Medical Xpress news

Medical Xpress / How do brains stay stable, and when might a dose of flexibility be helpful?

Young minds are easily molded. Each new experience rewires a child's brain circuitry, adding and removing synaptic connections between neurons. These wiring patterns become more stable with age, but biology has left some ...

Medical Xpress / Patient-specific human liver model lays foundation for personalized treatments

Liver disease is a major global health problem, causing over two million deaths worldwide each year. While animal models have helped to understand liver biology, they often fail to accurately translate to human biology.

7 hours ago in Biomedical technology
Medical Xpress / PTSD in World Trade Center responders linked to measurable physical changes in brain structure

New research among World Trade Center (WTC) responders with chronic post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has uncovered measurable physical changes in their brain structure, consistent with changes in the balance of myelinated ...

5 hours ago in Psychology & Psychiatry
Medical Xpress / 'Zap-and-freeze' snapshots catch brain cells in the act of learning

Researchers at Leipzig University's Carl Ludwig Institute for Physiology, working in collaboration with Johns Hopkins University, have achieved an important breakthrough in brain research. The so-called zap-and-freeze technique, ...

9 hours ago in Neuroscience
Medical Xpress / Neuroscience research reveals synapse functions, relationships in detail

New research from Colorado State University into the ways neurons regulate chemical balance in the brain could provide valuable insights toward developing therapies for disorders such as epilepsy.

5 hours ago in Neuroscience
Medical Xpress / Heavy menstruation common among teenage girls—questionnaire can reveal risk of iron deficiency

More than half of teenage girls experienced heavy bleeding and 40% had an iron deficiency. The research, led by Lund University in Sweden, also shows that young teenage girls who experience heavy menstrual bleeding—and ...

5 hours ago in Health
Medical Xpress / Link between tumor metabolism and drug efficacy in cancer cells may help advance precision chemotherapy

Chemotherapy drugs that target cancer cells without damaging normal cells remain one of the key goals of precision medicine in cancer treatment. The challenge is designing drugs that do this effectively.

5 hours ago in Oncology & Cancer
Medical Xpress / Gene therapy advances as scientists guide jumping DNA to target faulty genes

JABSOM Cell and Molecular Biology researcher Dr. Jesse Owens has spent the better part of two decades chasing a vision that began with the revolutionary idea that DNA can move itself. Now, his team's latest breakthrough is ...

5 hours ago in Genetics
Medical Xpress / Exposure to PFAS and PCBs linked to higher odds of multiple sclerosis

People who have been exposed to both PFAS and PCBs are more likely to be diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). These new research findings are based on analyses of blood samples from more than 1,800 individuals in Sweden, ...

Medical Xpress / How embryos and the uterus 'talk' during implantation

A new study shows that the embryo and the uterine lining conduct an active "conversation" from the very earliest stages of implantation. They engage in a back and forth of tiny packages called extracellular vesicles and lipid ...

6 hours ago in Medical research
Medical Xpress / AI-electrocardiogram model developed to diagnose liver disease earlier

As rates of obesity, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and sleep apnea increase, cases of advanced chronic liver disease and resulting liver scarring or cirrhosis also are rising. Patients are often diagnosed based on ...

6 hours ago in Gastroenterology
Medical Xpress / Disappointment alters brain chemistry and behavior, mouse study shows

From work meetings to first dates, it's essential to adjust our behavior for success. In certain situations, it can even be a matter of life or death. So how do we switch our behavior when situations change?

13 hours ago in Psychology & Psychiatry