Category Archives: Medical research

Why the weasel testicles? Cambridge show explains medieval medicine

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Exhibition aims to help visitors get inside the minds that thought mercury and roasted apples would cure lice

Medieval treatments might make you question the sanity of the doctors of the day, but a new exhibition is set to take visitors inside the minds of such medics and reveal the method behind what can seem like madness.

Curious Cures, opening on Saturday at Cambridge University Library, is the culmination of a project to digitise and catalogue more than 180 manuscripts, mostly dating from the 14th or 15th centuries, that contain recipes for medical treatments, from compendiums of cures to alchemical texts and guides to healthy living.

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Prostate cancer surgery breakthrough offers hope for erectile function

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Neurosafe procedure allows doctors to remove prostate while preserving as much nerve tissue around it as possible

A more precise form of prostate cancer surgery nearly doubles the chances of men retaining erectile function afterwards compared with standard surgery, according to the first comprehensive trial of the procedure.

Doctors in five UK hospitals assessed the surgical approach that aims to preserve crucial nerves that run through the outer layer of the prostate and are thought to be responsible for producing erections.

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‘Paradigm shift’: Australian researchers discover key to treatment of bacterial vaginosis

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Study shows that male partners can help in limiting recurrence of the condition afflicting almost one in three women

Like almost one in three women, Hanae has developed bacterial vaginosis (BV) – a condition when the normal healthy bacteria in the vagina are replaced by an overgrowth of other mixed bacteria.

When she got it for first time in 2021, she took the standard treatment of antibiotics, only for the condition to come back weeks later. “It came back time and time again, no matter how many times I got antibiotic treatment,” said Hanae, who lives in Melbourne.

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Exposure to combination of pesticides increases childhood cancer risk – study

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Study on cancer data in US agricultural heartland finds children more at risk than if exposed to just one pesticide

Exposure to multiple pesticides significantly increases the risk of childhood cancers compared to exposures to just one pesticide, first-of-its-kind research finds, raising new fears that children are more at risk to the substances’ harmful effects than previously thought.

The study’s authors say they are the first to look at the link between exposures to multiple widely used pesticides and the most common childhood cancers. Most research considers pesticides’ toxicity on an individual basis, and the substances are regulated as if exposures occur in isolation from one another.

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Trump halts medical research funding in apparent violation of judge’s order

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Health department orders NIH to hold Federal Register submissions – critical step in process for funding studies

The Trump administration has blocked a crucial step in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) process for funding medical research, likely in violation of a federal judge’s temporary restraining order on federal funding freezes.

The NIH has stopped submitting study sections – meetings in which scientists peer review NIH grant funding proposals – to the Federal Register after the Trump administration paused health agency communications. By law, study sections must appear on the register 15 days in advance of meetings.

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Critics say Trump’s executive orders to reshape the NIH ‘will kill’ Americans

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Executive orders’ impact on premier medical research agency has resulted in delayed projects and frozen funding

Academics and scientists who work with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) said the Trump administration’s orders have severely disrupted work – delaying projects and casting the future of research funding and jobs into doubt as chaos in the agency reigns.

An array of orders seeks to fundamentally reshape the NIH, the world’s largest public funder of biomedical and behavioral research, in the Trump administration’s image. The agency’s work is the wellspring of scientific advancement in the US, and helped make the country a dominant force in health and science.

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First patient in UK tests new treatment for loss of sense of smell

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Chrissi Kelly, who says anosmia is a ‘like a bereavement’, is trialling a simple procedure that could help those who lost sense of smell during Covid or other viral infections

Smell loss was a defining symptom of Covid, and for some people, a curse. Most people regain their sense of smell as their infection fades, but some never recover. It means not being able to tell if milk is off, if there’s a gas leak or what your newborn baby smells like.

But for victims of anosmia and its crueller sibling, parosmia, where ordinary smells are transformed into the stench of rotting flesh or sewage, there is new hope. Researchers have discovered that a simple procedure can help people recover their sense of smell years after losing it to viral infections such as Covid, or even decades later.

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Weight-loss jabs may help reduce alcohol intake, study finds

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Semaglutide, active ingredient of Wegovy and Ozempic, found to reduce cravings and cut drinking by 40%

Weight-loss drugs could be used to help people reduce their intake of alcohol, researchers have said, after a study found they can cut cravings and curb heavy drinking.

The medicines, originally developed to treat type 2 diabetes, have revolutionised the treatment of obesity, and evidence suggests they could have benefits in other areas of health, such as reducing risk of heart attacks and strokes.

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‘Groundbreaking’: scientists develop patch that can repair damaged hearts

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Cells taken from blood and ‘reprogrammed’ into heart muscle cells may help patients with heart failure

Damaged hearts can literally be patched up to help them work, say researchers, in what has been hailed as a groundbreaking development for people with advanced heart failure.

According to a recent study, heart failure affects more than 64 million people worldwide, with causes including heart attacks, high blood pressure and coronary artery disease.

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People urged to do at least 150 minutes of aerobic exercise a week to lose weight

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Review of 116 clinical trials finds less than 30 minutes a day, five days a week only results in minor reductions

People who want to lose meaningful amounts of weight through exercise may need to devote more than two-and-a-half hours a week to aerobic training such as running, walking or cycling, researchers say.

