New drug candidate found for hand, foot and mouth disease

A study appearing next week in the journal Nature Communications offers some good news in the search for antiviral drugs for hard-to-treat diseases. Researchers have identified a potential new drug candidate against enterovirus 71, a common cause of hand, foot and mouth disease in infants and young children.

Scientists identify hormone that might help treat malabsorption

Scientists at Cincinnati Children's used human intestinal organoids grown from stem cells to discover how our bodies control the absorption of nutrients from the food we eat. They further found that one hormone might be able to reverse a congenital disorder in babies who cannot adequately absorb nutrients and need intravenous feeding to survive.

Average person with type 1 diabetes will live 8 years less, and those with type 2 diabetes 2 years less: study

A new modelling study presented at this year's Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), held online this year, suggests that the average person with type 1 diabetes (T1DM) in the UK today will live almost eight years less than the average person in the general population without diabetes, while those with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) will live almost 2 years less. The study is by modelling expert Mike Stedman, Res Consortium, Andover, UK, and Dr. Adrian Heald, University of Manchester, UK, and colleagues.

Team confirms existence of residual non-functioning beta cells in living individuals with longstanding type 1 diabetes

Scientists have found that a non-invasive imaging technique can detect residual, non-functioning beta cells in living individuals with longstanding type 1 diabetes—a breakthrough that brings us one step closer to the promise of beta cell regeneration—restoring insulin-producing cells lost in type 1 diabetes.

Study suggests heightened risk of dementia in individuals with type 2 diabetes varies by type of dementia

It is well known that having type 2 diabetes is associated with an increased risk of dementia, but a large observational study comparing over 370,000 people with type 2 diabetes with nearly 2 million matched controls over an average of 7 years, now suggests that the risk is highest for vascular dementia and among individuals with poor blood sugar control.

Study suggests regular hot baths are associated with improving various risk factors for type 2 diabetes

New research presented at this year's Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), held online this year, suggests regular heat exposure through a hot bath is associated with a beneficial effect on risk factors for type 2 diabetes, including glycated haemoglobin |(HbA1c), a measure of blood sugar control. The study is by Dr. Hisayuki Katsuyama, Kohnodai Hospital, Ichikawa, Chiba, Japan, and colleagues.

Glucocorticoids associated with increased risk for infection, even at low doses

Glucocorticoids are associated with an increased risk for infection, even at doses as low as 5 mg or less per day. These findings are significant, as low-dose glucocorticoids are generally considered safe and are widely prescribed. Physicians should consider this information when weighing the benefits and risks of glucocorticoid treatment for patients with RA. An observational cohort study is published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Study reveals type 2 diabetes remission can restore pancreas size and shape

In 2019, research revealed that achieving remission of type 2 diabetes by intensive weight loss can restore the insulin-producing capacity of the pancreas to levels similar to those in people who have never been diagnosed with the condition. Now, new research being presented at the Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), held online this year, demonstrates for the first time that reversing type 2 diabetes can also restore the pancreas to a normal size and shape.

TikTok deal aims to thread needle on US, China demands

A fragile deal to put the popular video app TikTok in American control appeared in jeopardy Monday amid disagreement on the ownership structure and Chinese involvement.

Does the coronavirus spread easily among children?

Does the coronavirus spread easily among children?

NASA plans for return to Moon to cost $28 billion

NASA on Monday revealed its latest plan to return astronauts to the Moon in 2024, and estimated the cost of meeting that deadline at $28 billion, $16 billion of which would be spent on the lunar landing module.

As rich nations struggle, Africa's virus response is praised

At a lecture to peers this month, John Nkengasong showed images that once dogged Africa, with a magazine cover declaring it "The Hopeless Continent." Then he quoted Ghana's first president, Kwame Nkrumah: "It is clear that we must find an African solution to our problems, and that this can only be found in African unity."

Rescuers race to save 180 stranded whales in Australia

Rescuers faced a race against time to save nearly 200 whales stuck in a remote Australian harbour on Tuesday, hoping to prevent the toll of 90 dead from rising further after managing to free "a small number" of the stranded mammals.

CDC changes, then retracts, web posting on how virus spreads

The top U.S. public health agency stirred confusion by posting—and then taking down—an apparent change in its position on how easily the coronavirus can spread from person to person through the air.

Charging ahead: Tesla teases big news on 'Battery Day'

Tesla chief Elon Musk has promised "insane" battery news at a streamed event after the company's annual shareholders' meeting on Tuesday.

Nearly 20 percent of Americans don't have enough to eat

More than 18 percent of U.S. adults do not know whether they will have enough to eat from day to day, and the numbers are worse for Hispanics, Blacks, people with obesity, and women, a new report shows.

'Best' hospitals should be required to deliver tobacco treatment

A UCLA-led report published today in the JAMA Internal Medicine exposes what the authors call a weakness in the high-profile "Best Hospitals Honor Roll" published annually by U.S. News and World Report.

Suspension of fertility treatments during COVID-19 has mental health impacts

The suspension of fertility treatments due to the COVID-19 pandemic has had a variety of psychological impacts on women whose treatments were cancelled, but there are several protective factors that can be fostered to help in the future, according to a new study by Jennifer Gordon and Ashley Balsom of University of Regina, Canada, published 18 September in the open-access journal PLOS ONE.

Diabetes dramatically reduces the kidney's ability clean itself

The kidneys often become bulky and dysfunctional in diabetes, and now scientists have found that one path to this damage dramatically reduces the kidney's ability to clean up after itself.

Childhood sexual abuse: Mental and physical after-effects closely linked

A new Canadian study reveals that the psychological and physical effects of childhood sexual abuse are closely tied.

Evolution of radio-resistance is more complicated than previously thought

The toughest organisms on Earth, called extremophiles, can survive extreme conditions like extreme dryness (desiccation), extreme cold, space vacuum, acid, or even high-level radiation. So far, the toughest of all seems to be the bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans—able to survive doses of radiation a thousand times greater than those fatal to humans. But to this date, scientists remained puzzled by how radio-resistance could have evolved in several organisms on our planet, naturally protected from solar radiation by its magnetic field. While some scientists suggest that radio-resistance in extremophile organisms could have evolved along with other kinds of resistance, such as resistance to desiccation, a question remained: which genes are specifically involved in radio-resistance?