Viruses, Infections & Disease, features and articles | Educational Science

Nov 13, 2023

'Bionic breast' could restore sensation for cancer survivors

Scientists are developing bionic breasts that could restore sensation to breast cancer survivors who have undergone mastectomies and reconstructive surgeries. Every year, more than 100,000 women in the U.S. have one or both of their breasts surgically removed to treat breast cancer and to help stop the disease from returning,...

Jan 15, 2024

Zika virus could potentially treat cancer, another early study hints

The Zika virus has plagued humans since its identification in 1947, but now, scientists are harnessing its ability to damage cells to fight a different foe: cancer. In a new study published Jan. 9 in the journal Cancer Research Communications, researchers used the Zika virus to treat mice that had...

Jan 31, 2024

Cancer sometimes triggers sudden memory loss — now we might know why

Cancer can sometimes trigger an off-the-rails immune response that harms nerve cells, rapidly leading to thinking problems and memory loss — but until now, scientists weren't sure what caused this rare complication. This disorder is a type of paraneoplastic neurological syndrome (PNS), and researchers already knew it stems from the...

Feb 8, 2024

New mRNA 'cancer vaccine' trial launches in UK

An 81-year-old man from Surrey became the first patient in the U.K. to receive a new vaccine designed to treat solid-tumor cancers, such as the skin cancer melanoma. Therapeutic cancer vaccines act as a kind of immunotherapy, meaning they help train the immune system to fight cancer cells. They're different...

Feb 21, 2024

Gut bacteria linked to colorectal cancer in young people

Colorectal cancer most often affects people over age 50, but it's on the rise in younger people, who are rarely offered screening to catch these cancers early. Now, a new study hints that microbes found in the tumors of younger and older cancer patients differ, and this could potentially offer...

Jul 21, 2015

Alzheimer's Risk: Women with Memory Problems Decline Faster Than Men

Elderly women are more likely than elderly men to develop Alzheimer's disease, even when they are exposed to some of the same risk factors, two new studies find. Senior women who have mild cognitive problems, such as memory impairment and difficulties with language or thinking skills, decline in cognitive ability...

Sep 9, 2015

Children's Hormone Treatments May Have Planted Alzheimer's Seeds

Children's hormone treatments may have planted the seeds for later Alzheimer's disease, according to a small, new observational study. The study is based on the autopsies of eight people who died from the rare neurodegenerative disorder called Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD), which is caused by a prion, a type of misfolded...

Sep 11, 2015

Could Red-Wine Compound Resveratrol Help Treat Alzheimer's Disease?

A compound in red wine that's been theorized to have anti-aging effects appears to be safe for people with Alzheimer's disease, and may point to a new way to treat the disease, early research suggests. In the study, about 120 people with Alzheimer's disease took either a medication made from...

Nov 3, 2015

Robin Williams' Death: What Is Lewy Body Dementia?

Although actor Robin Williams died by suicide, the underlying cause of his death was a rare brain disease called Lewy body dementia, according to his widow. The disease caused Williams to experience hallucinations and other debilitating neurological symptoms, including depression, Susan Schneider Williams, widow of the late actor, told People...

Dec 8, 2015

Novel Chemical 'Washes Away' Alzheimer's Plaque in Mice

Scientists in Korea have found a small molecule that, when added to the drinking water of mice bred to develop Alzheimer's disease, washed away the protein plaques associated with the disease and improved the mice's learning and memory functions. The chemical, called EPPS — short for 4-(2-hydroxyethyl)-1- piperazinepropanesulphonic acid —...

Jan 8, 2016

7 Ways Friendships Are Great for Your Health

From the day children first step out onto the playground, friendships are a key part of life. According to Gallup polling data from 2004, 98 percent of Americans report having at least one close friend (the average number of friends is nine). But friendship may be in trouble. Americans reported...

Feb 3, 2016

Head Trauma Linked to Same 'Plaques' Seen in Alzheimer's

People with brain injuries from trauma to the head may have a buildup of the same plaques seen in people with Alzheimer's disease in their brains, a small, new study suggests. Moreover, the areas of the brain where the plaques were found in people with brain injuries overlapped with the...

Feb 23, 2016

Alzheimer's, Stroke and Heart Disease Death Rates Rise Slightly

The rates of death from a number of maladies, including heart disease, stroke and Alzheimer's, were higher in 2015 than in 2014, a new report finds. The preliminary analysis of U.S. death records from October 2014 to September 2015 also shows that the overall death rate was higher than during...

Mar 9, 2016

Brain Scans Show How Alzheimer's Emerges

For the first time, scientists have used brain scans to track the development of Alzheimer's disease in adults with no symptoms. The new technique may lead to early detection and treatment of the disease, the researchers said. Until now, a definitive diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease could only be made via...

Mar 22, 2016

What Really Causes Alzheimer's? New Idea Points to Germs

Scientists have long puzzled over the root causes of Alzheimer's disease, a devastating and typically fatal condition that currently denies more than five million Americans their cognition and memory. But in a provocative editorial soon to be published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, a cadre of scientists argue that...