Chronic Illness News

April 24, 2020

Top Headlines

Parkinson's definition (stock image). | Credit: (c) Nenov Brothers / stock.adobe.com

Autoimmunity Plays a Role in Parkinson's Disease, Study Suggests

Apr. 20, 2020 A new study adds increasing evidence that Parkinson's disease is partly an autoimmune disease. In fact, the researchers report that signs of autoimmunity can appear in ... read more

Molecular 'Switch' Reverses Chronic Inflammation and Aging

Feb. 6, 2020 Scientists have identified a molecular 'switch' that controls the immune machinery responsible for chronic inflammation in the body. The finding could lead to new ways to halt or even reverse many ... read more

Keto Diet Works Best in Small Doses, Mouse Study Finds

Jan. 27, 2020 A ketogenic diet -- which provides 99 percent of calories from fat and only 1 percent from carbohydrates -- produces health benefits in the short term, but negative effects after about a week, ... read more

Molecular Switch for Repairing Central Nervous System Disorders

Jan. 10, 2020 A molecular switch has the ability to turn on a substance in animals that repairs neurological damage in disorders such as multiple sclerosis (MS), researchers have discovered. The early research in ... read more

Latest Headlines

updated 3:47pm EDT

Spinal Cord Injury Increases Risk for Mental Health Disorders

Apr. 22, 2020 A new study finds adults with traumatic spinal cord injury are at an increased risk of developing mental health disorders and secondary chronic diseases compared to adults without the ... read more

Male-Female Cardiac Repair Differences in Heart Failure Survival After Heart Attack

Apr. 20, 2020 A new study investigated the molecular and cellular processes underlying cardiac repair in male and female mice after a severe heart attack. The ... read more

Maternal Hypertensive Disorders May Lead to Mental Health Disorders in Children

Apr. 20, 2020 Hypertensive pregnancy disorders, especially preeclampsia -- may increase the risk of psychological development disorders and behavioral and ... read more

Novel Technology Aims to Improve Treatment of Neurological Diseases

Apr. 17, 2020 Researchers are developing new 'gene promoters' - which act like switches to turn genes on - for use with gene therapy, the delivery of new genes to replace ones that are faulty. The new promoters ... read more

Review Assesses Stem Cell Therapy Potential for Treating Preeclampsia

Apr. 16, 2020 A review of using stem cells to treat preeclampsia, a dangerous condition in pregnancy, indicates that mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs), or their secreted vesicles, have the potential to be used ... read more

Genetics Linked to Childhood Emotional, Social and Psychiatric Problems

Apr. 16, 2020 Emotional, social and psychiatric problems in children and adolescents have been linked to higher levels of genetic vulnerability for adult ... read more

How Probiotic Bifidobacteria Could Help Celiac Disease Patients

Apr. 15, 2020 Gluten is enemy No. 1 for those with celiac disease, and it's hard to avoid. Episodes of this chronic autoimmune illness can be triggered by ingesting gluten, a key protein in wheat and some other ... read more

COPD as a Lung Stem Cell Disease

Apr. 15, 2020 Two stem cell researchers have found an abundance of abnormal stem cells in the lungs of patients who suffer from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), a leading cause of death worldwide. The ... read more

Improving the Treatment of Periodontitis

Apr. 15, 2020 For the first time, researchers have shown that a unicellular parasite commonly found in the mouth plays a role in both severe tissue inflammation and tissue ... read more

Being Right-Brained or Left-Brained Comes Down to Molecular Switches

Apr. 14, 2020 Scientists may have solved one of the most puzzling and persistent mysteries in neuroscience: why some people are 'right-brained' while others are 'left-brained.' The answer lies in how certain genes ... read more

Earlier Headlines

Switching on a Key Cancer Gene Could Provide First Curative Treatment for Heart Disease

Apr. 14, 2020 Researchers trying to turn off a gene that allows cancers to spread have made a surprising U-turn. By making the gene overactive and functional in the hearts of mice, they have triggered heart cell ... read more

People With Type 2 Diabetes and Heart Disease May Benefit from Newer Therapies

Apr. 13, 2020 Coronary artery disease among people with type 2 diabetes may need to be treated more aggressively than in people with coronary artery disease who do not have diabetes. A new scientific statement ... read more

