancer cells have increased energy demands to maintain rapid proliferation. Cancer cells have been shown to alter their metabolic profile to meet the increased demand in energy.

Among children undergoing mechanical ventilation for acute respiratory failure, the use of a nurse-implemented, goal-directed sedation protocol compared with usual care did not reduce the duration of mechanical ventilation, according to a study appearing in JAMA. The study is being released to coincide with its presentation at the Society of Critical Care Medicine's 44th Critical Care Congress.

A groundbreaking TGen-led discovery of the likely genetic cause of an ovarian cancer that strikes young women and girls is featured today in the annual report of the American Society of Cancer Oncology (ASCO).

Many of today's most promising renewable energy technologies – fuel cells, water splitters and artificial photosynthesis – rely upon catalysts to expedite the chemical reactions at the heart of their potential. Catalysts are materials that enhance chemical reactions without being consumed in the process. For over a century, engineers across the world have engaged in a near-continual search for ways to improve catalysts for their devices and processes.

Researchers have developed a new, non-invasive procedure to detect the severity of an allergic reaction to amoxicillin. The new biosensor platform is based on gold nanodisks, is very sensitive and works label-free, detecting the changes in the refraction index occurring at its surface after the binding of IgEs specific for amoxicillin.

The key to understanding the geologic history of the Solar System is knowing the ages of planetary rocks. Researchers have developed an instrument that is not only capable of dating rocks, but also is composed entirely of technology that can be miniaturized for spaceflight.