A pathway between the brain and the immune system discovered in mice could explain why prolonged stress can exacerbate inflammatory bowel disease

A vein of Galen malformation is a condition that can place pressure on a fetus’s heart and lungs and deprive the brain of oxygen. Surgeons corrected this type of blood vessel problem in a fetus for the first time

The coronavirus commonly causes gastrointestinal symptoms, but whether this is due to inflammation, disruption to our microbiome or the virus affecting the permeability of our gut wall is unclear

Genetic mutations to an antibody prevented MRSA infections in mice, and boosted the effectiveness of antibiotics for fighting the infection

Penetrating the blood-brain barrier via pulses of ultrasound waves led to a three-fold increase in the concentration of a chemotherapy drug in people with the brain cancer glioblastoma multiforme

Your biological age - a measure based on markers within your DNA, rather than your number of birthdays - can rise and fall in relation to stressful events We become biologically older when our bodies are under stress, but younger again when we recover, according to a study that analysed people’s DNA when they had emergency hip surgery, severe covid-19 or were pregnant. “This recovery suggests we have the machinery to be able to rewind the clock back at least a little bit,” says James White at Duke University in North Carolina, who co-led the study with Vadim Gladyshev at…

Tumours in mice had reduced growth after brown fat, which burns sugars and other fuel that tumours need to grow, was implanted nearby. Researchers used CRISPR gene editing to convert white fat, which can be collected via liposuction, into brown fat Implanting brown fat around cancerous tumours could halve their size as the fat burns the fuel tumours need to grow. Although only tested in mice and human tissue to date, white fat could one day be extracted from people via liposuction and genetically engineered using the CRISPR technique to turn it into brown fat that then starves tumours of…

A malaria vaccine that is 77 per cent effective in clinical trials has been approved for use in children 3 to 5 years old, the group most vulnerable to dying from the disease Ghana is the first country to approve a new, highly effective malaria vaccine called R21/Matrix-M. The decision marks a milestone in the efforts to combat a disease that killed 619,000 people in 2021, most of them young children. The country’s Food and Drugs Authority authorised the shot on 13 April for children between the ages of 3 and 5 years old – the age group most vulnerable…

Certain types of light can improve the health and appearance of skin. Now scientists are finally beginning to understand how low-level laser therapy works its magic Natural light profoundly affects our biology, from how well we sleep, to our brain function and immune response. The ancient Egyptians used solar radiation to disinfect and heal chronic wounds and ulcers as far back as 5000 BC, making light therapy one of the oldest therapeutic methods used by humans. Now evidence is growing that by delivering specific wavelengths of red and near-infrared laser light to precise areas of the body, it is possible…

The discovery that faulty metabolism is at the root of many brain diseases suggests a surprising transplant could be the way to protect our brains from the ravages of ageing TXBTRF 3d rendered medically accurate illustration of amyloid plaques on a alzheimer nerve cell Protein plaques in the brain may be caused by failing mitochondria IF YOU own a car, you will have noticed the engine getting less efficient with time. The further you drive it, the more fuel it takes to make the same journey – until, eventually, it becomes so underpowered that it needs a physical push to…