Taking a cutting-edge weight-loss drug could help extremely obese patients drop enough pounds to be eligible for bariatric surgery, a new study shows. Patients with extreme obesity — a BMI of 70 or more — are at higher risk of complications from surgery compared to people who weigh less. Weight loss prior to surgery can… read on > read on >
Dolphins living off the coasts of Georgia and Florida have elevated levels of mercury in their bodies, new research shows. That could have implications for people, said a team led by Colleen Bryan, a research biologist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Charleston, S.C. “As a sentinel species, the bottlenose dolphin data… read on > read on >
You don’t consider yourself a lonely person generally, but sometimes have days where feelings of loneliness set in. If you’re one of those people, even that transient loss of connection with others could be impacting your physical health, a new study finds. “A lot of research is focused on loneliness being a binary trait —… read on > read on >
Animal studies are often considered a first step in finding new drugs and treatments for human diseases, but a new review has discovered that precious few actually produce real-world therapies. Only 5% of therapies tested in animals wind up being approved by regulators for human use, according to an analysis of 122 articles involving 54… read on > read on >
A new form of psychotherapy appears to work even better at treating chronic pain in older adults than gold-standard cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), a new study finds. U.S. veterans who received emotional awareness and expression therapy (EAET) experienced a longer and more significant reduction in chronic pain than those who underwent CBT, researchers reported June… read on > read on >
Spinal cord injuries can cause the body to go haywire, with misfiring nerves causing dangerous “fight-or-flight” responses. This makes typical and normally harmless problems like having a full bladder prompt life-threatening complications like heart attack, stroke and severe infections like pneumonia. But researchers think they’ve found a way to treat this condition, which is called… read on > read on >
Scientists have developed microscopic robots capable of swimming through the lungs to deliver chemotherapy directly to lung cancer cells. In early testing, these microbots extended the average survival time of lab mice with melanoma that had spread to the lungs, according to a report published June 12 in the journal Science Advances. “This is a platform… read on > read on >
The first two cases of a diphtheria-like illness being transmitted in the United States between people and their pets have been reported in Utah and Colorado. The respiratory illnesses occurred in 2022 and 2023 and involved the Corynebacterium ulceran bacterium, which is closely related to the germ that causes diptheria. One recent Japanese study noted… read on > read on >
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday threw out a case that aimed to curb access to the controversial abortion drug mifepristone, saying the plaintiffs who brought the case to the court had no legal standing to do so. In a unanimous vote, the nine judges ruled that a group of doctors and other medical professionals… read on > read on >
In countries where gender equality is becoming more of a reality, men’s meat consumption tends to rise relative to women’s, a new study shows. The phenomenon was seen mainly in richer countries in North America and Europe, and was not seen at all in large but less affluent China, India and Indonesia. Why? Researchers believe… read on > read on >
