Articles by Delthia Ricks
Medical Xpress / Eavesdropping on intimate 'crosstalk': Communication between immune and nervous systems in vaccination
Inhale flu viruses after vaccination and the body responds with an explosion of flu-fighting antibodies courtesy of a deep-seated memory in the immune system, a response scientists are now finding relies heavily on a complex ...
Medical Xpress / Shaped like a cone: The configuration of 'virulence factors' that allow TB to invade the lungs
The bacterial pathogen that causes tuberculosis is a master of deception, a king of clever tricks—an enemy agent that not only infiltrates but can become a long-term stowaway in patients' lungs.
Medical Xpress / The biological basis of economic behavior: How the brain perceives value and reward
Holiday shopping season is in full force and consumers who are on the lookout for deals in stores or online may be surprised to learn that a considerable amount of research is underway to elucidate the neuroscience underlying ...
Medical Xpress / Hardening of the arteries: Platelets, inflammation and a rogue protein conspire against the heart
The Lipid Hypothesis of coronary artery disease has long held that a high level of cholesterol is the causative factor of atherosclerosis, but a group of New York scientists is making a powerful case for platelets as the ...
Medical Xpress / Protein protects the mitochondria and surprisingly rescues neurons from stroke-like damage
A protein newly discovered by scientists in China is aiding in the dramatic reversal of stroke-like damage in laboratory animals and may one day rescue humans from neurological injury, the research team is predicting.
Medical Xpress / Cryptosporidium: Hot on the trail of a new anti-infective
Developed countries and resource-poor nations alike report Cryptosporidium infections but doctors in nations rich and poor are stymied in efforts to effectively treat it in extremely vulnerable patients—particularly babies—for ...
Medical Xpress / Cracking the mystery of a rare bleeding disorder—and pursuing 'off-the-shelf' drugs to treat it
Consider for a moment that your life is dominated by spontaneous nosebleeds, chronic stomach hemorrhaging, persistent anemia and a complex constellation of other manifestations, some potentially life-threatening.
Medical Xpress / Rotavirus vaccine: A potential new role as an anticancer agent
Numerous vaccines, from flu shots to those those that help thwart chickenpox and measles, are widely used to guard against contagion, but researchers in France are proposing a breakthrough role for rotavirus vaccines: deploying ...
Medical Xpress / Inflammation and autism—an important piece of the puzzle
Autism spectrum disorder has neither a distinct pathogenesis nor pharmaceutical treatment, yet evidence continues to mount demonstrating immune dysfunction and inflammation in specific brain regions of children diagnosed ...
Medical Xpress / Microbiome: Untapped source of novel antimicrobials
Just as Gold Rush prospectors once mined the Northern California hills for the shiny precious metal, "bioprospectors" are searching for a new prize: potential antimicrobial molecules—and they are hunting them down in the ...
Medical Xpress / Deadly 'two-faced' protein drives cancer growth, cripples T-cell avengers
Scientists have deciphered a key strategy of cancer cells that allows them to outfox the immune system and enhance the odds of their survival by employing a deadly "two-faced protein" that is reminiscent of a two-faced figure ...
Medical Xpress / How microbes hack into cells and why cancer drugs might block them
No matter the pathogen—virus, bacterium or fungus—many "pick a specific type of lock" on the surface of cells, which allows the microbe to break and enter into the inner sanctum of the host's genome.
Medical Xpress / CAR T cell therapy: On the cusp of 'an immunotherapy revolution'?
A deeper understanding of the immune system's role in controlling cancer has helped drive "an immunotherapy revolution," offering hope for many patients with previously incurable cancers, including children, doctors have ...
Medical Xpress / First comprehensive structural data on a key flu protein—it's central to infection
Influenza A viruses spawn epidemics, global pandemics and sweeping outbreaks that kill millions of birds, yet only now have flu scientists obtained comprehensive, high-resolution structural data on a protein that is key to ...
Medical Xpress / How circadian rhythms underlie energy production in the 'good form of fat'
Circadian rhythms orchestrate a vast number of life's processes through the activity of a 24-hour internal clock: hormone flow, blood pressure, sleep and wake cycles, and even the timing of hibernation among marmots and bears, ...
