A new study compared a humpback whale brain with brains from several other cetacean species and found the presence of a certain type of neuron cell that is also found in humans. This suggests that certain cetaceans and hominids may have evolved side by side.
The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) announced the results of the recent competition for support of its three large-scale sequencing centers, strengthening efforts to use the power of DNA sequencing to unlock the genomic secrets of human diseases.
Alcohol can help people initially fall asleep, but leads to poor-quality sleep later in the night. Escalated consumption of alcohol to aid sleep can lead to alcoholism. Inaccurate sleep perceptions among alcoholics in early recovery may predict relapse to drinking.
Popular and clinical lore support the strong connection between smoking and alcohol consumption. Adolescent smokers appear to have a greater vulnerability to developing alcohol-use disorders. Results indicate that smoking “primes” the brain for subsequent addiction to alcohol and possibly other drugs.
Combining radiation and chemotherapy with Erbitux, a cancer-targeting agent that attacks specific receptors on the surface of tumor cells, is showing promising results in treating patients with advanced esophageal cancer.
A new study has shown that exercise can reduce sleep-disordered breathing in children, which appeared in the November issue of Obesity. Exercise can reduce snoring among overweight children, even if it doesn’t result in weight loss.
People who suffer from job burnout may be prone to developing type 2 diabetes, according to a study of 677 mostly male middle-aged Israeli workers, published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine.
A gene variant that increases the risk of developing the aggressive “wet” form of age-related macular degeneration, the most common cause of blindness in people over age 50, is reported in two recent articles in Science by researchers at Yale School of Medicine.
Genetics play a major role in predisposing infants to retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), a disease prevalent in premature infants that disrupts normal blood vessel development of the retina and can lead to blindness, researchers at Yale School of Medicine report in the November issue of Pediatrics.
Women who participated in prolonged, frequent bicycling had decreased genital sensation and were more likely to have a history of genital pain than women runners, researchers in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences at Yale School of Medicine and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine report in the current issue of the Journal of Sexual Medicine.