Medicine

According to new research presented at the 2017 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference, the more regularly people report doing word puzzles such as crosswords, the better their brain function in later life. The more regularly participants engaged with word puzzles, the better they performed on tasks assessing attention, reasoning and memory. …

A literature review of 37 studies has found that regular consumption of artificial sweeteners is associated with long-term weight gain and an increased risk of obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease. The review paper is published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. Consumption of nonnutritive sweeteners is associated …

The health care debate continues to rage in Senate, the media, and in the public discourse. Call it Obamacare, Trumpcare, AHCA, ACA, Better Care Reconciliation Act – the current law, and the current proposals in Congress to change it – all claim to provide affordable access to health care for Americans. …

In a study comparing young soccer players to swimmers, cyclists and a control group of boys not involved in regular sport, an international team of researchers found soccer (European football) led to better bones after one year of training. The results are published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral …

Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have found further evidence that fisetin, a natural flavonoid found in strawberries and other edible fruits or vegetables, reduces cognitive deficits and inflammation associated with aging in mice. Currais et al find benefits of fisetin in a mouse model of premature aging, …

According to new research from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, night shifts may hinder the body’s ability to repair DNA damage caused by normal cellular processes. The study suggests that night work is associated with reduced repair of 8-OH-dG lesions in DNA and that the effect is likely driven …

A team of European researchers has developed a prototype of a compact multi-laser-beam device that can read your heart’s vital signs like a supermarket barcode reader can scan items at the checkout, allowing a general practitioner to diagnose even preclinical patients for the early onset of a disease. The CARDIS …

Physicians have long been interested in approaches to chronic pain management that are less prone to abuse than traditionally prescribed medications. But the ongoing opioid crisis in America has shone a light on how a combination of increased heroin use, dubious prescription and pharmaceutical practices, and the increased amount of …

If your lower back hurts, you’re in good company. Back pain inflicts itself on almost everyone during their lives. But there are some unlucky folk who get injured, or have a degenerative disorder or neuropathic condition that leaves them in chronic pain. And for people who have pain doctors can’t …

According to a team of researchers from the Medical University of Vienna, Austria, a variety of organ systems, including liver and spleen, are involved in the co-ordination of the organism’s response to a heart attack, a medical emergency in which the supply of blood to the heart is suddenly and …