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Latest Medical News from Doctor TV

New pathway in Alzheimer's disease provides earlier target for potential therapies

Researchers at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have identified a new target in development of Alzheimer's disease (AD) that could lead to therapies focused on treating the neurodegenerative condition early in its progression. [...]

Gasdermin offers insight into coral necrotic death

Pyroptosis is a highly inflammatory form of programmed necrotic cell death that acts as a defense mechanism against the infection of bacterial and viral pathogens. Pyroptosis is executed by gasdermin, a family of pore-forming proteins. [...]

Intimate partner violence has increased during pandemic, emerging evidence suggests

As we face rising COVID infection rates, the possibility of additional quarantines rises. Although stay-at-home orders might protect individuals from the virus, home isn't safe for everyone. Studies show that domestic violence calls to police and shelters in the U.S. have risen between 6% and 21% (variation depending on data source) since the start of the pandemic, with the largest increase happening the first five weeks of quarantine. [...]

Could we use statins to treat COVID-19?

Nothing in medicine is as exciting as discovering new drugs. However, this process is time consuming, expensive and not always necessary. Sometimes, existing drugs can be used to manage illnesses that are different to those they were developed for. [...]

Secukinumab in children with plaque psoriasis: Study unsuitable for benefit assessment

The monoclonal antibody secukinumab is approved for the treatment of moderate to severe plaque psoriasis in children and adolescents from the age of six years who are candidates for systemic therapy. The German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) now examined in an early benefit assessment whether the drug offers an added benefit for these patients in comparison with the appropriate comparator therapy (ACT). Since the drug manufacturer did not provide appropriate treatment to the participants in the control arm of the study on which its dossier was based, no fair comparison is possible. IQWiG therefore concluded… [...]

Mexico City hospitals are filling up, but so are the streets

Sometimes Latin American dance tunes on the radio—salsa, cumbia, ranchera—bring a little cheer into the emergency room of Mexico City's Ajusco Medio hospital, which is operating well over normal capacity because of COVID-19. [...]

Researchers define immune system's requirements for protection against COVID-19

Since the novel coronavirus emerged at the end of last year, scientists around the world—including Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) immunologist Dan Barouch, MD, Ph.D.—have been developing vaccines to protect against COVID-19 and to put an end to the global pandemic. As of November 2020, three pharmaceutical companies released early data showing high rates of protection in Phase 3 human trials for their vaccines, but questions remain about how the body develops and maintains immunity after vaccination or infection. [...]

Humans have used drugs with sex for millennia—the reasons are much broader than you think

On their own, sex and drugs are cultural taboos. Combining them only adds to our reluctance to talk about them. But understanding how sex and drugs are connected isn't something we should shy away from or perceive as deviant. [...]

Researchers discover new particle in the blood of septic patients

Researchers at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) have found that people with sepsis have never-before-seen particles in their blood. The scientists are the first to show that these particles, called elongated neutrophil-derived structures (ENDS), break off of immune cells and change their shape as they course through the body. [...]

Bahrain now 2nd nation to grant Pfizer shot emergency use

The island kingdom of Bahrain said Friday it has become the second nation in the world to grant an emergency-use authorization for the coronavirus vaccine made by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech. [...]