news 2022

A group of researchers from the Institute of Corpuscular Physics (IFIC, UV-CSIC) has collaborated in the publication of the first international manual of supportive therapies for cancer patients.

A class of medication for Type 2 diabetes may help older people with the condition reduce their risk of dementia. The findings are contained in a new study by Walter Swardfager , an assistant professor of pharmacology and toxicology at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine and a scientist in the Sandra Black Centre for Brain Resilience and Recovery at Sunnybrook Research Institute, and graduate student Che-Yuan (Joey) Wu.

Complete abstinence from alcohol is considered a cornerstone in the treatment of patients with alcohol-related liver disease. It has not yet been sufficiently researched whether this measure can still improve the prognosis even in the case of advanced liver cirrhosis. Scientists at the Department of Internal Medicine III at MedUni Vienna and AKH Vienna have now provided evidence of the positive effects of alcohol abstinence even at very advanced stages of the disease.

Women are up to 75 per cent more likely to experience adverse reactions to prescription drugs than men because of a range of differences in traits between the sexes, according to a new study from The Australian National University (ANU). The researchers believe more should be done to take this into account when treating diseases.

TUM researchers discover new cell mechanism in multiple myeloma Multiple myeloma (MM) is the second most common type of blood cancer. It attacks the plasma cells in the blood. A team at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has now discovered a mechanism which provides indications of when and why these cells become aggressive.

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is almost always accompanied by fatigue, a massive tiredness that is described by the vast majority of patients as the most distressing symptom. In a recent scientific study, a research group led by Stefan Seidel from the Department of Neurology at MedUni Vienna and AKH Vienna identified light therapy as a promising non-drug treatment option: patients included in the study showed a measurable improvement after just 14 days of use.

The doctoral program PharMetrX of Freie Universität Berlin and the University of Potsdam welcomes the pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk as new partner PharMetrX - Pharmacometrics & Computational Disease Modelling, an interdisciplinary doctoral program of Freie Universität Berlin and the University of Potsdam, has gained its seventh international partner with the addition of the research-driven pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk.

Centre for Clinical Studies (ZKS) brings findings from science into practical application Hannover Medical School (MHH) is one of Germany's leading institutions in vaccine research. Before new vaccines are launched on the market, they have to undergo extensive clinical testing. The requirements for a clinical trial are high, the bureaucratic effort for planning and implementation is immense.

Patients receiving emergency medical treatment for atrial fibrillation show a correlation between the intravenous administration of potassium and magnesium and a spontaneous return to a normal heart rhythm. This was discovered in a new study by the Department of Emergency Medicine at MedUni Vienna and University Hospital Vienna, which analysed patient data between 2009 and 2020.

Glucocorticoids —such as cortisone— are among the most widely used anti-inflammatory drugs, and are used to treat asthma, psoriasis, organ transplantation and even COVID-19. Regarding their pharmacological action, the activity of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) is crucial. The GR is a transcription factor that regulates vital processes in human physiology.

Using the new -smart contact lens- could prevent deaths caused by fungal eye infections in developing countries Currently, detecting which bacteria or fungus is present in an eye infection is an invasive and lengthy process - the new test would involve the patient wearing the special lens for an hour, with the results determined soon afterwards It will also cut down on the misprescribing of antibiotics, helping in the fight to reduce antibiotic resistance A pioneering -smart contact lens- to test for eye infections in a quick, non-invasive way is being developed.

Structural details of an attractive drug target in coronaviruses that could be used against SARS-CoV-2 and in future pandemics have been published by international teams co-led by UCL researchers. Two new studies published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences and eLife reveal pockets in an important piece of the virus' machinery that drugs could bind to in order to halt virus replication.

The number of non-fatal car accidents that involve prescription opioids has dropped significantly in recent years, suggesting efforts to curb use are working. People taking prescription opioids are more than twice as likely to be involved in a car accident than those who aren-t, research has shown. In fact, between the early 1990s and early 2010s, as opioid use rose sharply in the United States, the number of fatalities among drivers using prescription opioids increased seven-fold.

The number of non-fatal car accidents that involve prescription opioids has dropped significantly in recent years, suggesting efforts to curb use are working. People taking prescription opioids are more than twice as likely to be involved in a car accident than those who aren-t, research has shown. In fact, between the early 1990s and early 2010s, as opioid use rose sharply in the United States, the number of fatalities among drivers using prescription opioids increased seven-fold.

Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have a higher chance of suffering from brain-related problems such as anxiety, depression and memory problems. PhD candidate Charlotte Pelgrim discovered that inflammation in the brain and a less protective barrier of the blood vessels in the brain may play a role.

Publication of the CIRI in the journal Nature Microbiology on January 5, 2023. Communication of the Institut Pasteur on January 6, 2023. A team from the Institut Pasteur, hosted at CIRI, has developed and successfully tested on a primate model a pentavalent vaccine against the five pathogenic arenaviruses circulating in South America.

MHH psychiatry coordinates largest German study to improve depression treatment Using biomarkers to find individual diagnostic and therapeutic paths - what already works in oncology is also to become possible in psychiatry. Under the leadership of Professor Dr Helge Frieling, Vice Head of the Department of Psychiatry, Social Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the Hannover Medical School (MHH), a national research network is now being launched that aims to tailor the treatment of depression more closely to the individual patient than before.

Researchers have found that a set of proteins have different shapes in the spinal fluid of healthy individuals and Parkinson's patients. These could be used in the future as a new type of biomarker for this disease. Many human diseases can be detected and diagnosed using biomarkers in blood or other body fluids.

Regular exercise may protect pancreatic beta cells from stresses that contribute to diabetes. Researchers from the ULB Center for Diabete Research observed this in a study published in Diabetologia . Diabetes is characterized by a progressive loss of pancreatic beta cells, the same cells that produce insulin and thus maintain the right level of sugar in the blood.

Due to the Western lifestyle with a high fat diet combined with little exercise, more and more people in the Netherlands are overweight or even obese. This causes an increased risk of type II diabetes. What can be done about this besides a healthier lifestyle? The answer comes from an unexpected source: shivering from the cold! Apart from the fact that this mechanism ensures that your body stays a bit warm, it also appears to improve sugar metabolism in type II diabetes patients.