Scientists have found a new way to deliver Alzheimer’s drugs directly to the brain, potentially opening the way to a more effective treatment for sufferers. Efforts to treat the disease have been hamstrung over 50 years by the difficulty of administering drugs to the brain to slow or halt its progression. But University of Oxford researchers switched off a gene linked to Alzheimer’s in mice brains by relying on tiny particles naturally released … full story

Obesity comes with plenty of health risks but there’s one that’s perhaps not so well known — increased risk of developing liver cancer. Now, a team of researchers have confirmed in mice that obesity does act as a “bonafide tumour promoter”, and they have backed it up with real evidence. “Doctors always worry about our weight, but the focus is often on cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, both of which can be managed pretty well with existing … full story

Proline, a simple amino acid that recurs at the centre of proteins found in tooth enamel, makes teeth stronger and more resilient, according to a new research. University of Illinois-Chicago (UI-C) researchers compared proline repeats in amphibian and animal models and discovered that when the repeats are short, such as in frogs, teeth will not have the enamel prisms that are responsible for the strength of human enamel. Conversely, when the proline … full story

Men are twice as likely as women to become alcoholics and now scientists believe they know why. They found that consuming beer and wine on a night out gave men a far greater ‘pleasure rush’ than women. Researchers from Columbia and Yale universities in the US studied the underlying biology of how drinking affects the brain. The team compared a group of male and female college-age social drinkers in a lab test of alcohol consumption, reports the … full story

Women who use common painkillers like ibuprofen and naproxen early in pregnancy may have an increased risk of miscarriage, a study published Tuesday suggests. Researchers found that of nearly 52,000 Quebec women who had been pregnant, those who'd used a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) after conceiving were more than twice as likely to suffer a miscarriage. The researchers looked at NSAIDs other than aspirin -- which includes such common … full story

Some brain cells are naturally protected against a stroke – and now we know why. Jack Mellor at the University of Bristol, UK, exposed slices of rats' hippocampi to the low-oxygen conditions typical of a stroke. Neurons in the hippocampi known to resist stroke damage acted differently from a population of vulnerable cells: they removed receptors for the neurotransmitter glutamate from their cell surface, reducing their sensitivity to the chemical. … full story

Scientists have found that a glass of milk may contain up to 20 painkillers, antibiotics and growth hormones. Through a highly sensitive test, scientists found a host of chemicals used to treat illnesses in animals and people in samples of cow, goat and human breast milk, Daily Mail reported. Though the doses of drugs were far too little to create an effect on anyone drinking them, the results highlight how man-made chemicals were now found throughout … full story

Indirubin, a herbal compound used in traditional Chinese remedies might beat deadly brain tumours. Indirubin is derived from the Indigo plant, an active ingredient in the Dang Gui Long Hui Wan formula that is used to treat chronic myeloid leukemia. Researchers from the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Centre (OSUCCC) discovered indirubin, a compound that blocks migration of glioblastoma cells and endothelial cells, halting them from forming … full story

Landscape artist Jane Anderson struggled with seasonal affective disorder in the winter months. She tried meditation and noticed a change within a month. “My experience was a sense of calmness, of better ability to regulate my emotions,” she says. Her experience inspired a new study which found changes in brain activity after only five weeks of meditation training, the journal Psychological Science reports. But Anderson, who did this research … full story

British scientists have found a new way of killing cancer cells, a media report said Friday. The study not only sheds light on why some people fail to respond to chemotherapy but also reveals a new way of targeting cancer cells, the Daily Express reported. Until recently, it was thought cells could only die through a process called apoptosis. Apoptosis is often blocked by cancer cells, and drugs often do not work, which allows the tumour to grow … full story