Health

Imagine no longer having to worry about booster shots for vaccinations, because all the doses for a particular vaccination are injected in one shot, waiting to be released at a predetermined time. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) just released details of a new 3-D fabrication method which could make this vision a reality.

New research released this week suggests that suicide attempts in the United States are on the rise, particularly in young adults. ‘National Trends in Suicide Attempts Among Adults in the United States’ was published September 13 in The Journal of the American Medical Association, Psychiatry.

The traditional route of taking medicines in tablet form for certain conditions could potentially be replaced by a small device similar to a pacemaker, researchers claim. The device is roughly the same size as a pacemaker, but instead of being implanted by the heart, it sits just below the left collarbone.

Spread through the infected bite of the mosquitos, Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, the Zika virus has wreaked havoc in certain parts of the world recently. Effects have been especially serious amongst pregnant women and their fetuses, to whom it is believed to cause birth defects. This virus has only been a cause of ill health and life threatening conditions such as microencephaly and brain tumors in babies.

Wearable devices that track the medical data of their users are becoming increasingly popular among both healthcare professionals and researchers. They consist of sensors that measure vital signs over time, which can help calculate the probability of deterioration in patients with conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD).

What is Asthma?

Scientists at the University of Oxford have just released details of a pioneering new study which aims to predict the risk of a patient suffering a stroke using an MRI scan. Using non-invasive scans such as these could well provide a much more effective way of monitoring patients who are at a high risk of strokes, as well as being an efficient way of observing patients who have suffered minor strokes.

Could it be true that infrared LED light is potentially beneficial to the muscles of the human body? Sounds like a farfetched theory but the evidence backing this claim certainly appears to proves otherwise. Even the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have conducted research demonstrating the energy generated within cells, and therefore endowing a power of regeneration to repair broken tissues, when subject to red light.

In cases of couples struggling to conceive, the cause can sometimes be the fact that the male partner has been born with an extra sex chromosome, known as X and Y chromosomes. This additional chromosome can cause problems in that it interferes with the creation of healthy mature sperm.

Peanut allergies are one of the most common food allergies and can cause potentially fatal allergic reactions, with sufferers going into anaphylactic shock.

This week, scientists managed to modify human embryos to remove a genetic mutation which causes heart failure in young people. A mutation of the MYBPC3 gene causes hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, or HCM.

For years, scientists have been searching for a medical adhesive that stays sticky when wet and does not cause irritation. Medical glue, or tissue adhesives, are becoming more and more popular as an alternative to staples or stitches. Currently, most glues available do not exhibit a high level of biocompatibility and also do not always match the mechanical properties of the tissues they’re attached to.