Health Problems

New epidemic forecast model could save precious resources

When governments and institutions deploy epidemic forecast models when facing an outbreak, they sometimes fail to factor in human behavior and over-allocate precious resources as a result. Thanks to new research authored by a Texas A&M University engineering professor, that may no longer be the case. Dr. Ceyhun Eksin, lead author and assistant professor in […]

Health Problems

Low-cost retinal scanner could help prevent blindness worldwide

Biomedical engineers at Duke University have developed a low-cost, portable optical coherence tomography (OCT) scanner that promises to bring the vision-saving technology to underserved regions throughout the United States and abroad. Thanks to a redesigned, 3-D-printed spectrometer, the scanner is 15 times lighter and smaller than current commercial systems and is made from parts costing […]

Health News

Common medications ‘could increase dementia risk by almost half’

Common drugs used to treat depression, epilepsy and incontinence ‘could increase the risk of DEMENTIA by almost half because they damage crucial brain cells’ Anticholinergic medications were linked to an almost 50 per cent higher risk These also include drugs prescribed to Parkinson’s and mental health patients Researchers suggest they could cause the breakdown of […]

Health Problems

Rheumatoid arthritic pain could be caused by antibodies

Antibodies that exist in the joints before the onset of rheumatoid arthritis can cause pain even in the absence of arthritis, researchers from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden report. The researchers believe that the finding, which is published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, can represent a general mechanism in autoimmunity and that the results can […]

Personal Health

How a zebrafish could help solve the mysteries of genetic brain disease

A close look at the rapidly developing zebrafish embryo is helping neuroscientists better understand the potential underpinnings of brain disorders, including autism and schizophrenia. Researchers at The Ohio State University were interested in understanding changes in neurological development that arise from a genetic defect associated with neurological disease—specifically, the loss of a gene called Protocadherin-19, […]