If you've repeatedly fallen for this annual propaganda campaign, you may be surprised to find the medical literature suggests vitamin D may actually be a FAR more effective strategy, and the evidence for this goes back at least a decade. Dr. John Cannell, founder of the Vitamin D Council, was one of the first to introduce the idea that vitamin D deficiency may actually be an underlying CAUSE of influenza. Vitamin D protects against colds and flu, finds major global study Overall, ...

Waseda University researchers have developed processes and materials for ultrathin stick-on electronic devices using elastomeric “nanosheet” film, achieving ease of production while also preserving high elasticity and flexibility fifty times better than previously reported polymer nanosheets. Black lines are simply printed on the nanosheet, but are able to conduct electricity   This research is published in the Journal of Materials Chemistry C online edition, February 1, 2017. ...

Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, or UNIST, in South Korea has created a metal-based substance that works to cut out amyloid-β, the protein vital for the development of Alzheimer's disease. Researchers found that by hydrolyzing, a process of splitting a molecule apart using water, amyloid-beta proteins using a crystal structure called tetra-N methylated cyclam, or TMC, they could reduce the toxicity of Aβ. The team used cobalt, nickel, copper and zinc placed at the center...

Yomi is a computerized navigational system intended to provide assistance in both the planning (pre-operative) and the surgical (intra-operative) phases of dental implantation surgery. The system provides software to preoperatively plan dental implantation procedures and provides navigational guidance of the surgical instruments. “I’ve done thousands of implants free-hand. Yomi will be a game changer for dental implant surgery.” https://youtu.be/l2L2I5rtLcY Dental implant surgery is the sta...

Muscle atrophy is defined as a decrease in the mass of the muscle; it can be a partial or complete wasting away of muscle, and is most commonly experienced when persons suffer temporary disabling circumstances such as being restricted in movement and/or confined to bed as when hospitalized. When a muscle atrophies, this leads to muscle weakness, since the ability to exert force is related to mass. Modern medicine's understanding of the quick onset of muscle atrophy is a major factor behind the p...

A clinical research paper led by Stanford University investigators has demonstrated that a brain-to-computer hookup can enable people with paralysis to type via direct brain control at the highest speeds and accuracy levels reported to date. The report involved three study participants with severe limb weakness — two from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also called Lou Gehrig’s disease, and one from a spinal cord injury. They each had one or two baby-aspirin-sized electrode arrays placed...

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cleared the expanded use of the Vidas Brahms PCT Assay to help health care providers determine if antibiotic treatment should be started or stopped in patients with lower respiratory tract infections, such as community-acquired pneumonia, and stopped in patients with sepsis. This is the first test to use procalcitonin (PCT), a protein associated with the body’s response to a bacterial infection, as a biomarker to help make antibiotic management decisions...

University of Melbourne research has found that treating chronic knee osteoarthritis  by conducting online exercise sessions by a physiotherapist (via Skype), combined with an automated online pain-coping program, has substantial benefits for improving pain, function and quality of life. Treating chronic knee osteoarthritis is set to go “virtual” after new research found that exercise delivered by a physiotherapist via Skype, combined with an automated online pain-coping program, has substant...

When astronauts in the Orion spacecraft travel beyond the moon to explore deep space destinations, they’ll need a robust diet to keep them healthy and sharp. While crew members aboard the International Space Station can choose from approximately 200 items for their meals and have the space to stow an array of options, feeding the crew on deep space missions presents several unique challenges that NASA scientists are working to tackle. Orion has limited room inside it to accommodate the suppli...

Healing with medicinal plants is as old as mankind itself. The connection between man and his search for drugs in nature dates from the far past, of which there is ample evidence from various sources: written documents, preserved monuments, and even original plant medicines. Awareness of medicinal plants usage is a result of the many years of struggles against illnesses due to which man learned to pursue drugs in barks, seeds, fruit bodies, and other parts of the plants. Contemporary science ...

Sonoporation, or cellular sonication, is the use of sound (typically ultrasonic frequencies) for modifying the permeability of the cell plasma membrane. This technique is usually used in molecular biology and non-viral gene therapy in order to allow uptake of large molecules such as DNA into the cell, in a cell disruption process called transfection or transformation. Sonoporation employs the acoustic cavitation of microbubbles to enhance delivery of these large molecules. The bioactivity of ...

