Health and Medicine
Explore Health and Medicine
Dr. Clare Jensen – Dr. Maggie O’Haire | Can Dogs Improve the Mental Wellbeing of Pediatric Healthcare Professionals?
Interacting with therapy dogs can have significant benefits for patients, such as reduced anxiety and pain. A growing number of pediatric healthcare facilities even have ‘facility dogs’, or full-time therapy dogs who are specially trained to work closely with staff. The positive impacts of these dogs on the wellbeing of pediatric patients are well documented. However, Dr. Clare Jensen, Dr. Maggie O’Haire, and their colleagues from Purdue University and the University of Arizona wished to investigate whether facility dogs also benefit pediatric healthcare workers. Professionals in these positions are at risk of experiencing poor mental health and burnout, so finding ways to reduce their stress would be invaluable.
Dr Yong Cheng | New Insights into How Blood Cells are Produced
During the production of new blood cells, stem cells first develop into progenitor cells. These progenitor cells undergo further rounds of differentiation to produce different types of blood cells. Each type of blood cell has a different function. For example, red blood cells transport oxygen around the blood, whereas various types of white blood cells play different roles in fighting infection. However, overactive white blood cells also play a role in auto-immune conditions, such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. As such, scientists are trying to better understand how blood cells develop, to find new ways of treating these conditions.
The T1DRA Study: Screening Adults for Type 1 Diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition where the immune system attacks and destroys pancreatic cells that produce insulin. Near to diagnosis, people cannot produce enough insulin, meaning that their blood sugar levels can become dangerously high. Some people associate type 1 diabetes with children, but more than half of type 1 diabetes patients are diagnosed in adulthood. Researchers know very little about how the condition develops in adults. The Type 1 Diabetes Risk in Adults – or ‘T1DRA’ – Study is actively screening adults through a small blood sample to determine their risk of type 1 diabetes.
Dr. Matthew Sherrer | The Infinite Game: Changing an Adversarial Mindset in Anesthesia and Beyond
Anesthesia in the US is commonly delivered by physician anesthesiologists who medically direct certified registered nurse anesthetists in a collaborative care team model. However, in over 20 states, there is no requirement for nurse anesthetists to be medically directed, allowing them to work independently. This has resulted in a bitter turf war over the rights and responsibilities of physicians and advanced practice nurses, leading to a toxic working environment. This mindset can be compared with a ‘finite game’, where there are clear winners and losers. Unfortunately, the patient is the ultimate loser.
Dr Mary Hornick – Dr Ashley Stefanski | Exploring the Potential of Hallucinogens for Treating Opioid Use Disorder
Opioid use disorder has been on the rise in the USA, fueled by an increased availability of fentanyl and other opioids. Current gold-standard treatments involve using opioid agonist drugs, such as methadone or buprenorphine alone or in combination with opioid antagonists, to address cravings and withdrawal. However, these treatments suffer from high levels of patient relapse and can pose safety risks. A promising alternative lies in using hallucinogenic compounds that can enable ‘neuroplasticity’, which means changing the brain’s neural architecture, potentially allowing patients to overcome their addictive behaviors.
Dr Mariëlle Stel – Janina Eggers – Dr Wladimir Alonso | Promoting a Plant-based Transition to Reduce Zoonotic Diseases
Zoonotic diseases are infections that are transmitted from animals to humans and vice versa. For example, COVID-19 has been designated as a zoonotic disease. In fact, three-quarters of all new infectious human diseases originate in animals, making zoonotic diseases a major threat to public health. The rapid rise in intensive farming over the past 50 years has significantly increased the risk of zoonosis. For instance, the world’s chicken population has almost tripled since 1990, with most of these birds being farmed indoors in crowded conditions. Not only are these conditions stressful for the animals, but poultry farming is responsible for hundreds of human deaths caused by bird flu.
Professor Amy MacNeill | Combining a Virus and Immunotherapy to Treat Cancer in Dogs
Soft-tissue sarcomas are a common type of tumor found in dogs, which can arise in connective, muscle, or nervous tissues. These soft-tissue cancers typically require surgical removal, but often grow back if some cancer cells remain. Using a therapeutic virus could help to reduce the possibility of the tumor regrowing. However, no such viruses are available to treat dogs, and canine cancer cells can generate specific biomolecules, such as interferons, that inhibit viral replication. One option may be to co-treat the dogs with a drug that inhibits the action of interferons while administering the virus, to maximize the chances of success.
Dr Mats Ljungman | KLIPP: Targeting Cancer with CRISPR
Cancer treatments are designed to kill cells within a tumor, but they often affect healthy tissues, leading to serious side-effects. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop new approaches that specifically aim for targets that are unique for tumor cells. A common and early event in carcinogenesis is the formation of chromosomal structural variants. These rearrangements are unique for each tumor and contribute to the growth of the tumor. Structural variants in cancer cells create unique junctions of DNA sequences, which are typically located far apart in normal cells. Thus, these junctions represent a promising new target for precision cancer treatment.
Dorothy Goulah-Pabst | Navigating Suicide Loss: A Survivor Study
Those left behind after the suicide of a loved one often experience complex grief that can involve feelings of self-blame, abandonment and rejection. The stigma surrounding suicide can also underly rejection by their community, further increasing the psychological burden that survivors face. Understanding the challenges of suicide loss survivors, and identifying the most effective ways to support them, is important in helping survivors to heal and move forward with their lives. Towards this aim, Dorothy Goulah-Pabst from California State University Northridge conducted a study to learn more about the experiences of suicide loss survivors.
Damian Nowak – Adam Bachorz – Professor Marcin Hoffmann | Using Machine Learning to Discover New Medicines
Many researchers today are dedicated to the discovery of new medicines. Over the past few decades, their tireless efforts have culminated in a database of around 100 million known drug molecules. This value may already sound vast, but by current estimates, the true number of small drug-like molecules could actually range anywhere between 1023 – already more than the number of grains of sand on Earth – and 1060 – comparable to the number of atoms in an entire galaxy. With existing approaches, researchers ultimately need to test the medical potential of these molecules individually, taking up vast amounts of time and computing power.
Professor Michael Belin | New Tools for Early Diagnosis and Treatment of Keratoconus
Keratoconus is an eye disease affecting millions of individuals worldwide. The condition causes the transparent layer on the front of the eye, named the cornea, to become progressively thinner and irregularly shaped. Keratoconus causes distorted or blurred vision, increases light sensitivity, and can severely impact one’s ability to function. The first signs of keratoconus typically emerge in children as young as 8 years old. However, the disease usually remains undiagnosed until several years later, due to a lack of reliable screening tests and the tendency of affected individuals to only seek help when their vision has become significantly impaired.
Dr. Ameer Hassan | Could N-Acetylglucosamine Be an Effective Treatment for COVID-19?
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact patients worldwide, it remains crucial to explore innovative treatments that can further improve prognosis. While vaccines have been successful in providing protection for the majority of the population, recent waves of the virus have highlighted challenges such as decreased vaccine protection, leaving certain individuals vulnerable to severe illness and even death. The ongoing challenges of low vaccine uptake and public complacency emphasize the need for continued research into effective therapies for COVID-19.
Stay Up To Date With SciTube