The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is located in South-eastern Europe on the Balkan Peninsula. The anti-vaccine movement is not only present in Canada and in the United States, but also in many other countries. Now, a measles epidemic is ongoing in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the anti-vaccine movement has contributed in part […]
Tag: medicine
Quitting is good for the brain
People who quit smoking may reduce or halt the thinning of the brain’s cortex. A new study has found that the cortex of the brain, which plays a key role in memory, attention, thought and language, is known to thin with age and this feature is used as one of the biological markers for cognitive […]
Gene causing common scoliosis identified
Researchers have identified the first gene causing idiopathic scoliosis, the most common type of spinal deformity. They identified 11 family members of a French family that were carriers of a rare variant of the gene, called POC5, and then used zebrafish to confirm that this variant really cause spinal deformity. This study is the first […]
Maternal hypertension and the baby
While almost 10 per cent of pregnant women have hypertension, a new study suggests that should not worry them too much when it comes to their baby’s health. An international team of physicians followed 987 pregnant women in 16 countries, 75 per cent of which suffered from hypertension. They randomly assigned them to either a […]
New guidelines for weight management
Weight and obesity is a public health issue in Canada as more than 67 per cent of Canadian men, and 54 per cent of women are considered overweight or obese. The Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care has drafted new recommendations for clinicians and policy-makers after reviewing currently existing prevention and treatment literature. The […]
Nocturnal leg cramps more common in summer
Painful nocturnal leg cramps are about twice as common during summer than in winter, a new study has found. The authors found this by looking at the prescribing information in British Columbia between 2001 and 2007, for Quinine sulfate, commonly prescribed to treat the pain, and the volume of internet searches for “leg cramps” from […]
How heritable is autism?
A new study shows how complex it is to understand autism from a genetic point of view. Researchers sequenced the genomes of 85 families with two children who are both affected with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). They found that the majority (around 70%) of affected siblings did not share common mutations. Greater than 100 susceptibility […]
How eating salt reprograms the brain
Researchers have described a mechanism by which high salt intake can lead to higher blood pressure. Using rats, they found that salt causes biochemical changes in neurons that release vasopressin, a hormone that increases arterial blood pressure. Salt disables the natural safety mechanism that prevents vasopressin from being released in the blood, thus allowing blood […]
How does the media report on vitamin D?
News articles linked vitamin D to a wide range of health benefits for which there was no conclusive scientific evidence, while downplaying limitations and overlooking risks of supplementation, according to a new study shows. Lead author Tim Caufield will launch a book on popular culture and health titled Is Gwyneth Paltrow Wrong About Everything? When Celebrity […]
A solution to the medical isotope shortage?
Radioactive isotopes are used regularly for diagnostic and cancer treatments, but as aging nuclear research reactors are shut down, new ways to create the technetium 99m necessary for medical scans are being investigated. A team of scientists has now confirmed that regular hospital based cyclotrons are able to produce enough technetium-99m, to satisfy the daily […]
Over fifty new potential drugs against Ebola
Researchers have identified 53 existing drugs that could prevent the entry of Ebola virus into human cells. To achieve this result, they screened 2816 drugs that are already approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the US. These drugs are already used as antibiotics, antihistamines (against allergies), antipsychotics or against cancer. They now need […]
Promising antibody found against dengue virus
An international team of scientists has discovered an antibody capable of neutralising all four forms of Dengue Virus (DENV). Dengue is a viral disease spread by mosquitoes. No vaccine or medication to protect against this emerging disease currently exist. Researchers hope this finding could lead to the development of a vaccine against the disease. The […]
A new kind of stem cell
Scientists have observed a new class of stem cell with the capacity to turn into nearly any cell type. Called F-class cells for the fuzzy appearance of its colonies, these cells could potentially be used in regenerative medicine and drug discovery. In a second related paper, researchers with the Project Grandiose Consortium announce a new […]
No apparent correlation between HPV vaccine and risky sexual behaviour
Vaccinating teenage girls against the human papilloma virus (HPV) does not appear to increase risky sexual behaviour. There was concern that receiving the vaccination would cause an increase in such behaviour, however this study shows the concern is unfounded and should not prevent vaccinating girls at a young age. The study followed over 260,000 girls […]
Hospital deaths dropping in Canada
Hospital deaths continue to decrease across Canada, new data shows. Nearly 60 per cent (47 out of 83) of hospitals in Canada achieved a decrease in hospital deaths over the last five years. Hospitals have made strides in reducing mortality related to heart attack (down 19 per cent), sepsis (down ten per cent) and heart failure (down five […]
Treatment for Type 1 diabetes shown to work on human pancreas cells transplanted into mice
An amino acid produced by pancreas was shown to prevent and even reverse Type 1 diabetes in mice injected with human pancreatic cells, a new study shows. Type 1 diabetes is a disease that cause the immune system to destroy insulin-producing cells, called Beta cells. Researchers had already shown back in 2011 that the amino […]
