Astrocytes are neural cells with many important functions in the nervous system. The inflammation of these cells occurs in brain infections and neurodegenerative disorders, a process called astrogliosis. Aware of this fundamental process for the prevention of diseases and improvement of current treatments, a team led by researchers at the D’Or Institute for Research and Education (IDOR) and five other Brazilian Federal Universities published one of the first studies to categorically observe this inflammatory reaction in human astrocytes created in the laboratory.
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Author: sh ytlk
No major change in ‘trajectory’ of coronavirus outbreak: WHO
The World Health Organization on Thursday said a sharp rise in reported COVID-19 cases in China, due to a change in counting methods, did not represent a big shift in the epidemic.
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State of mind: The end of personality as we know it
We all have our varying mental emphases, inclinations, and biases. These individual dispositions are dynamic in that they can change over time and context. In a study published today in the journal Trends in Cognitive Sciences, Prof. Moshe Bar, a neuroscientist at the Gonda (Goldschmied) Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center at Bar-Ilan University (BIU), together with Noa Herz, of Tel Aviv University, and Shira Baror, of BIU, introduces a new theory that brings us closer to understanding how the mind adapts to various situations.
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Clinical practice guideline approval process introduces potential conflicts of interest
Most clinical practice guidelines in the U.S. are created by medical specialty societies. While there is widespread awareness of the potential for intellectual and financial conflict of interest by individual panel members, there is little recognition of the potential for the processes used by guideline panels to create conflict of interest. This is particularly important for medical specialty societies, which have the dual obligation to advocate for patients served by the specialty and for the professional interest of their physician members.
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Living in greener neighborhoods may postpone the natural onset of menopause
Living near green spaces is associated with a wide variety of benefits, including a lower risk of obesity, improved attention capacity in children and slower physical decline in old age. Now, for the first time, a study led by the University of Bergen and the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), a centre supported by “la Caixa,” has found that living in a greener neighbourhood is also associated with older age at the onset of menopause.
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2011 to 2018 saw decline in problems paying medical bills
(HealthDay)—From 2011 to 2018, there was a decrease in the percentage of families having problems paying medical bills in the past 12 months, according to a February data brief published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center for Health Statistics.
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Gentle touch loses its pleasure in migraine patients
A recent study published in the journal Cephalalgia, the official journal of the International Headache Society, builds on the sensorial characteristics of migraine patients. The study, entitled “C-tactile touch perception in migraineurs—a case-control study”, was led by Dr. Gudrun Gossrau, from the University Hospital and Faculty of Medicine Carl Gustav Carus, Dresden, Germany.
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Infectious diseases A to Z: the common cold versus the flu
Influenza and the common cold are respiratory illnesses caused by viruses. The more intense flu symptoms tend to come on more abruptly than the gradual, more mild symptoms of a cold. Dr. Nipunie Rajapakse, a pediatric infectious diseases specialist at Mayo Clinic, explains these two viral illnesses.
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Research pinpoints rogue cells at root of autoimmune disease
There are more than 100 different autoimmune diseases. But what unites them all is that they arise from an individual’s own cells—rare and mysterious immune cells that target not external viruses and bacteria but the body’s own healthy organs and tissues.
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Researchers validate link between genetic variant and poor outcomes in advanced prostate cancer
In a new Cleveland Clinic-led study published in JAMA Oncology, researchers show that a testosterone-related genetic variant—HSD3B1(1245C) – is associated with more aggressive disease and shorter survival in men with metastatic prostate cancer.
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