In the first evidence of a natural intervention triggering stem cell-based regeneration of an organ or system, a study in the June 5 issue of the Cell Stem Cell shows that cycles of prolonged fasting not only protect against immune system damage — a major side effect of chemotherapy — but also induce immune system regeneration, shifting stem cells from a dormant state to a state of self-renewal. In both mice and a Phase 1 human clinical trial involving patients receiving chemotherapy, long pe...

University of Tokyo and RIKEN researchers have identified seven genes responsible for causing mice to stay awake or fall asleep based on a theoretical model of sleep and on experiments using 21 different genetically-modified mice, some of which showed different sleep durations. Researchers hope that their research will contribute to the understanding and treatment of sleep disorders and associated neurodegenerative diseases. All animals appear to sleep for varying durations. In humans, sleep ...

Engineers and biologists at MIT have teamed up to design a new “living material” — a tough, stretchy, biocompatible sheet of hydrogel injected with live cells that are genetically programmed to light up in the presence of certain chemicals. In a paper published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers demonstrate the new material’s potential for sensing chemicals, both in the environment and in the human body. The team fabricated various wearable sensor...

Around 35-40 per cent of a child’s BMI – how fat or thin they are – is inherited from their parents, a new study has found. For the most obese children, the proportion rises to 55-60 per cent, suggesting that more than half of their tendency towards obesity is determined by genetics and family environment. The study, led by the University of Sussex, used data on the heights and weights of 100,000 children and their parents spanning six countries worldwide: the UK, USA, China, Indonesia, Sp...

The neurodegeneration that occurs in Parkinson’s disease is a result of stress on the endoplasmic reticulum in the cell rather than failure of the mitochondria as previously thought, according to a study in fruit flies. It was found that the death of neurons associated with the disease was prevented when chemicals that block the effects of endoplasmic reticulum stress were used. Some inherited forms of early-onset Parkinson’s disease have typically been blamed on poorly functioning mitochondr...

Researchers at the University of Tokyo have demonstrated that “codons,” the units of the genetic code that specifies the sequence of amino acids in proteins, also determine the stability of maternally derived messenger RNA (mRNA) in fertilized eggs. This discovery has revealed a previously unknown function of the genetic code and its importance in animal development. In animals, mRNAs derived from the maternal genome (maternal mRNAs) are stored in fertilized eggs and act as templates to produ...

Optogenetics is a biological technique which involves the use of light to control cells in living tissue, typically neurons, that have been genetically modified to express light-sensitive ion channels. It is a neuromodulation method employed in neuroscience that uses a combination of techniques from optics and genetics to control and monitor the activities of individual neurons in living tissue—even within It is a neuromodulation method employed in neuroscience that uses a combination of tech...

We don’t know the full causes of stillbirth, but in about half of cases it is caused by the placenta not working properly. The placenta feeds and oxygenates the baby so when it isn’t working well babies become growth restricted. Fetuses that are growth restricted are at 3-4 times increased risk of stillbirth. So, finding a test that accurately flags babies that are growth restricted and intervening early may be the key to reducing stillbirths. But it is surprisingly hard to identify such grow...

In autoinflammatory diseases, the innate immune system, for unknown reasons, becomes activated and triggers inflammation. This part of the immune system is the body’s rapid first line of defense against infection. The short-term heat, swelling, and redness of inflammation are a normal part of the body’s protective response to injury or infection. But prolonged inflammation can seriously damage the body. Recent research suggests that diet can affect certain autoimmune diseases. A team led by D...

Engineers at MIT have fabricated transparent, gel-based robots that move when water is pumped in and out of them. The bots can perform a number of fast, forceful tasks, including kicking a ball underwater, and grabbing and releasing a live fish. The robots are made entirely of hydrogel — a tough, rubbery, nearly transparent material that’s composed mostly of water. Each robot is an assemblage of hollow, precisely designed hydrogel structures, connected to rubbery tubes. When the researchers p...