Scientists at the UNC School of Medicine have mapped the surface of the cortex of the young human brain with unprecedented resolution, revealing the development of key functional regions from two months before birth to two years after. The new cortical development mapping, reported online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, represents a valuable resource for further […]

Reinfection rates are low after treating hepatitis C virus in people taking opioid agonist therapy (OAT), even among those who still inject drugs, according to a new study. The findings, which are based on prospective data from 13 countries, including the United States, and were published in Annals of Internal Medicine (2022 Aug 8. doi: 10.7326/M21-4119), should encourage physicians to treat HCV […]

A historically overlooked rod-like projection present on nearly every cell type in the human body may finally be getting its scientific due: A new study has found that these appendages, called cilia, on neurons in the brain have a key role in ensuring a specific dopamine receptor's signals are properly received. The research was conducted in mouse models of a […]

In a recent study posted to the medRxiv* preprint server, researchers explored post-illness gut-microbiome and metabolomic profiles of community coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases and individuals with non-COVID-19 illnesses of prolonged duration. Study: Metabolomic and gut microbiome profiles across the spectrum of community-based COVID and non-COVID disease: A COVID-19 Biobank study. Image Credit: Troyan/Shutterstock Background Studies have reported several cases […]

Why cholesterol is bad for you We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is a disorder that causes high cholesterol among around one in […]

When it comes to royalty, things are clear: The monarch’s first child inherits the crown. Siblings born later must make do with a less glamorous profession. This is quite similar for some nerve cells in the brain. In their case, it is not the order in which they are born, but at least the time of their emergence that determines […]

Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have created a new COVID-19 therapeutic that could one day make treating SARS-CoV-2 infections as easy as using a nasal spray for allergies. The therapeutic uses short snippets of synthetic DNA to gum up the genetic machinery that allows SARS-CoV-2 to replicate within the body. In a new study published online in the […]

As SARS-CoV-2 has evolved and mutated, therapeutic antibodies that worked early in the pandemic have become less effective, and newer variants, especially omicron, have developed ways to evade the antibodies we make in response to vaccines. A new, broadly neutralizing antibody developed at Boston Children’s Hospital could potentially improve our ability to defend against future variants. In tests, it neutralized […]

Simulated experience of caring for a dying patient and their family can improve the confidence and preparedness of medical students to provide such care, according to a new study by Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS) published in BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care. Immediately after the simulations were completed, student confidence almost doubled (98% increase) in relation to communicating with […]

Among children born prematurely, rates of school readiness were lower in comparison with rates for children born full term, new data indicate. In a Canadian cohort study that included more than 60,000 children, 35% of children born prematurely had scores on the Early Development Instrument (EDI) that indicated they were vulnerable to developmental problems, compared with 28% of children born […]