Credit: Stephan Schmitz/Folio Art Not so long ago, the textbook image of the lungs was that of a sterile environment. “When I was in medical school, around 2005, literally my pathology textbook said that the normal lung is free from bacteria,” recalls Robert Dickson, a pulmonary and critical-care physician at the University of Michigan in … Read more
A diabetes drug related to the latest generation of obesity drugs can slow the development of the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, a clinical trial suggests1. Participants who took the drug, called lixisenatide, for 12 months showed no worsening of their symptoms — a gain in a condition marked by progressive loss of motor control. Further … Read more
A drug that uses messenger RNA technology has shown early success in addressing the core deficiency behind a rare genetic disorder. The results have ignited hope that the technology — which first gained attention through its breakthrough use in COVID-19 vaccines — could realize its long-awaited promise of generating therapeutic proteins directly in the body. … Read more
Kidney disease is growing worldwide. The secretariat of the World Health Organization has welcomed the call to include it as a non-communicable disease that causes premature deaths.Credit: Vsevolod Zviryk/SPL A quiet epidemic is building around the world. It is the third-fastest-growing cause of death globally. By 2040, it is expected to become the fifth-highest cause … Read more
The field of audiomics combines artificial intelligence tools with human sounds, such as a coughs, to evaluate health.Credit: Getty A team led by Google scientists has developed a machine-learning tool that can help to detect and monitor health conditions by evaluating noises such as coughing and breathing. The artificial intelligence (AI) system1, trained on millions … Read more
Liver tissue from a person with extra fat in the organ.Credit: IKELOS GmbH/Dr. Christopher B. Jackson/Science Photo Library For the first time, the US Food and Drug Administration has approved a drug to treat an obesity-linked liver disease that is on the rise around the globe and is becoming a leading driver of liver failure … Read more
A widespread bacteria called Wolbachia and a virus that it carries can cause sterility in male insects by hijacking their sperm, preventing them from fertilizing eggs of females that do not have the same combination of bacteria and virus. A new study led by microbiome researchers at Penn State has uncovered how this microbial combination … Read more
Adults who had amblyopia (‘lazy eye’) in childhood are more likely to experience hypertension, obesity, and metabolic syndrome in adulthood, as well as an increased risk of heart attack, finds a new study led by UCL researchers. In publishing the study in eClinicalMedicine, the authors stress that while they have identified a correlation, their research … Read more