Category Health/Medical

New technology Restores Movement after Spinal Cord Paralysis

A motorcycle crash left Michel Roccati with complete lower-body paralysis from a devastating spinal cord injury.

That was in 2017.

But now, the Italian native is walking again, courtesy of groundbreaking Swiss research that restores motor function within one day by means of carefully targeted electrical stimulation.

“At the beginning, I was unable to move the muscles of the legs, and I feel nothing,” Roccati recalled recently.

Now he can stand, walk and do stairs. In fact, “everything I have in mind to train I can do with the stimulation,” Roccati said at a press briefing hosted by Nature Medicine, which recently published the findings.

According to the World Health Organization, every year from 250,000 to a half-million people around the world suffer a seriously disabl...

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COVID-19 infections Increase Risk of Heart Conditions up to a Year Later, study finds

An analysis of federal health data indicates that people who have had COVID-19 are at increased risk of developing cardiovascular complications within the first month to a year after infection, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care System.

Cardiovascular care essential part of post-infection care. An in-depth analysis of federal health data indicates that people who have had COVID-19 are at increased risk of developing cardiovascular complications within the first month to a year after infection. Such complications include disruptive heart rhythms, inflammation of the heart, blood clots, stroke, coronary artery disease, heart attack, heart failure or even death.

Such problems occur even among ...

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Exercise can Provide Relief for Dry, Itchy Eyes

Making time for regular exercise can make your eyes feel better. A team led by researchers from the University of Waterloo discovered that a significant increase in tear secretion and tear film stability after participating in aerobic exercise can be another remedy for relieving dry, itchy eyes.

Every time we blink, our eyes are covered in tear film — an essential protective coating necessary for maintaining healthy ocular function. Healthy tear film comprises three layers-oil, water, and mucin-that work together to hydrate the ocular surface and protect against infection-causing irritants like dust or dirt.

When any part of the tear film becomes unstable, the ocular surface can develop dry spots, causing eye symptoms like itchiness or stinging and burning sensations.

“With s...

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The Brain’s Secret to Life-Long Learning can now come as Hardware for Artificial Intelligence

An electronic chip that can be reprogrammed on demand may enable artificial intelligence to learn more continuously like the human brain does, researchers have discovered. (Purdue University photo/Rebecca McElhoe)

When the human brain learns something new, it adapts. But when artificial intelligence learns something new, it tends to forget information it already learned.

As companies use more and more data to improve how AI recognizes images, learns languages and carries out other complex tasks, a paper publishing in Science this week shows a way that computer chips could dynamically rewire themselves to take in new data like the brain does, helping AI to keep learning over time.

“The brains of living beings can continuously learn throughout their lifespan...

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