Category Health/Medical

Some diabetes medicine reduce the risk of getting Parkinson´s disease by 35%. Copyright: Colourbox

A Norwegian study shows that the taking of diabetes medicine reduces the risk of getting Parkinson´s disease. Researchers at the Department of Clinical Medicine at the University of Bergen (UiB) have discovered that medical treatment against diabetes reduces the risk of getting Parkinson´s disease by 35%. “We have made an important discovery, which takes us a step further towards solving the Parkinson´s riddle,” says researcher Charalampos Tzoulis. He has lead the study together with researcher Kristoffer Haugarvoll at the same department.

Tzoulis says that the researchers have to do follow-up studies on the diabetes medicine to fully understand why it protects against Parkinson´s disease...

A researcher uses a pipette to put a sample on to a molography chip. Photograph of the experimental set-up in an ETH Zurich laboratory. Credit: ETH Zurich / Andreas Frutiger

A new method for analysis of molecules in liquids on a chip has the potential to revolutionize medical diagnostics. Much can be detected in blood or urine: viral illnesses, metabolic disorders or autoimmune diseases can be diagnosed with laboratory tests. But such examinations often take a few hours and are quite complex Scientists at ETH Zurich and the company Roche have jointly developed a completely new analysis method based on light diffraction on molecules on a small chip. In future, physicians may be able to perform complex examinations easily and quickly in their own practice.

As with other established diagnosti...

Natural (∆9-THC) and synthetic (JWH-018) cannabinoids induce seizures by acting through the cannabinoid CB1 receptor. Scientific Reports, 2017; 7 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-10447-2

A research group of International Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine (WPI-IIIS), University of Tsukuba, discovered that seizures, a life-threatening condition, can be induced by natural Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC, main constituent of marijuana) or the synthetic cannabinoid JWH-018 (main component of synthetic blend “Spice”) in mice. This was demonstrated by continuous recording of animals’ electric brain activity (electroencephalogram, EEG), video and movement activity tracking...

Schematic diagram showing how a subset of immune cells, named DN2a T cells, mature into DN2b T cells. The maturation of this step is among the earliest in immune cell development and is controlled by the forgotten DNA strands that allow the genome to change its architecture to induce the “Big Bang” of T cell development. In the absence of the “forgotten strands” DN2a cells fail to mature and ultimately after accumulating additional mutations become malignant T cells also named leukemias or lymphomas.
Credit: UC San Diego

Ignored pieces of DNA play a critical role in the development of immune cells (T cells). These areas activate a change in the structure of DNA that brings together crucial elements necessary for T cell formation...