COLUMBUS, Ohio – More than 4 out of 5 older women survivors of colorectal cancer may be experiencing a range of gastrointestinal symptoms many years after being diagnosed and treated, a new study suggests. Using data from the Women’s Health Initiative, researchers found that 81% of colorectal cancer survivors reported persistent GI symptoms, with abdominal bloating and gas topping the list as the most common and severe problem. The average time since diagnosis was eight years for all participants whose data was used in the study. The analysis also showed that severe GI symptoms were linked to poor quality of life, ...

Just a handful of years ago, retinoblastoma had the medical field stumped. This pediatric eye cancer cannot be directly biopsied, which means clinicians must diagnose the disease by visual examination and imaging. Recently, a researcher at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles developed a new way to diagnose retinoblastoma by sampling the fluid at the front of the eye. These liquid biopsies also offer genetic and chromosomal information, which gives a more complete picture of each child’s disease. Now CHLA will lead an international liquid biopsy retinoblastoma study, the first of its kind.  A New Line of Research  Jesse Berry, MD, is the Director of Ocular Oncology ...

Climate change goals set out in the Paris Agreement are only economically reasonable if non-market factors such as human health and loss of biodiversity are prioritised, according to a new study published by Dr Taikan Oki, former Senior Vice-Rector of United Nations University headquartered in Japan, in IOP Publishing’s academic journal Environmental Research Letters.   A multi-disciplinary, collaborative effort from researchers at 23 institutions including The University of Tokyo, National Institute for Environmental Studies, and Kyoto University, the new study provides a cost-benefit analysis ...

Only 19% of Saudi Arabian women are diagnosed at stage I of cervical cancer where survival rates are highest, according to a study published by the King Abdulaziz University. To further motivate action to combat cervical cancer, BGI Genomics today released its State of Cervical Cancer Awareness Report in Saudi Arabia. This report assesses the level of knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to cervical cancer screening and HPV vaccination. By examining these key areas, this survey seeks to highlight the associated barriers and opportunities. 1,878 female respondents from six countries ...

Smoking in pregnancy can harm developing babies, especially their growth . Current guidelines recommend that pregnant smokers who find quitting difficult should be provided with nicotine replacements products and stop-smoking services usually recommend nicotine patches. This research published in NIHR Journals Library, suggests that pregnant women should also consider e-cigarettes. The study included 1,140 pregnant women who were trying to stop smoking who were divided into two groups. Half of the women received e-cigarettes; the other half received nicotine patches. Both approaches were equally safe. The only meaningful difference was that fewer ...

A group of international researchers has achieved a breakthrough in computer security with the development of a new and highly efficient cipher for cache randomization. The innovative cipher, designed by Assistant Professor Rei Ueno from the Research Institute of Electrical Communication at Tohoku University, addresses the threat of cache side-channel attacks, offering enhanced security and exceptional performance. Cache side-channel attacks pose a significant threat to modern computer systems, as they can stealthily extract sensitive information, including secret keys and passwords, from unsuspecting victims. ...

WASHINGTON — People with type-II diabetes who drank the fermented tea drink kombucha for four weeks had lower fasting blood glucose levels compared to when they consumed a similar-tasting placebo beverage, according to results from a clinical trial conducted by researchers at Georgetown University's School of Health, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and MedStar Health. This finding, from a pilot 12-person feasibility trial, points to the potential for a dietary intervention that could help lower blood sugar levels in people ...

Researchers at the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Research Science (CSRS) and the University of Toronto have discovered a new way to attack fungal infections. The key is to block fungi from being able to make fatty acids, the major component of fats. Resistance to anti-fungal drugs is increasing and this new approach will be particularly useful because it works in a new way and affects a broad range of fungal species. The study was published in the scientific journal Cell Chemical Biology. Most of us are familiar with athlete’s ...

Only 28.5% of Thai women are diagnosed at stage I of cervical cancer when survival rates are highest, according to a study published by the Mahidol University. To further motivate action to combat cervical cancer, BGI Genomics released its State of Cervical Cancer Awareness Report in Thailand. This report assesses the level of knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to cervical cancer screening and HPV vaccination to highlight the associated barriers and opportunities. 1,878 female respondents from six countries and ...

Researchers have revealed the unique ‘cheating’ strategy a New Zealand insect has developed to avoid being eaten – mimicking a highly toxic species.   In nature, poisonous species typically advertise their toxicity, often by producing high contrast colours such as black, white and yellow, like wasps and bees.   Along similar lines, New Zealand’s cyanide-producing stonefly, Austroperla cyrene, produces strong ‘warning’ colours of black, white and yellow, to highlight its threat to potential predators.   In a new study published in Molecular Ecology, University of Otago Department of Zoology researchers reveal that an ...

It’s an elegant solution: Remove the habitat of a parasite-carrying aquatic snail and reduce the level of infection in the local community; all while generating more feed and compost for local farmers. A collaboration of scientists from the United States and Senegal focused on doing just that by removing overgrown aquatic vegetation from areas upstream of the Diama Dam in northeastern Senegal. In doing so, they generated positive impacts to the local communities’ health and economies.  “It is rare and gratifying when we can find a potential win-win solution to both human health ...

**Embargo: 23.30 [UK time] / 6.30pm [ET] Monday, July 31, 2023** Peer-reviewed                                                                         The Lancet: New study reveals global anemia cases remain ...

Oat is among the top ten cereal crop species in terms of global production. It can adapt to different climates, and farmers can grow it successfully even in harsh environments where other crops such as rice and corn fail. However, not all oat plants are the same. Based on their grains, two major oak varieties can easily be distinguished: hulled, grains that are covered in a non-edible husk, and naked, grains that have a soft outer casing that easily separates from the edible grain during threshing. To gain information on the origins of these different varieties, researchers in China have sequenced the ...

