Medicine

According to a systematic meta-analysis published in The Lancet Diabetes Endocrinology, vitamin D supplementation does not prevent fractures or falls, or have clinically meaningful effects on bone mineral density, whether at high or low dose. Vitamin D supplementation does not prevent fractures or falls, or improve bone mineral density. “The …

Huntington’s disease is a genetic, progressive disorder that causes uncontrolled movements, emotional problems, and loss of thinking ability. The disease is caused by mutated protein, called huntingtin, with symptoms appearing in adulthood and worsening over time. New research, reported in the journal Science Translational Medicine, suggests that lowering huntingtin levels …

A new study, led by researchers at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel, demonstrates the toxicity effect of artificial sweeteners on Escherichia coli (E. coli), a sensing model representative of the gut bacteria. This illustration depicts a 3D computer-generated image of a group of Escherichia coli. Image credit: James …

Advances in medical science have resulted in higher cancer survival rates, but the treatments consisting mainly of chemotherapy and radiation are still rough on patients. A team of researchers from MIT has devised an AI platform that can help. The software takes into account important metrics based on the clinical …

About a year ago, IBM began prominently promoting Watson as a potential means of fighting cancer. IBM has been working on this technology for years, and by last summer felt confident enough to start advertising it. Follow-up reporting, however, indicates that IBM’s Watson advertisements may have been more than a …

Genetic testing firm 23andMe has been using customer data in its research program for years, but now it’s putting that data in the hands of a partner. CEO Anne Wojcicki announced today that 23andMe is working with drug maker GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to develop new drugs and treatments with help from …

The CRISPR/Cas9 system, typically abbreviated to just CRISPR, has been used to edit genomes with increasing frequency over the past few years. The name refers to specialized stretches of DNA that we can cut using an enzyme (Cas9) that functions like a molecular pair of scissors. The enzyme can be …

A large prospective cohort study of a half million people in the United Kingdom has found inverse associations for coffee drinking with mortality, including among participants drinking 1 up to 8 or more cups per day, in both slow and fast metabolizers of caffeine, and in drinkers of ground, instant …

In search of a way to rejuvenate the immune system of older adults, a team of scientists from the University of Arizona College of Medicine and elsewhere has found that the cytomegalovirus, a common viral infection affecting between 60% and 99% of adults worldwide, may not weaken, but actually boost …

In brains affected by Alzheimer’s disease, an international group of scientists has identified several chemically-reduced iron species, with mineral forms including a magnetic iron oxide called magnetite. Understanding the impact and management of these minerals could lead to more effective future therapies for the neurodegenerative condition. Everett et al scanned …