Category Health/Medical

Flare-ups of Gout are linked to Heart Attack and Stroke

Gout

Experts at the University of Nottingham, in collaboration with experts at Keele University, have found that the risk of heart attacks and strokes temporarily increases in the four months after a gout flare.

The research showed that gout patients who suffered from a heart attack or stroke were twice as likely to have had a gout flare in the 60 days prior to the event, and one and a half times more likely to have a gout flare in the 61-120 days prior.

The results of the study, led by Professor Abhishek in the School of Medicine at the University of Nottingham, are published in the journal JAMA.

Gout is a common form of arthritis that affects one in 40 adults in the UK...

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Using Light to Restore Cell Function

A super resolution image captured in Diao’s lab shows the endoplasmic reticulum in green, lysosomes in pink and mitochondria in red. Using the light-activated proteins, the mitochondria and lysosomes are brought together to conduct mitochondrial fission. Photo provided by Jiajie Diao.

New research from the University of Cincinnati shows early indications that light can be used as a treatment for certain diseases, including cancer.

Researchers from UC, the U222niversity of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the University at Buffalo published the results of their study demonstrating light-activated proteins can help normalize dysfunction within cells in the journal Nature Communications July 25.

The research centers on the functions of mitochondria, organelles within a cell that act as...

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Fast-acting Immune Cells provide Powerful Protection against Stroke

CREDIT: Adapted from Cai and Shi et al., 2022
CAPTION:  Within 24 hours after researchers depleted CD8+TRLs from the bloodstream of stroke mice, the size of the brain region affected by ischemia expanded by 50% (middle panel) compared to animals whose CD8+TRL levels remained intact (left and right panels).

CD8+ regulatory-like Tcells reach the brain within 24 hours after stroke onset, where they release molecules that provide direct neuroprotective effects, as well as limit inflammation and secondary brain damage.

“The beauty of CD8+TRLs is in their fast response. They confer very potent protection to the brain, which can last a long time,” said co-corresponding author Xiaoming Hu, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of neurology at Pitt and a U.S...

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New link found that connects Cell Signaling Pathway to Development of Esophageal Cancers, Barrett’s Syndrome

Researchers believe pathway is a potential therapeutic target for gastroesophageal cancers. A team of researchers believe they have identified a cell signaling pathway responsible for the development of esophageal adenocarcinomas, an aggressive form of esophageal cancer that has gradually become more common, even in younger people.

Of the roughly 20,000 people in the U.S. diagnosed with esophageal cancer this year, just 4,000 are likely to still be alive in 2027. Such dire data has long driven researchers to try to understand the roots of the disease, but they have discovered little — until now.

“The incidence of esophageal cancers has increased several fold over the last few decades, making it the most common esophageal malignancy in the U.S...

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