The finding emerged from a review of 116 published clinical trials that explored the impact of physical exercise on weight loss, waist size and body fat. In total, the trials reported data for nearly 7,000 adults who were overweight or obese, meaning their body mass index (BMI) was more than 25.

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Experts create controllable gastric balloon to aid weight loss

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Device inflates before eating and contracts afterwards, simulating the effects of having a meal, say scientists

From weight loss jabs to vibrating pills, the obesity crisis has spawned myriad innovations to help people shed pounds.

Now scientists have overhauled the humble gastric balloon – producing a device that both inflates and deflates to keep it effective for longer.

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Doctors hail first breakthrough in asthma and COPD treatment in 50 years

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Results of trial of benralizumab injection could be ‘gamechanger’ for millions of people around the world

Doctors are hailing a new way to treat serious asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease attacks that marks the first breakthrough for 50 years and could be a “gamechanger” for patients.

A trial found offering patients an injection was more effective than the current care of steroid tablets, and cuts the need for further treatment by 30%.

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Australian women to get home self tests for chlamydia and gonorrhoea – but experts urge caution

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People with genital or pelvic symptoms may feel a sense of false reassurance with a negative result, sexual health expert warns

With rates of some sexually transmitted infections in Australia on the rise, women will soon be able to test themselves for chlamydia and gonorrhoea at home – but sexual health experts have urged caution.

Australia’s drugs regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), has approved the rapid home test for sale, and it is expected to be available in pharmacies from 13 December, with a recommended retail price of $24. The test involves taking a vaginal swab, which is then placed in a container with testing solution.

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Bird flu in Canada may have mutated to become more transmissible to humans

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Scientists are racing to understand what a hospitalized teen’s case of bird flu may mean for future outbreaks

The teenager hospitalized with bird flu in British Columbia, Canada, may have a variation of the virus that has a mutation making it more transmissible among people, early data shows – a warning of what the virus can do that is especially worrisome in countries such as the US where some H5N1 cases are not being detected.

The US “absolutely” is not testing and monitoring bird flu cases enough, which means scientists could miss mutated cases like these, said Richard Webby, a virologist at St Jude children’s research hospital’s department of infectious diseases.

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Fears for spread of malaria in Africa as study finds resistance to frontline drug

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Signs of resistance to artemisinin in tenth of children with severe malaria similar to situation in Asia, say researchers

Researchers have found “troubling” evidence for the first time that a lifesaving malaria drug is becoming less effective in young African children with serious infections.

A study of children being treated in hospital for malaria in Uganda, presented at a major conference on Thursday, found signs of resistance to artemisinin in one patient in 10.

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UK trial to assess if red grape chemical can prevent bowel cancer

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Resveratrol, which is also found in blueberries and peanuts, has been found to slow tumour growth in mice

Red wine was once heralded as a boon for health that could protect the heart and even extend life expectancy. But while scientists have debunked this claim, they believe that at least one red wine ingredient – a compound called resveratrol – may hold genuine health benefits.

A trial launched this week will assess whether a low dose of the chemical, also found in red grapes, blueberries and peanuts, could help keep bowel cancer at bay. The study, one of the largest to date testing drugs for cancer prevention, will recruit patients who are at risk of the disease.

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Adding five minutes exercise a day can help lower blood pressure, study says

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Researchers say choosing to climb stairs or cycle to the shops is enough to have a positive effect

Doing just five extra minutes of exercise a day could help lower blood pressure, a study suggests.

High blood pressure affects 1.28 billion adults worldwide and is one of the biggest causes of premature death. It can lead to strokes, heart attacks, heart failure, kidney damage and many other health problems, and is often described as a silent killer due to its lack of symptoms.

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Researchers study treatment for chronic pain in childhood cancer survivors

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Team at Nottingham Trent University is investigating how chemotherapy in early life could damage nerve cells

Treatments that could help alleviate the chronic pain experienced by thousands of childhood cancer survivors are being investigated by scientists and researchers in the UK.

About eight out of 10 children survive their cancer for 10 years or more but more than half of them report delayed and ongoing pain in adulthood.

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Concerns raised over access to UK Biobank data after ‘race scientists’ claims

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Expert says any suggestion of Human Diversity Foundation accessing sensitive data could affect public trust in science

Concerns have been raised about access to a scientific trove containing the genetic data and medical records of more than 500,000 people, after an investigation revealed that “race scientists” appeared to claim to have obtained the data.

A senior scientist has warned that the leadership responsible for the data held by UK Biobank “have to be very careful with ensuring that correct processes are followed” around access to the information in order to maintain public confidence.

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Which disease-modifying Alzheimer’s drugs are the most promising?

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Many drugs in development aim to delay, slow or reverse symptoms, but which are causing the biggest stir?

This week England’s health spending watchdog rejected a new Alzheimer’s drug – the second such drug it has turned down this year.

Both donanemab and lecanemab were approved by the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), yet the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) said their benefits were too small to justify their costs, while there have also been concerns over potential side-effects – such as brain swelling and bleeding.

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