With a Fulton County indictment of former President Donald Trump possible at any time, law enforcement in Atlanta is bracing for potential violence, with orange barricades restricting access to the entrance of the county courthouse.   With the anticipation of each new indictment has come threats of violence, decrease in trust in American justice and calls for retribution against the government. Just how concerned should Americans be that we may face another January 6th-type incident? New data from the Polarization ...

Sperm play a critical role in the creation of new life, delivering essentially half of the genetic material required. The success of this process relies on the generation of a developmentally competent sperm cell, which is often determined by shape. Indeed, during in vitro fertilization, the “best-looking” sperm is selected to fertilize an egg. However, how this optimal shape translates to proper sperm function is difficult to assess because of many confounding factors. Researchers at the University of Michigan are now delving into the molecular-level details of sperm formation, with a particular focus on how abnormalities in ...

Technological advancements like autonomous driving and computer vision are driving a surge in demand for computational power. Optical computing, with its high throughput, energy efficiency, and low latency, has garnered considerable attention from academia and industry. However, current optical computing chips face limitations in power consumption and size, which hinders the scalability of optical computing networks. Thanks to the rise of nonvolatile integrated photonics, optical computing devices can achieve in-memory computing while operating with zero static power consumption. Phase-change materials (PCMs) have emerged as promising candidates for achieving photonic memory and nonvolatile ...

New research reveals a type of monoclonal antibody already tested in certain forms of cancer may be a promising treatment in stopping the progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, a fatal neurodegenerative disease. The study, led by scientists at Oregon Health & Science University, published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study, involving a mouse model and confirmed in the tissue of human brains affected by ALS and donated after death, revealed for the first time that modulating immune cells can slow the progression of the disease. Previous research suggested a role for immune cells in ALS, but researchers this time used a high-throughput ...

A peer-reviewed study published in the Journal of Global Health analyzed data from more than 6,600 families with a child with a neurodevelopmental condition (NDC)—autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, developmental language disorder, Down syndrome, Williams syndrome, and intellectual disability—from 70 countries, including the United States. The study was led by Andrea Samson, associate professor of psychology at UniDistance Suisse and University of Fribourg, Switzerland, and Jo Van Herwegen, professor in developmental psychology and education at University College London’s ...

“These observations support that accumulation of senescent cells may contribute to fibrotic lung disease [...]” BUFFALO, NY- July 31, 2023 – A new research paper was published on the cover of Aging (listed by MEDLINE/PubMed as "Aging (Albany NY)" and "Aging-US" by Web of Science) Volume 15, Issue 14, entitled, “Human senescent fibroblasts trigger progressive lung fibrosis in mice.” Cell senescence has recently emerged as a potentially relevant pathogenic mechanism in fibrosing interstitial lung diseases (f-ILDs), particularly in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. In a new study, researchers Fernanda Hernandez-Gonzalez, ...

Plant-based diets confer various health benefits, including lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease and certain cancers. However, the relationship between plant protein intake and the risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD) remains unclear. This study led by Ga Young Heo aimed to investigate the association between plant protein intake and the development of CKD. Using the UK biobank study data, the researchers found that participants with a higher plant protein intake had a lower risk of developing CKD. This finding suggests that a higher dietary intake of plant-based protein may be beneficial for kidney health and provide insight into ...

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Cases of human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated cancers of the head and neck, known as head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), are rapidly increasing throughout the United States. Unfortunately, relatively little is known about the factors that contribute to these tumors and what makes some tumors more aggressive and treatment-resistant than others. To determine why some patients respond better to radiation therapy than others, researchers in UNC School of Medicine’s Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck ...

WASHINGTON—The Endocrine Society and Matchbox Virtual Media are pleased to announce today that the organizations formed a joint venture that will bring exciting new opportunities for medical, healthcare, and scientific associations to better customize the experiences of their customers relative to producing meetings, organizing communities, and disseminating educational products. The new joint venture will benefit from the Endocrine Society’s initial financial investments and its robust networking within the medical and scientific fields. Matchbox Virtual Media brings its proven platform, technologies, ...

JUPITER, Fla. — A new scientist joining The Herbert Wertheim UF Scripps Institute for Biomedical Innovation & Technology invents creative and efficient ways to build complex, potentially useful molecules, studying their activity so that compounds found in nature may eventually become useful products, such as medications. Synthetic chemist and associate professor Masayuki Wasa, Ph.D., joins the institute from Boston College, where he was an assistant professor of chemistry. Synthetic chemists specialize in assembling larger molecules from smaller parts, like a child assembling a Lego spaceship from a basket of oddly shaped pieces. But the work is far from child’s ...

At the NRG Oncology Summer Meeting on Thursday, July 20, 2023, at approximately 5:44pm EDT, Larry J. Copeland, MD passed the presidential gavel to Thomas J. Herzog, MD at The GOG Foundation, Inc. (GOG-F) Board of Directors meeting. Dr. Herzog brings a comprehensive background in clinical trials, the integral business aspects and acumen to this important position. A practicing gynecologic oncologist and member of the Board of Directors of GOG-F, he has served as the Treasurer of GOG-F from 2014-2023 and prior ...

Embargoed for release until 5:00 p.m. ET on Monday 31 July 2023   Annals of Internal Medicine Tip Sheet     @Annalsofim    Below please find summaries of new articles that will be published in the next issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. The summaries are not intended to substitute for the full articles as a source of information. This information is under strict embargo and by taking it into possession, media representatives are committing to the terms of the embargo not only on their own behalf, but also on behalf ...