Use of steroids and anti-inflammatory drugs for pain relief could raise the chances of developing chronic pain, new research from McGill University and colleagues in Italy suggests. The findings bring questions for conventional practices used to treat pain, of which chronic low back pain is the most commonly reported chronic pain condition. For many decades…
Category: Medicine
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Helps Relieve Symptoms Of IBS
Cognitive behavioral therapy can teach patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) information-processing skills that address the biological roots of their gastrointenstinal symptoms, new research shows for the first time. The findings raise the possibility that CBT-responsive IBS patients can be identified in clinical practice using microbial biomarkers, before less effective treatments are initiated at great…
How Scientists Are Untangling The Mystery Of Developmental Disorders
Evie Walker sits on Alison’s lap, playing a game she never grows tired of: turning her mum’s hand over and over, stroking and examining it. When she takes a break and looks around, it is with the open-mouthed look of curiosity and awe that you see in many infants. Evie’s vocabulary currently consists of a…
CHRNA5 Gene Mutation Contributing Factor To COPD Predisposition
Substituting a single nucleotide in the gene coding for the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor can lead to functional changes in airway cells and result in symptoms similar to COPD, independent of smoking, new research1 has found. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive chronic respiratory disease characterized by permanently obstructed airways. Symptoms include a chronic…
NGFR Molecule Promotes Early Metastasis In Melanoma
Nerve growth factor receptor (NGFR) drives the process of early metastasis in melanoma, work from an international team of scientists has found. Additionally, blocking the molcule reduces metastasis in animal models. The reduction was achieved using THX-B. This molecule is being tested for the treatment of other pathologies, which will accelerate its possible use in…
Hormone Replacement Therapy Not Linked To Higher Dementia Risk
A large study assessing the risks of developing dementia associated with different types and durations of menopausal hormone therapy found no increased risk regardless of hormone type, dose, or duration1. Within the subgroup of women with a specific diagnosis for Alzheimer’s disease, a slight increasing risk association was found with use of estrogen-progestogen treatments, but…
Azithromycin Reduces Premature Births and Low Birth Weight
The antibiotic azithromycin reduced low birth weight and prematurity in Africa and Asia but didn’t lower infant deaths, infections or hospital admissions, a research review1 has found. In a systematic review and meta-analysis, researchers led by the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) reviewed 14 studies undertaken in African and Asian countries, involving 17,594 participants. This…
ModTect Software Uncovers Epitranscriptome Dysregulation Across Multiple Cancer Types
Researchers from the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore (CSI Singapore) have developed a software program – called ModTect – that can help reveal the relationships between RNA modifications and the development of diseases and disorders. Led by Professor Daniel Tenen and Dr Henry Yang, the scientists carried out their own novel pan-cancer study1 covering 33…
Rova-T Ineffective Against Small Cell Lung Cancer
Rovalpituzumab tesirine (Rova-T) is not effective against small-cell lung cancer (SCLC), four independent studies show. SCLC remains a difficult disease to treat, especially at the time of relapse. Currently, topotecan is among the most effective treatments, but it is not the most desirable and favored drug in the second-line setting because of its toxicity profile.…