Health Problems

Immune find could aid stem cell therapy quest

A discovery of how stem cells are protected from viruses could inform the development of therapies for use in medicine, research suggests. The finding could help research aimed at boosting the immune response of stem cells—early stage cells with the potential to become specialised tissues—for use in treating disease or damaged tissues. The research identified […]

Health Problems

Alterations in hippocampal structural connections differentiate responders of electroconvulsive therapy

A new study in people with major depression reports that electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) induces changes in the fibers connecting the hippocampus to brain regions involved in mood and emotion. Only patients who responded to the treatment showed these changes, and those who had the greatest changes in hippocampal pathways also showed the largest improvements in […]

Health News

Mental Health Therapy May Be Coming to a Walmart Near You

For a lot of people, Walmart is their one-stop shop for everything from groceries to clothing to a haircut. Now, one location of the retail giant is adding another service: therapy. And no, we don’t mean retail therapy — we’re talking about mental health treatment. The Boston Globe has reported that Beacon Health Options, a Boston-based […]

Health Problems

Advancing gene therapy for skin cancer

One of the deadliest skin cancers, melanoma may be caused by overexposure to ultraviolet radiation from the sun or artificial sources such as tanning beds and sunlamps. The Melanoma Network of Canada reports that lifetime risk for developing melanoma has increased to one in 63 people today—up from one in 1,500 in the 1930s. “It […]

Health Problems

Epigenetic therapy worth pursuing in hormone receptor positive advanced breast cancer

Epigenetic therapy with histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors is worth pursuing in hormone receptor positive advanced breast cancer, suggests a phase III trial reported today at the ESMO 2018 Congress in Munich. Endocrine therapies are the foundation of treatment for patients with hormone receptor positive breast cancer. However, resistance to endocrine therapy is common, leading to […]

Health Problems

New evidence of a preventative therapy for gout

Among patients with cardiovascular disease, it’s a common complaint: a sudden, piercing pain, stiffness or tenderness in a joint that lasts for days at a time with all signs pointing to a gout attack. Gout and cardiovascular disease (CVD) appear to be intimately linked—they are frequently seen together although the underlying connection between the two […]