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Topics: Medical research

  • Sleep to protect your brain

    A new study from Uppsala University, Sweden, shows that one night of sleep deprivation increases morning blood concentrations of NSE and S-100B in healthy young men. These molecules are typically found in the brain. Thus, their rise in blood after sleep loss may indicate that a lack of snoozing might be conducive to a loss of brain tissue. The findings are published in the journal SLEEP.

  • Smoking changes our genes

    The fact that smoking means a considerable health risk is nowadays commonly accepted. New research findings from Uppsala University and Uppsala Clinical Research Center show that smoking alters several genes that can be associated with health problems for smokers, such as increased risk for cancer and diabetes.

  • New study shows link between perfluorinated compounds and diabetes

    Perfluorinated compounds are environmental toxins that are found in fire extinguishing foam and water-repellent textiles and, for example. In a new study, a research team led from Uppsala University has seen links between high levels of perfluorinated compounds in the blood and diabetes.

  • New tales told by old infections

    Retroviruses are important pathogens capable of crossing species barriers to infect new hosts, but knowledge of their evolutionary history is limited. By mapping endogenous retroviruses (ERVs), researchers at Uppsala University, Sweden, can now provide unique insights into the evolutionary relationships of retroviruses and their host species.

  • Two tests in combination can provide better asthma diagnosis

    It was previously thought that the two test methods signalled the same type of asthma. But a new study, led by researchers at Uppsala University, Sweden, shows that the methods actually signal two different inflammatory processes. With the tests used in combination, the chances are probably greater for the patient to receive just the right treatment.

  • Mutations in gene cause brain calcifications in humans and mice

    Why many diseases lead to calcifications in the brain is not known. New insights into the genetic causes of familial idiopathic basal ganglia calcification (FIBGC), also referred to as Fahr’s disease, pinpoint brain pericytes and a defective blood-brain barrier (BBB) as likely culprits in brain calcification. The findings were recently published in the journal Nature Genetics.

  • Link shown between Crohn’s disease and virus

    A new study reveals that all children with Crohn’s disease that were examined had a commonly occurring virus – an enterovirus – in their intestines. This link has previously not been shown for this chronic inflammatory intestinal disorder. The findings are being published today in the latest issue of the international journal Clinical and Translational Gastroenterology.

  • Overweight causes heart failure – large study with new method clarifies the association

    An international research team led by Swedish scientists has used a new method to investigate obesity and overweight as a cause of cardiovascular disease. Strong association have been found previously, but it has not been clear whether it was overweight as such that was the cause, or if the overweight was just a marker of another underlying cause.

  • Cells must use their brakes moderately for effective speed control

    How cells regulate their own function by “accelerating and braking” is important basic knowledge when new intelligent medicines are being developed, or when plant cells are tweaked to produce more bioenergy. In a study published by Nature Communications 14 May, researchers at Uppsala and Umeå universities, Sweden, show a model of how cells’ regulatory systems work.

  • Local community group activities may help reduce neonatal mortality in Vietnam

    Community groups in rural Vietnam comprised of local health workers, politicians and laywomen (Maternal and Newborn Health Groups) set up to tackle challenges to maternal and neonatal health may reduce the neonatal death rate after three years and increase antenatal care attendance, according to a study by researchers from Sweden and Vietnam published in this week’s PLOS Medicine.

  • Researchers identifies gene associated with eczema in dogs

    A novel gene associated with canine atopic dermatitis has been identified by a team of researchers led by professors at Uppsala University and SLU, Sweden. The gene encodes a protein called plakophilin 2, which is crucial for the formation and proper functioning of the skin structure, suggesting an aberrant skin barrier as a potential risk factor for atopic dermatitis.

  • Genes behind obesity mapped in large-scale study

    An international research team has identified seven new gene loci linked to obesity. Researchers were also able to show that the genetic mechanisms that cause extreme obesity are similar to those that cause milder forms of overweight and obesity.

  • Anthropological expertise facilitates multicultural women's health care

    Collaboration between medical and anthropological expertise can solve complex clinical problems in today's multicultural women's healthcare, shows Pauline Binder, a medical anthropologist, who will present her thesis on 1 December at the Faculty of Medicine, Uppsala University.

  • Evolution of new genes in the laboratory in real time

    How new genes arise poses a fundamental biological question. New findings by researchers at Uppsala University and in the US show that it is possible to get new genes to develop in a laboratory environment using a rapid, stepwise process where an already existing gene with multiple functions is initially amplified.

  • Fear can be erased from the brain

    Newly formed emotional memories can be erased from the human brain. This is shown by researchers from Uppsala University in a new study now being published by the academic journal Science. The findings may represent a breakthrough in research on memory and fear.

  • Participation in biobank research – a moral duty?

    The potential value of biobank research is immense. But why should you contribute? In a doctoral thesis from Uppsala University, Joanna Stjernschantz Forsberg claims that we have a moral duty to take part in biobank research.

  • Disturbance during foetal period behind severe eye disease

    The congenital eye disease persistent foetal vasculature syndrome leads to bleeding, detached retina, and a cloudy lens. Now researchers at Uppsala University show in a model for the disease that it may be associated with an excessive expression of a growth factor during the foetal period.

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