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Scientists investigate the role played by genes and environment in multiple substance use Many drug addicts take not only one substance but rather several. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine in Göttingen have investigated the role that genes and the environment play in the development of such multiple substance consumption or polytoxicomania. Their results show that, in addition to genetic factors, the accumulation of several unfavorable environmental factors cause...

Study reveals the mechanisms involved in the transdifferentiation of esophageal keratinocytes into columnar cells Metaplasia is defined as the replacement of a fully differentiated cell type by another. There are several classical examples of metaplasia, one of the most frequent is called Barretts esophagus. Barretts esophagus is characterized by the replacement of the keratinocytes by columnar cells in the lower esophagus upon chronic acid reflux. This metaplasia is considered a precancerous l...

Despite guidelines, end-of-life care remains aggressive for ovarian cancer patients People with ovarian cancer frequently receive aggressive end-of-life care despite industry guidelines that emphasize quality of life for those with advanced disease, according to a recent study. In fact, by 2016, ICU stays and emergency department visits in the last month of life had become more common for people with ovarian cancer than they were in 2007, the earliest year from which researchers analyzed data. ...

Kruppel-like factor 15 controls skeletal muscle fat uptake and utilization Metabolic diseases, such as obesity and type 2 diabetes, have risen to epidemic proportions in the U.S. and occur in about 30 percent of the population. Skeletal muscle plays a prominent role in controlling the bodys glucose levels, which is important for the development of metabolic diseases like diabetes. In a recent study, published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation, University Hospitals (UH) Cleveland Medical...

Study identifies major flaws in iBMEC-based models of the blood-brain barrier A type of cell derived from human stem cells that has been widely used for brain research and drug development may have been leading researchers astray for years, according to a study from scientists at Weill Cornell Medicine and Columbia University Irving Medical Center. The cell, known as an induced Brain Microvascular Endothelial Cell (iBMEC), was first described by other researchers in 2012, and has been used to m...

Imaging technique can differentiate Alzheimers disease from dementia with Lewy bodies Scientists in Portugal and the United Kingdom were able to confirm that an imaging technique that traces neuronal dopaminergic deficiency in the brain is able to differentiate, in vivo, dementia with Lewy This could have important implications for the specific management and treatment of these conditions. American actor Robin Williams had a neurodegenerative brain disease called dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB...