Multiple sclerosis, or MS, casts a shadow over the lives of millions worldwide, its complexities challenging both patients and researchers. Stemming from autoimmune assaults on the nervous system, recent strides in research have illuminated a potential diagnostic signature years before a clinical presentation.
Disease
Ever felt like you're just waiting for the other shoe to drop, especially regarding medical test results? Francis Collins, the former NIH director, found himself in that situation, dancing the delicate tango of active surveillance for prostate cancer. Imagine a urine test that could cut down on those nerve-wracking biopsies, while boasting a 99% accuracy rate for spotting the serious stuff.
The concept of a “leaky” brain is an enigma, the fortress of our brain, seemingly protected by the blood-brain barrier now disrupted. However, to understand whether a breach has altered our cognitive function we need to better understand our protector.
Glaucoma stands as a preventable purveyor of blindness, particularly among Black and Hispanic communities. Genetic predispositions, socioeconomic disparities, and systemic barriers make glaucoma's impact disproportionately skewed. Here's a look why.
Are we overlooking a critical factor in surgical site infections (SSIs)? In the quest for sterile operating rooms and antibiotic prophylaxis, a groundbreaking study suggests we've missed a vital piece of the puzzle: the patient's microbiome, a finding that challenges the wisdom of Semmelweis and may revolutionize infection prevention strategies.
As High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza cases emerge in dairy cattle, transmission routes and the source of infection remain unclear. Before jumping to conclusions, what can science tell us?
In vascular realms where risks abide,
A rule we held, a trusty guide,
For every year with diabetes crowned,
A year to age, our wisdom found.
Yet, a study bold, a truth unfurled,
Challenges the norm.
A web of altered neurochemical pathways and physical brain changes result in post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. The interplay between cortisol dysregulation, heightened norepinephrine levels, and structural alterations in key brain regions make some individuals more susceptible to PTSD than others.
Fatigue, sometimes profound, is one of the most common and debilitating features of long COVID. Its presence predicts far worse clinical outcomes, as evidenced by deaths and hospitalizations, than patients without fatigue.
This ancient warning resonates today as measles, a highly contagious and once nearly eradicated viral illness, experiences a resurgence. Fueled by misinformation and vaccine hesitancy, recent years have seen a troubling increase in cases, threatening the progress of public health efforts.
We can create a public health infrastructure that is more resilient to outbreaks of viral illnesses by better understanding the nature of virus infections and how to address vaccine hesitancy.
Micro- and nanoplastics, found in the plaque within our arteries, are born from the ubiquitous presence of plastics in our environment. They are raising eyebrows and heart rates among scientists and physicians, courtesy of a groundbreaking study in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).