The coronavirus is spreading fast beyond its China birthplace but sub-Saharan Africa, one of the world’s most vulnerable regions, has so far been almost spared—and experts want to know why.
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Pietro Mazzocchi, 59, has the dubious honour of being the first Italian mayor to catch the new coronavirus—but sees it as an occupational hazard.
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Spanish health authorities said Thursday they were investigating the first suspected cases of local transmission of the deadly coronavirus in the country, including an elderly man who was in “serious” condition in hospital.
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Scientists at Trinity College Dublin have identified a rare, new cell in the immune system with “Jekyll and Hyde properties”. These cells play a key protective role in immunity to infection but—if unregulated—also mediate tissue damage in autoimmune disorders.
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Researchers have shown that microglia, a class of immune cells in the brain, regulate the permeability of the brain’s protective barrier in response to systemic inflammation. During inflammation, microglia initially protect the barrier’s integrity, but they can later reverse their behavior and increase the barrier’s permeability.
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Preeclampsia is the leading cause of death and disability, for both mothers and babies, killing approximately 76,000 mothers and 500,000 babies globally every year. Despite this, the only cure at present is to deliver the placenta and the baby, with the potential for long term complications. In recent years stem cell therapies have been investigated in animal models. A review article published in Current Hypertension Reports investigates mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) as a potential new treatment for preeclampsia.
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Humans are physiologically hardwired to love and seek out sweet things. It’s an ancient survival mechanism that evolved to prepare our bodies for periods of fasting when food supplies were scarce.
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New Zealand has avoided the high HIV rates seen among high-risk groups in other countries, a new study shows.
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The opioid crisis has been a major issue for health care officials across the United States.
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Humans have conquered smallpox and drastically reduced child mortality rates, yet we now face problems never seen before. Conditions like heart disease, obesity, cancer, and diabetes pose serious threats to our health. How can we overcome them? The answer may lie in our past.
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