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Researchers develop promising blood substitute for transfusions

Blood transfusions can save the lives of patients who have suffered major blood loss, but hospitals don't always have enough or the right type on hand. In search of a solution, researchers have developed a promising substitute using blood's oxygen-carrying component, hemoglobin.

19 Apr 2017

UGA researchers explore new ways of predicting thunderstorm asthma outbreaks

As allergy sufferers can attest, thunderstorm activity can exacerbate asthma and respiratory ailments. In fall 2016, when strong storms moved across southeastern Australia, a major thunderstorm asthma epidemic struck Melbourne and the surrounding area. High grass pollen concentrations dispersed by strong, gusty winds led to multiple deaths and a flood of residents seeking medical attention for respiratory problems.

19 Apr 2017

Study explains how pathogenic bacterium persists in different environments

Researchers at the University of Maryland have identified how the pathogenic bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa uses tension-activated membrane channels to stop itself from swelling up and bursting when it is suddenly exposed to water.

19 Apr 2017

Salty food doesn’t make you thirsty; it makes you hungry, say experts

A new study has shown that eating salty food does not make you thirsty, but rather, it diminishes thirst. What eating salty food does do is increase the need for energy and therefore food.

19 Apr 2017

IRCM researchers discover how immunotherapy works in some cancer patients

What if our immune system could cure cancer? This logic seems almost too simple to be true, but it forms the basis of an emerging cancer treatment—immunotherapy.

19 Apr 2017

Study shows moderate-severe hot flashes as risk factor for depression

A new study of more than 2,000 perimenopausal and menopausal women showed that moderate-severe vasomotor symptoms (hot flashes or night sweats) were an independent and significant risk factor for moderate-severe depression.

19 Apr 2017

Strawberry extract can inhibit spread of breast cancer cells, mice study shows

A study by European and Latin American researchers has shown that strawberry extract can inhibit the spread of laboratory-grown breast cancer cells, even when they are inoculated in female mice to induce tumours.

19 Apr 2017

Johns Hopkins study shows that healthy adult gut loses and regenerates nerve cells

Johns Hopkins researchers today published new evidence refuting the long-held scientific belief that the gut nerve cells we're born with are the same ones we die with.

19 Apr 2017

Closed-loop brainwave technology reduces post-traumatic stress symptoms

A closed-loop acoustic stimulation brainwave technology significantly reduced symptoms in people suffering from post-traumatic stress in a small pilot study conducted at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. The study is published in the April 19 online edition of the journal BMC Psychiatry.

19 Apr 2017

Twin study shows which facial features are highly influenced by genetics

Research published this week in Scientific Reports uses computer image and statistical shape analysis to shed light on which parts of the face are most likely to be inherited.

19 Apr 2017

Researchers use CRISPR technology to create new strain of red-eyed mutant wasps

Researchers at UC Riverside's Akbari lab have brought a new strain of red-eyed mutant wasps into the world.

19 Apr 2017

Diet based on plant protein may help prevent type 2 diabetes

A new study from the University of Eastern Finland adds to the growing body of evidence indicating that the source of dietary protein may play a role in the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

19 Apr 2017

Nearly 1000 young UK women could become victims of SCAD each year, study finds

The largest ever study into a form of heart attack that mainly affects younger, seemingly healthy women has found there could be 1,000 victims per year in the UK.

19 Apr 2017

New study reports long-term infectious disease trends in China after SARS outbreak

Following the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003, China stepped up its prevention and control methods for all infectious diseases, and rates of infection have levelled off since 2009.

19 Apr 2017

‘Geneva signature’ evaluates safety and immunogenicity of promising anti-Ebola virus vaccine

An international team based at Geneva University Hospitals and at the University of Geneva, Switzerland, has succeeded in defining a "signature" composed of a small number of inflammatory markers that can be monitored in order to understand how a promising anti-Ebola virus vaccine stimulates the immune system.

19 Apr 2017

New study finds 30% drop in bowel cancer mortality rates

The rate of new cases of bowel cancer in Austria has fallen by around 20% in the last ten years, while the associated mortality rate has fallen by nearly 30%.

19 Apr 2017

LIH scientists discover unknown immune activation mechanism to ward off pathogens

Scientists of the Luxembourg Institute of Health have discovered a so far unknown molecular mechanism by which the human immune system activates its immune cells: T cells, a particular type of white blood cells, effectively ward off pathogens if a gene known as Gclc is expressed within them.

19 Apr 2017