Science and Health News

Archaeological traces of embryo development seen in adult cells

A decreased sense of smell is correlated with an increased risk of death, a new psychology study from Stockholm University shows. The connection is independent from other health variables like age, gender and dementia.

Women who have taken the oral contraceptive pill are protected from some types of cancer for as long as thirty years according to new research from The University of Aberdeen.

An international team of scientists, led by researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine and University of California San Francisco, has developed a novel genetic score that allows individuals to calculate their age-specific risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD), based upon genetic information.

In the first randomized, double-blinded trial of an online behavioral intervention for high blood pressure, participants in web-based lifestyle counseling reduced their systolic blood pressure (the higher number in a blood-pressure reading) by 10 mmHg, compared with a 6 mmHg reduction for those taking part in a web-based control intervention, a statistically significant difference. The research was presented at the American College of Cardiology’s 66th Annual Scientific Session.

Men with longer exposure to the drugs finasteride and dutasteride had a higher risk of getting persistent erectile dysfunction than men with less exposure, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study. The persistent erectile dysfunction continued despite stopping these drugs, in some cases for months or years.

A new organic artificial synapse made by Stanford researchers could support computers that better recreate the way the human brain processes information. It could also lead to improvements in brain-machine technologies.

With just an inexpensive micro-thin surgical needle and laser light, University of Utah engineers have discovered a minimally invasive, inexpensive way to take high-resolution pictures of an animal brain, a process that also could lead to a much less invasive method for humans.