Health and Medicine
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Dr Liisa Laakso | A Ray of Hope for Mitochondrial Disease
MELAS is one of a number of rare genetic conditions in which a person’s cells struggle to make enough energy. As a result, people with MELAS often face extreme fatigue, muscle weakness, strokes, and a host of other symptoms. There is no cure yet, and treatments focus on managing problems as they show up. Now, Dr Liisa Laakso and her colleagues at the Mater Research Institute-University of Queensland are exploring a non-drug approach that could support the body’s cells themselves.
Dr Michael Rera | Smurf and Death: Understanding the Phasing of Aging
Aging is one of biology’s most universal and mysterious processes. Most living organisms age, although in different ways, yet scientists still don’t fully understand how or why it happens the way it does. Over time, cells accumulate damage and wear down, tissues become less efficient, and the body becomes more vulnerable to diseases and death. But is aging a progressive decline towards death, or does it occur in distinct, identifiable phases? To investigate this, Dr Michael Rera and colleagues at Paris Cité University have been studying aging in model organisms, including the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster.
Professor Indraneel Mittra | Horizontally Transferred Cell-Free Chromatin Particles: A New Frontier in Mammalian Genomics
Professor Indraneel Mittra and his research team at the Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research & Education in Cancer, Mumbai, has discovered a surprising role for cell-free chromatin particles, cfChPs, in mammalian cells. Their findings position cfChPs as agents of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) and drivers of evolutionary change.
The Hidden Role of Platelets: New Insights Towards the Treatment of Aplastic Anaemia
Aplastic anaemia is a common and significant hematologic disease, where the bone marrow cannot produce enough blood cells, leaving people exhausted, prone to infections, and at risk of serious bleeding. Most mechanistic research has focused on how components of the immune system, especially T-cells, mistakenly attack the bone marrow. But new work led by Dr Shuai Tan, Dr Xingmin Feng, and Dr Wanling Sun offers an important shift in perspective: platelets may be doing far more than helping blood clot in aplastic anaemia.
Global Study to Evaluate Whether Dengue Outbreaks Can Be Anticipated Earlier
Every year, dengue outbreaks stretch health systems across tropical regions to their limits. When hospitals begin to fill and communities fall ill, the virus has often already spread too far. For local health teams, that means reacting late – working harder, with fewer results.
But what if we could see dengue risk coming months in advance, and act before the first case appears? What if communities could prepare, instead of being caught off guard?
Curious Kids Can Become Awesome Eye Doctors!
Did you know doctors who care for our eyes can help people see the world in a whole new way? Today, we’re going to meet ophthalmologists – special doctors who keep eyes healthy and fix problems so that people can see clearly. Imagine helping your family, friends, and community see better every day. That’s what eye doctors do! Let’s meet all the different types of eye doctors!
Dr Johanna Lynch | Promoting Patients’ Sensations of Safety Can Transform Healthcare
What if the key to better healthcare wasn’t just treating symptoms, but helping people feel fundamentally safe? Dr Johanna Lynch at the University of Queensland, alongside her international research team, has developed what is now called the ‘Sense of Safety Theoretical Framework’ – a comprehensive approach that recognises feeling safe as a fundamental prerequisite for health. Their project involved transdisciplinary research into the neuroendocrinology, psychophysiology, and population impacts of threat, and extensive conversations with healthcare practitioners, mental health clinicians, and people with lived experience of illness across Australia and beyond.
Dr Shanika Samarasekera | Navigating the Emergency Department as a Caregiver of an Adult with Intellectual Disability who has a Seizure Emergency
When you are the caregiver for an adult with epilepsy and intellectual disability, visits to the Emergency Department can be very stressful. You may feel uncertain about how to communicate the right information in a time-pressured environment and anxious about misconceptions that could impact care.
This video provides information to help you navigate emergency department visits to ensure your loved one receives effective care. The focus will be on how to manage seizure emergencies – either seizures arising for the first time or those caused by epilepsy.
Dr Luis A. Rubio | Exploring the Gut-Healing Potential of Plant Proteins
Inflammatory bowel diseases, such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, are serious conditions marked by chronic inflammation in the digestive tract, causing pain, diarrhoea, and reduced quality of life. There is an urgent need for new therapies that reduce inflammation and avoid the negative effects of long-term medication use. Research led by Dr Luis A. Rubio at the Estación Experimental del Zadín in Spain explored whether extracts from legumes such as peas might offer a gentler, food-based alternative – as a treatment or preventative therapy for these conditions.
Dr. Jacob Bueno de Mesquita | Curbing the Spread of Infectious Diseases with Germicidal Ultraviolet Technology
Viruses responsible for COVID-19, the flu and other respiratory illnesses are exhaled by infected individuals, even when they don’t have symptoms. It is common for those infected to have no idea they are breathing out infectious particles. Some people, so-called ‘superspreaders’, tend to exhale more infectious particles than most other people, elevating the amount of airborne virus within a room and the risk of spreading infection. Airborne infectious particles pose risks in many indoor spaces – schools, public transit, workplaces, healthcare settings, gyms and restaurants. They linger in the air and are inhaled by others, leading to new infections and further transmission. How can we break this chain of transmission?
Dr Sean Smith | Fighting ALS at the Genetic Level: Real World Results for Tofersen
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (or ALS), also known as Motor Neuron Disease, is a devastating condition that gradually reduces a patient’s ability to move, speak, and ultimately breathe. Among the various forms of ALS, about 2% of cases are linked to a mutation in a gene called SOD1. For years, there has been no effective treatment for these patients. A new investigation conducted by Dr. Sean Smith and his colleagues at Washington University in St. Louis offers new hope for ALS patients.
Dr Kristina Landscheidt | Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy: New Hope for Healing Acute and Chronic Wounds
Chronic wounds are a major medical challenge. They are very slow to heal and prone to infection, causing significant discomfort and complications for patients. Dr Kristina Landscheidt and Professor Ole Goertz at Martin‐Luther Hospital, Berlin, have been investigating an innovative treatment that could offer improved patient outcomes: extracorporeal shock wave therapy. Their team’s recent study provides evidence that this treatment can significantly speed up the healing process for acute and chronic wounds.
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