Author: Healthcare Propulsion Staff

Serotonin is usually associated with mood, sleep, and digestion. But research published in 2023 suggests this chemical messenger may also influence a small structure that performs a vital job during every heartbeat: the mitral valve. The multicenter investigation found evidence that reduced activity of the serotonin transporter may accelerate damaging changes in valves already affected by degenerative mitral regurgitation (DMR). Researchers at Columbia University’s Department of Surgery led the work in collaboration with the Pediatric Heart Valve Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), the University of Pennsylvania, and the Valley Hospital Heart Institute. The study was supported by the…

Parkinson’s disease may spread through the brain with the help of two proteins found on the surface of motor neurons, according to new research from Yale School of Medicine (YSM). The discovery could open the door to treatments designed to slow or even stop the disease instead of only managing its symptoms. Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurological disorder in which brain cells gradually become damaged and die. A key feature of the disease is the buildup of a misfolded protein called α-synuclein. As this toxic protein moves from one neuron to another, it contributes to the worsening of symptoms…

A medication that has long been used to treat high blood pressure could also help make an important class of cancer drugs much more effective, according to new research from Dartmouth Cancer Center (DCC). The study found that the FDA approved drug telmisartan significantly boosted the cancer killing activity of the targeted therapy olaparib, raising the possibility that more patients could benefit from the treatment. The findings were published in The Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer. “This study shows that a common, safe, tolerable, convenient, and inexpensive drug may significantly improve how well an important class of cancer therapies works,”…

New research suggests that a protein the body relies on to manage appetite and energy levels cannot function on its own. Instead, it depends on a partner protein to work properly. This discovery could help scientists better understand how genetic factors contribute to obesity. In a study published in Science Signaling on December 16, an international research team led by scientists at the University of Birmingham examined how a helper protein known as MRAP2 supports an appetite regulating protein called MC3R. MC3R plays a key role in deciding whether the body stores energy or uses it. Building on earlier hunger…

Some doctors are testing new approaches, seeing if tweaking the way NHS works can deliver better health. Dr David Blane is a GP in Glasgow’s Possilpark, and academic lead for GPs at the Deep End, an organisation led by doctors in Scotland’s most deprived communities.He says patients in these neighbourhoods typically develop multiple long‑term conditions 10 to 15 years earlier than those in wealthier areas.”Not only is there a good chance that you’ve got more long‑term health problems, but there’s also other things going on in your life impacting on your mental health – lots of low mood, depression, chronic pain… These things have…

Mass General Brigham investigators led a nationwide study that found that financial hardship, food insecurity, lack of healthcare access, and other social risk factors are linked to higher risks of long COVID. Long COVID includes a wide range of symptoms that present or persist three or more months after SARS-CoV-2 infection. Although in recent years researchers have gained greater insight into the prevalence, symptoms and effects of long COVID through the longitudinal Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) Initiative, social risk factors for developing long COVID remain incompletely understood. In a new analysis of the RECOVER-Adult cohort, Mass General Brigham…

As a wound heals, it goes through several stages: clotting to stop bleeding, immune system response, scabbing, and scarring. A wearable device called “a-Heal,” designed by engineers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, aims to optimize each stage of the process. The system uses a tiny camera and AI to detect the stage of healing and deliver a treatment in the form of medication or an electric field. The system responds to the unique healing process of the patient, offering personalized treatment. The portable, wireless device could make wound therapy more accessible to patients in remote areas or with…

Researchers from the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), part of City of Hope, and the Lundquist Institute for Biomedical Innovation at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center have identified a potential biomarker for long COVID. If the findings of their study are confirmed by other research centers, the biomarker could be the first specific and quantifiable indicator for confirming long COVID. Currently, clinicians confer a diagnosis of long COVID based upon a collection of symptoms that patients develop after SARS-CoV-2 infection. “If a patient arrives in clinic and they relate the persistence of typical signs and symptoms of long COVID, 12 weeks or…

Drinking any amount of alcohol likely increases the risk of dementia, suggests the largest combined observational and genetic study to date, published online in BMJ Evidence Based Medicine. Even light drinking — generally thought to be protective, based on observational studies — is unlikely to lower the risk, which rises in tandem with the quantity of alcohol consumed, the research indicates. Current thinking suggests that there might be an ‘optimal dose’ of alcohol for brain health, but most of these studies have focused on older people and/or didn’t differentiate between former and lifelong non-drinkers, complicating efforts to infer causality, note…

As marijuana becomes legal in more states, many people assume it is relatively safe. But when it comes to cancer, the picture is far less clear. While tobacco smoking has long been established as a major cause of lung cancer, scientists are still working to understand exactly how marijuana affects cancer risk, according to Brooks Udelsman, MD, a thoracic surgeon with USC Surgery at Keck Medicine of USC. Researchers continue to investigate whether smoking marijuana increases the likelihood of developing cancer. A recent Keck Medicine study led by Niels Kokot, MD, an otolaryngologist at the USC Caruso Department of Otolaryngology…