Guidance for Patients With IBD During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Apr. 12, 2020 Today, the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) published new COVID-19 guidance for gastroenterologists treating patients with inflammatory bowel disease ... read more

Rare, Damaging Inherited Mutations Work Together to Reduce Lifespan

Apr. 9, 2020 Scientists report that the combined effects of rare, damaging mutations present at birth have a negative impact on healthspan and ... read more

A Damaged Fertilized Egg Sends Signal That Helps Mother Live a Longer Healthy Life

Apr. 9, 2020 There is plenty of scientific evidence that the health of a mother can impact the health of her child. Now a new study flips that relationship around: Researchers have discovered the health of the ... read more

Children of Parents With Mental Illness Have Higher Risk of Injuries

Apr. 8, 2020 Children to parents suffering from mental illness have a higher risk of injuries than other children, according to a new study. The risk is elevated up to 17 years of age and peaks during the first ... read more

Whether Marijuana Helps With Pain Is Unclear

Apr. 8, 2020 Medical marijuana users who say they have high levels of pain are more likely than those with low pain to say they use cannabis three or more times a day, a new study finds. However, daily marijuana ... read more

Correlation Between MBI and Alzheimer's

Apr. 8, 2020 New research has found that the presence and severity of mild behavioral impairment (MBI) in cognitively healthy individuals is strongly associated with the presence of amyloid plaques deposits in ... read more

Exploring Mechanisms of Resistance to HIV in People With Sickle Cell Disease

Apr. 8, 2020 A new analysis supports prior reports that people with sickle cell disease have lower rates of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, but follow-up cell studies did not reveal a mechanism to ... read more

Modifiable Risk Factors Could Play a Role in Alzheimer's Disease

Apr. 8, 2020 Amyloid is a key feature of Alzheimer's disease, but the accumulation of these sticky proteins may not be the only risk factor for developing Alzheimer's disease, according to a new ... read more

Potential Harms of Chloroquine, Hydroxychloroquine and Azithromycin for Treating COVID-19

Apr. 8, 2020 Chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin are being used to treat and prevent COVID-19 despite weak evidence for effectiveness, and physicians and patients should be aware of the drugs' ... read more

Brain Discovery Suggests Source of Lifelong Behavioral Issues

Apr. 8, 2020 Improper removal of faulty brain cells during neurodevelopment may cause lifelong behavioral issues, new research suggests. The finding also could have important implications for a wide range of ... read more

Promising Advance in Depression Research

Apr. 8, 2020 Despite their effectiveness, only 40% of patients respond to the first antidepressant they try. A recent article strongly suggests that a particular protein, GPR56, is involved in the biology of ... read more

First Study on the Health Conditions of Adults One Month Into COVID-19 Lockdown

Apr. 8, 2020 A new preliminary study provides some of the earliest pieces of evidence that the COVID-19 outbreak affected people mentally as well as ... read more

Celiac Disease Linked to Increased Risk of Premature Death

Apr. 8, 2020 People with celiac disease have increased risk of dying prematurely, despite increased awareness of the disease in recent years and better access to gluten-free food. Celiac disease was linked to ... read more

Hangover Drug Shows Wider Benefits

Apr. 7, 2020 The hangover remedy DHM may have broader applications for substance abuse treatment and liver ... read more

Compound in Fruit Peels Halts Damage and Spurs Neuronal Repair in Multiple Sclerosis

Apr. 6, 2020 Ursolic acid, abundant in fruit peels and some herbs, both prevents and repairs neurons in animal models of multiple ... read more

Potential Early Biomarker to Track Development of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Apr. 6, 2020 Research has uncovered a biomarker in humans tied to the development of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease that might help doctors detect early stages of the disease. The researchers also determined ... read more

Autoimmunity-Associated Heart Dilation Tied to Heart-Failure Risk in Type 1 Diabetes

Apr. 6, 2020 In people with type 1 diabetes without known cardiovascular disease, the presence of autoantibodies against heart muscle proteins was associated with cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging evidence ... read more

Larger Thighs Associated With Lower Risk of Heart Disease in Obesity

Apr. 4, 2020 A larger thigh circumference may be associated with lower blood pressure and a reduced risk of heart disease in people with obesity, according to a new study. In overweight and obese Chinese men and ... read more

Tuesday, April 14, 2020