Category Health/Medical

University of Michigan researchers have discovered that oxidative stress experienced early in life increases subsequent stress resistance later in life. Oxidative stress happens when cells produce more oxidants and free radicals than they can deal with. It’s part of the aging process, but can also arise from stressful conditions such as exercise and calorie restriction.

Examining a type of roundworm called C. elegans, U-M scientists Ursula Jakob and Daphne Bazopoulou found that worms that produced more oxidants during development lived longer than worms that produced fewer oxidants. Their results are published in the journal Nature.

Researchers h...

When Vivian Mushahwar first applied to grad school, she wrote about her idea to fix paralysis by rewiring the spinal cord. It was only after she was accepted into a bioengineering program that the young electrical engineer learned her idea had actually prompted laughter. “I figured, hey I can fix it, it’s just wires,” Mushahwar said. “Yeah, well, it’s not just wires. So I had to learn the biology along the way.”

It’s taken Mushahwar a lot of work over two decades at the University of Alberta, but the Canada Research Chair in Functional Restoration is still fixated on the dream of helping people wal...

Evidence from 13 randomized trials of the treatment of migraine in 4,222 patients and tens of thousands of patients in prevention of recurrent attacks supports the use of high dose aspirin from 900 to 1,300 milligrams to treat acute migraine as well as low dose daily aspirin from 81 to 325 milligrams to prevent recurrent attacks. Aspirin is available without a prescription, is inexpensive, and has a relatively favorable side-effect profile compared to alternative more expensive medications.

Migraine headache is the third most common disease in th...

Bacterial biofilms that develop around golden staph infections make treatment difficult and prolonged, but researchers have shown in laboratory work that the hybrid antibiotics they have developed can destroy staph biofilms.

Eradicating deadly staph using a new breed of antibiotics has revealed promising results in research released by QUT, to help overcome one of the biggest modern medical challenges.

The bacteria attach to medical devices including catheters, artificial joints, implants and patients’ burns and wounds, establishing bacterial biofilms, a leading cause of failing antibiotic therapies and chronic infections.

QUT resear...