Articles by Delthia Ricks
Medical Xpress / High fat ketogenic diet envisioned as potential life-saving therapy to combat low platelets in cancer patients
A high-fat diet may combat low platelet counts in the blood caused by chemotherapy, according to preliminary research, which suggests that a ketogenic eating plan may be a nontoxic, low-cost and high-benefit addition to cancer ...
Medical Xpress / Pulmonary arterial hypertension is incurable but animal model study suggests an experimental drug may be effective
An experimental drug that is already in clinical trials for other diseases could disrupt a positive feedback loop that exacerbates pulmonary arterial hypertension, a dangerous and rapidly fatal condition for which there is ...
Medical Xpress / The secret lives of T cells: They derive energy from a master regulator that has been poorly understood, until now
T cells aren't the first immune forces on the scene, they arrive after being alerted by other immune system warriors that a microbe has invaded or a cancer has silently seeded.
Medical Xpress / Microbiome: Scientists highlight role of harmful gut bacteria in fever afflicting cancer patients
An altered gut microbiome is an unexpected cause of fever afflicting many patients undergoing chemotherapy, according to scientists who've also discovered that poor appetite during cancer treatment may trigger the biological ...
Medical Xpress / Breakaway breast cancer cells can travel to the brain: Scientists plot path in quest to block entry
One of the most puzzling—and devastating—aspects of cancer is its potentially lethal wanderlust, the spread of the disease from a primary tumor to a new and distant site.
Medical Xpress / A secret of developing life: In some instances the fetus helps repair a ruptured amniotic sac
Premature rupture of the amniotic sac can have devastating consequences, but scientists in Japan are studying instances when the damaged sac repairs itself—a phenomenon that requires cooperation of the developing fetus.
Medical Xpress / Chronic disorder occurring only in low, middle income countries prompts study to understand it at molecular level
A study of patients with a chronic intestinal condition has helped demystify—but not totally solve—a puzzling disorder that is widespread in low-and middle-income countries, but is largely unseen in wealthier regions of the ...
Medical Xpress / Scientists shine a spotlight on yet another shrewd maneuver HIV uses to commandeer human cells
More than 40 years into the HIV pandemic, scientists are still turning up clues revealing how the virus hijacks its host's cellular processes to support its own replication—and promote the long-term survival of the virus ...
Medical Xpress / A telltale protein spreads throughout the brain in distinct patterns based on patients' Alzheimer's phenotype
New imaging of patients with Alzheimer's demonstrates how a telltale protein spreads throughout the brain based on the phenotype of the disease, i.e., whether the condition is dominated by forgetfulness, or atrophy in a specific ...
Medical Xpress / Microbiome: Disruption of gut microbial balance is associated with increased mortality after kidney, liver transplants
Disruptions in the gut microbiome have been linked to lower survival rates for people who have undergone kidney and liver transplants, a finding that highlights the critical importance of the vast and complex microbial communities ...
Medical Xpress / Experimental antibiotic torpedoes the protective slime that makes resistant bacteria tougher to fight
An experimental antibiotic is under development that is capable of neutralizing a wide range of drug-resistant, Gram-positive bacteria—pathogens that protect themselves in a slimy shield, called a biofilm, designed by nature ...
Medical Xpress / Drug resistance is a powerful menace in certain breast and ovarian cancers. Now scientists are figuring out why
Just as bacteria, viruses and fungi develop strategies to outsmart antimicrobial medications, cancer cells can become resistant to chemotherapy. And among tumors, those associated with triple negative breast cancer and ovarian ...
Medical Xpress / Scientists zero in on antibodies capable of neutralizing HIV
More than 40 years into the HIV pandemic, scientists are shedding new light on how defenses are mounted against the virus, discoveries that may eventually lead to a neutralizing antibody that stops the virus before it becomes ...
Medical Xpress / Intranasal vaccination produces potent systemic immunity against HIV and SARS-CoV-2 in animal models
Even though most viruses cause infection directly through mucosal cells, the vast majority of vaccines are administered intramuscularly in a cellular mismatch that doesn't always produce optimum immunity.
Medical Xpress / Another tantalizing step closer to a universal flu vaccine
Development of a universal flu vaccine has been a long-sought goal, and as flu scientists begin to see light at the end of a decades-long tunnel, encouraging data have emerged on an experimental shot. It appears effective ...
