Medicine

A new study published in the journal Molecular Cell reports that arecoline, an active compound found in areca nuts, has anti-cancer properties. A ripe areca nut. Image credit: Banni Pulikottil / CC BY 2.5. Areca nuts are seed of the areca palm (Areca catechu), which grows in Asia, parts of …

Treatment for hemophilia can now be administered via a biodegradable, pH-responsive hydrogel microcarrier system, a capsule, thanks to a breakthrough by researchers at the University of Texas at Austin. They describe their system in the Nov. 30, 2016 issue of the International Journal of Pharmaceutics. Illustration of the degradable system …

A team of researchers from Australia, Austria, Finland and UK has found that swimming, aerobics, racquet sports (badminton, tennis and squash) and cycling offer life saving benefits compared to running and soccer. They also found that death from cardiovascular disease was reduced in people who participated in swimming, racquet sports …

The same hormone produced in the gut of the duck-billed platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) to regulate blood glucose is also produced in the animal’s venom, a team of scientists led by University of Adelaide researchers has found — and that hormone could be used in new treatments for type 2 diabetes. …

An international team of researchers from Australia, China and the United States has shown for the first time that RNA interference is active in the response of human cells to some important viruses, including influenza A virus. The research is published in the journal Nature Microbiology. This image illustrates the …

Embattled medical testing firm Theranos has made the decision to get out of the laboratory testing industry. This is a major reversal for the company, following government scrutiny that resulted in a 2-year ban on CEO Elizabeth Holmes running a laboratory. Instead of running labs, Theranos will try selling its …

For people with severe allergies, having a ready supply of epinephrine (also known as adrenaline) can be the difference between a mild inconvenience and death. That’s why the recent price hike on the EpiPen auto-injector manufactured by Mylan was such a hot button issue for patients. The company’s CEO, Heather …

As more and more devices gain connectivity, there are more opportunities for malicious individuals to steal your data, break things, and just generally make your life more difficult. At least you’ll still have your life, though. Now a security firm says that a connected implantable cardiac device made by Minnesota-based …

Breathalyzers to detect alcohol intoxication have existed for years, as the relationship between blood-alcohol content and alcohol in the breath is well understood. The same principles may soon be applied to diabetes screening. A team of researchers from Oxford University have succeeded in building a device that can flag patients …

Targeting medications inside the body is one of the great challenges of modern medicine. Most drugs are simply allowed to diffuse throughout the body, eventually coming into contact with the organ or tissue it was intended to affect, but a team of Chinese scientists may have found a better way. …