Medical Xpress

Patients with rheumatic conditions and opioid use disorder (OUD) have distinct demographic and clinical characteristics, including lower use of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) and higher acute care use, according to a study published online July 13 in Arthritis Care & Research.

Aging is often described through what we can see and feel: weaker muscles, reduced mobility and slower recovery. But behind these visible changes are deeper biological shifts in cells, tissues and the molecular structures that support them. A recent study published in BMC Genomics offers a closer look at one of these hidden layers of aging: the extracellular matrix, or ECM, in skeletal muscle.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new daily pill for adults with advanced breast cancer whose tumors have found a way around their current treatment.

Scientists at University of Galway have uncovered a link between commonly used anticancer drugs and antibiotics that could offer a new approach to tackling superbug infections. The research team set out to find new ways to treat methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections using drugs that are currently ineffective because of antibiotic resistance—a growing challenge in health care. MRSA is a type of S. aureus bacteria that has developed resistance to commonly used antibiotics,

A study published in Nature Human Behaviour reports that providing cash transfers to low-income mothers during the first four years of their children's lives changed the children's biological aging in ways associated with better health in adulthood.

More than 1.4 billion people worldwide live with high blood pressure (hypertension). It's the single biggest metabolic risk factor for early death—driving diseases such as heart attacks, strokes and kidney failure and dementia.

For at least two decades, thousands of Americans have been going to Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Brazil to look for ayahuasca, a psychoactive brew traditionally used in sacred ceremonies in South America. Ayahuasca contains the psychedelic compound DMT, N,N-Dimethyltryptamine, and researchers are studying its effects on several conditions, including depression and addiction.

Investigators at Cedars-Sinai Health Sciences University used an experimental drug to reverse the effects of systemic sclerosis, a serious autoimmune disease. The study, conducted in a laboratory, was published in JCI Insight.

Even though Alzheimer's disease, the hereditary vascular disorder CADASIL, and traumatic brain injury are all associated with inflammation and changes in the brain's blood vessels, many vascular cells appear to retain their normal genetic programs during disease, reports a study from Karolinska Institutet published in Nature Communications.

Streptococcal sore throat—strep throat for short—is one of the nastier maladies of childhood, causing fever, swollen tonsils and the namesake sore throat. The bacterial infection can linger even after treatment, turning otherwise healthy children into carriers.

University of Manchester scientists have uncovered a hidden role for immune cells in the womb, opening the door to new treatments for infertility, miscarriage and other reproductive conditions that affect millions of women worldwide. The findings are a breakthrough in our understanding of women's reproductive biology, one of the most underresearched areas of medicine, despite infertility and pregnancy complications affecting millions of families.

You've had a tough day and want nothing more than to flop on the sofa and listen to some soothing music. After a few minutes, you feel peaceful and calm. Anecdotally, music has long been known to relieve stress, but the scientific evidence has been mixed.

Two international clinical trials led in part by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine found that the investigational biologic therapy tozorakimab significantly reduced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) flare-ups among patients already receiving standard treatment for the disease compared with patients receiving only standard treatment. The findings are published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Immune cells can become exhausted after prolonged exposure to cancer, gradually losing their ability to attack tumor cells. This phenomenon is particularly pronounced in aggressive brain tumors and can severely limit the effectiveness of immunotherapy.

Understanding how the brain processes rewarding experiences could help researchers better understand behaviors such as overeating, as well as conditions such as anhedonia—the inability to experience pleasure, a common symptom of depression. One way researchers study reward-related processes is through animal models. In rats, ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs), sounds that are too high-pitched for humans to hear, are associated with various emotional and motivational states, including responses to r

New research from Carnegie Mellon University reveals that dendritic spines—the tiny structures that help brain cells communicate and form memories—don't fit neatly into a few categories. Instead, they display a continuous range of shapes, offering new insight into learning, development and neurological disease.

Researchers at The University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University have developed a laboratory method that transforms sheep bone into a realistic model of osteoporosis, providing a potential alternative for early-stage testing of orthopedic implants and treatments.

The risk of being hospitalized for flu or pneumonia can be reduced with a high-dose flu vaccine for older people with chronic lung disease, according to the combined results of two large clinical trials presented at the European Respiratory Society (ERS) Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

For many in the workforce, spending hours at a computer is an unavoidable part of daily life. Sitting for prolonged periods in the same position can contribute to low back pain (LBP), which affects up to 80% of people over their lifetime and remains a leading cause of disability worldwide. A group of French researchers decided to find out whether wearing a soft, flexible lower-back support belt can help people with common, unexplained lower back pain feel better and move more easily.

A new program developed by University of Alberta researchers is showing promise in helping stroke survivors stride toward recovery after leaving the hospital. A pilot study published in the Archives of Rehabilitation Research and Clinical Translation confirmed that the intervention, known as BIG STEPS, could safely and practically help people sit less and move more after returning home following hospitalization for a stroke—a "whole-of-the-day" approach that is important for long-term health and