Category Health/Medical

Treatment with glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) for type 2 diabetes and obesity is independently associated with a significantly increased five-year risk for osteoporosis, gout, and osteomalacia compared with nonuse, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, held from March 2 to 6 in New Orleans.

Muaaz Wajahath, from the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine in East Lansing, and colleagues evaluated the five-year risk for osteoporosis, gout, and osteomalacia in adults with both type 2 diabetes and obesity treated with GLP-1 RAs (semaglutide, liraglutide, dulaglutide, or exenatide) compared with matched controls (73,483 per group).

The researchers found that at five years, patients expo...

Atrial fibrillation is a common heart condition characterized by a rapid, irregular heartbeat stemming from the heart’s upper chamber. It is a leading cause of stroke from clots that form in a small pouch of the heart called the left atrial appendage (LAA). While several treatment options exist, they have many drawbacks, and risks often remain. But now, researchers have developed a promising new treatment involving magnetic fluids. Their study, published in Nature, describes the new procedure and results from rat and pig studies.

Atrial fibrillation treatment options
Blood thinners are a common treatment for atrial fibrillation...

More than 10,000 Americans who suffer from chronic liverdisease are on a waitlist for a liver transplant, but there are not enough donated organs for all of those patients. Additionally, many people with liver failure aren’t eligible for a transplant if they are not healthy enough to tolerate the surgery.

To help those patients, MIT engineers have developed “mini livers” that could be injected into the body and take over the functions of the failing liver.

In a new study in mice, the researchers showed that these injected liver cell...

Researchers at The Jackson Laboratory (JAX), in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), have developed the first bandage-like microneedle patch that can sample the body’s immune responses painlessly from the skin. The device detects inflammatory signals within minutes and collects specialized immune cells within hours without the need for blood draws or surgical biopsies.

Already, the patch is helping researchers and clinicians study immune responses in aging and skin autoimmunity, including vitiligo and psoriasis...