LET’S BE PERFECTLY clear from the start: Exercise is one of the best ways to boost your mental health. Countless studies have proved this beyond any reasonable doubt. Case closed. However, a recent study revealed that, for some people, there can be too much of a good thing. Researchers from Yale University looked at data sourced from 1.2 million people in the U.S. to try to find out how much and which types of exercise are best for mental health. In the process, they found something a bit surprising. The study,…
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A fully human system to cultivate skin cells for grafting
Breakthrough research to culture human skin cells called keratinocytes to produce skin grafts has been published by a team of researchers from Duke-NUS Medical School and the Singapore General Hospital (SGH). This method is the first to use a specific type of tissue-proteins known as laminins, found in the human body, to create a safer treatment for severe burns or other skin-related defects. For over four decades, skin keratinocytes have been cultivated using a combined human-animal culture system. From a clinical application standpoint, this approach exposes patients to the potential…
Read MoreBlue Brain solves a century-old neuroscience problem
New research explains how the shapes of neurons can be classified using mathematical methods from the field of algebraic topology. Neuroscientists can now start building a formal catalogue for all the types of cells in the brain. Onto this catalogue of cells, they can systematically map the function and role in disease of each type of neuron in the brain. “For nearly 100 years, scientists have been trying to name cells. They have been describing them in the same way that Darwin described animals and trees. Now the Blue Brain…
Read MoreGeneric advice doesn’t help patients drop pounds
When it comes to losing weight, doctors’ messages to their patients can make a powerful difference, according to new research from Duke University. Participants in the study had only modest weight loss when doctors gave generic advice such as “you should exercise more.” They fared much better when doctors instead provided specific instructions. “Just telling somebody to lose weight or improve their diet or physical activity didn’t work,” said study co-author Gary Bennett, a professor of psychology at Duke. “The doctor should instead encourage patient participation in a specific program.”…
Read MoreSkin diseases are more common than we think
Skin diseases are ranked as the fourth most common cause of human illness, but many affected people do not consult a physician. A new Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology study estimates the prevalence of skin diseases outside the typical medical setting. To include people who never or rarely seek medical aid, the study did not rely on health insurance data, but rather on data collected at the Munich Oktoberfest in Germany. Screening examinations were performed randomly on participating visitors. Of the 2,701 individuals in the study, at least…
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