Body

Anxiety, commonly termed as a feeling of fear, dread, and restlessness, is a perfectly normal reaction to stressful situations. However, a state of heightened anxiety, which is the reality for thousands of people who struggle to cope with these feelings, is called anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorder can invoke debilitating fear or apprehension, even without any immediate threat.

The first two COVID-19 vaccines authorized for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) employed a technology that had never before been used in FDA-approved vaccines. Both vaccines performed well in clinical trials, and both have been widely credited with reducing disease, but concerns remain over how long immunity induced by the new vaccine technology will last.

A new national study finds that children in the United States with greater screen time usage at ages 9-10 are more likely to gain weight one year later.

In first-of-its kind research led by a University of Massachusetts Amherst psychotherapy researcher, mental health care patients matched with therapists who had a strong track record of treating the patients' primary concerns had better results than patients who were not so matched.

In addition, this "match effect" was even more beneficial and pronounced for patients with more severe problems and for those who identified as racial or ethnic minorities.

The findings are published in JAMA Psychiatry and the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.

Two recent collaborative publications by CU Cancer Center members provide insights into how chronic inflammation can serve as a key factor in the development of leukemia and other blood cancers.

A new paper in JNCI Cancer Spectrum, published by Oxford University Press, indicates that many survivors of adolescent and young adult cancers hesitate to obtain COVID-19 vaccinations.

Sophia Antipolis - 29 June 2021: Heart attacks during the COVID-19 pandemic were more likely to result in heart failure compared with heart attacks one year earlier, according to research presented today at Heart Failure 2021, an online scientific congress of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).1

Researchers from Queen Mary University of London have identified a protein that could be used to aid in the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.

Findings from the new study suggest that a protein called pentraxin 3 (PTX3) may be a specific diagnostic biomarker - or biological measure - for pancreatic cancer, with the ability to differentiate pancreatic cancer from other non-cancerous conditions of the pancreas.

The research was published today in npj Precision Oncology, and primarily funded by the Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund, Barts Charity and Cancer Research UK.

Oncotarget published "Insulin-like growth factor 1/Child-Turcotte-Pugh composite score as a predictor of treatment outcomes in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma treated with sorafenib" which reported that this study investigated the association of the IGF/CTP score with overall survival and progression-free survival of HCC patients treated with sorafenib.

A team of engineers and clinicians has developed an ultra-thin, inflatable device that can be used to treat the most severe forms of pain without the need for invasive surgery.

The device, developed by researchers at the University of Cambridge, uses a combination of soft robotic fabrication techniques, ultra-thin electronics and microfluidics.

A new vaccine to protect against deadly cholera has been made by grinding up genetically modified grains of rice. The first human trial has shown no obvious side effects and a good immune response. Researchers based at the University of Tokyo and Chiba University have published the peer-reviewed results of the Phase 1 clinical trial of the vaccine, named MucoRice-CTB, in The Lancet Microbe.

TAMPA, Fla. -- E-cigarettes spark many concerns, especially when it comes to youth vaping. However, emerging evidence suggests that e-cigarettes can be a helpful tool in smoking cessation. Researchers in Moffitt Cancer Center's Tobacco Research and Intervention Program wanted to build upon this evidence by testing whether they could help dual users, people who use both combustible cigarettes and e-cigarettes, quit smoking.

Tuberculosis is one of the top ten causes of death worldwide, infecting about one-quarter of the world's population. Although it is treatable, the rise of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis poses a major threat to global health security, and has been declared by the World Health Organization as a global health emergency. Reduced access to diagnosis and treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to dramatically increase the number of tuberculosis infections. This will set global efforts to tackle the disease back several years.

Liza Makowski, PhD, professor in the Department of Medicine and the UTHSC Center for Cancer Research, has long been interested in how the immune system is altered by obesity and how this impacts cancer risk and treatment.

"Obesity is complex, because it can cause both inflammation and activate counter-inflammation pathways leading to immunosuppression," Dr. Makowski said. "How obesity impacts cancer treatments is understudied."

New SARS-CoV-2 variants are spreading rapidly, and there are fears that current COVID-19 vaccines won't protect against them. The latest in a series of structural studies of the SARS-CoV-2 variants' "spike" protein, led by Bing Chen, PhD, at Boston Children's Hospital, reveals new properties of the Alpha (formerly U.K.) and Beta (formerly South Africa) variants. Of note, it suggests that current vaccines may be less effective against the Beta variant.