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440 news posts in Health

Health

01 Feb 2016

VIDEO: Scientist’s work plays leading role in redefining our understanding of the brain’s systems

By Ben Stockton With a wish to not appear immodest, Professor Pierre Magistretti tentatively indicates two moments that have shaped his career. The first came with the surprise that lactate, more typically associated with insufficient blood supply to muscle, was being produced by the support cells of the brain, known as glia or astrocytes, and used as an energy source for neurons. “Neurons can send messages to glial cells and tell them, “please get us some energy,”” and this arrives in the form of lactate, explains Magistretti. It recently became apparent that lactate had further implications in the brain. Magistretti and his peers are now “fully engaged in understanding how this lactate is not only an energy substrate but also a signal for plasticity and memory,” which has become a cornerstone of his current work. Magistretti, a Professor at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia and at the Brain Mind Institute at EPFL in Lausanne, could be excused for immodesty. His contribution to the field of brain energy metabolism have seen him awarded with the IPSEN Neuronal Plasticity prize and he currently presides over the International Brain Research Organization. Amongst this, he lends his expertise […]

Health

08 Jan 2016

VIDEO: Scientist pushes for improvements in clinical trials in stroke treatments

Stroke is the leading cause of long-term disability among adults. Known within the research community as a “brain attack”, it is when cells in the brain die due to poor blood flow. For example, in the most common type of stroke, the blockage of a blood vessel starves an area of the brain from proper nutrition, oxygen, blood sugar and other main nutrients. The prevalence of stroke is just one of the reasons why Professor Jose Biller decided to focus his research on this condition. Chair of the Department of Neurology at Loyola University in Chicago, Biller’s main research interest is in the clinical trials relating to the treatment of stroke. Taking the clinical approach to stroke also has a personal incentive for Billler as members of his family have suffered from strokes. But it is the preventability and treatability of this condition that drives his interest in the field. “It is a very prevalent condition…” said Biller. “I think there is a need for further advances.” Stroke can affect everybody Most of us associate strokes with the elderly and yet Biller has a special interest researching strokes occurring in young adults. Biller explained that strokes can in fact occur […]

Health

01 Dec 2015

World AIDS Day 2015 – 1st December

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) causes HIV infection, which can lead to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Since AIDS was clinically first observed in the USA in 1981, HIV infection has become one of the most important global health issues in the world. Held on 1st December annually since 1988, World AIDS Day gives people an opportunity to show support for people living with HIV and acknowledge those who have died. To support the global goal to stop the transmission of HIV, it is also a day to raise awareness about the prevention and control of AIDS.   Although HIV infection was first detected in 1981, with the disease it causes being named AIDS in 1983 and the virus itself HIV in 1984, it is important to note that AIDS did not originate in 1981. There are two viruses associated with AIDS: HIV-1 and HIV-2. HIV-2 is less pathogenic than HIV-1 and is mostly restricted to West Africa. HIV-2 is structurally similar to a simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) strain, SIVsm, which infects the sooty mangabey monkey. It is hypothesized that SIV crossed the species barrier to humans when contaminated animal blood entered cuts on the hands of people who were in […]

Health

26 Oct 2015

Staff Pick: Energy drink consumption in Europe

This month’s Staff Pick comes from Tania Pernes. Tania is an Editorial Project Manager at Frontiers and is responsible for growing our Health Journals. The article she selected as her staff pick is currently the most successful article in Frontiers in Public Health with more than 28,000 views. Frontiers Staff Pick: Energy drink consumption in Europe: a review of the risks, adverse health effects, and policy options to respond As an athlete, my coach used to mention the potential of energy drinks on post-workout recovery or between high intense exercises. Personally I was never a fan of sugary drinks and was always skeptical about them. Fridays were the only days I could go out for a drink or two with my friends. After rejecting the energetic drinks at the gym, I consumed them at the club without even thinking about it. The lack of information from the young community, aggressive marketing strategies and the unawareness by those who we trust on a family level is quite a cocktail for our health. This article gave support to my skepticism regarding these drinks and I now better understand the risks and consequences to my health. I highly recommend this to anyone, but in […]

Health

29 Sep 2015

Celebrating coffee on International Coffee Day

Happy International Coffee Day! As millions of people celebrate their drug of choice, this is a perfect time to consider where we would be without coffee. Would we… …be more productive? Drinking coffee, and the caffeine that comes with it, does result in various chemical responses that give you that buzz of energy (check out the video by Science Alert for a summary). We have all heard individuals claim that they cannot start the day without their cup of coffee – but research suggests that after the honeymoon period of lovely highs and bursts of energy, continued coffee drinking actually just acts to counter-affect caffeine withdrawal (Rogers et al, 2010). Then there is our own daily cycle to take into account. Just like a cup of coffee affects individuals differently (it only makes three in ten people poo), it also affects individuals differently during different times of the day. Your daily hormone fluctuations can alter how coffee affects you. In fact early in the morning may not be the best time to drink coffee – check out this Science Alert video to find out when you should be drinking coffee. It is not all about the energy and efficiency – […]

Health

29 Sep 2015

World Heart Day 2015

Prof Hendrik Tevaearai Stahel joined Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine as Field Chief Editor this month (Photo credit: University Hospital of Bern (Inselspital)) On World Heart Day, Frontiers presents an exclusive interview with Prof Hendrik Tevaearai Stahel, Associate Professor at the University of Bern and Head of R&D at the Clinic for Cardiovascular Surgery at the University Hospital. Prof Tevaearai recently joined Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine as Field Chief Editor. What motivated you to become a cardiovascular surgeon? As I wrote in my editorial for Frontiers in Surgery, section Heart Surgery, it all started when I was seven years old. I was injured and needed an urgent operation on my wrist. It was my first contact with the operating room, and I was immediately fascinated by this environment. I knew then I was going to be a surgeon. During medical school I had the chance to spend a month in the cardiovascular surgery unit of Lausanne University Hospital. I will always remember the first time I saw a real heart beating in a patient’s thoracic cavity. The head of the clinic was a very inspiring and charismatic person, and this added a lot to the already huge respect I had for this discipline. A few years later, I finally became […]

Health

19 Aug 2015

World Humanitarian Day

  World Humanitarian Day is a day dedicated to celebrate and recognize humanitarian work around the globe. Initially established by the UN General Assembly in 2008, and first observed one year thereafter, it is held annually on August 19th, coinciding with the anniversary of the 2003 terrorist attack on UN headquarters in Baghdad, Iraq. Today, we are celebrating the 7th World Humanitarian Day, a time to recognize and increase general public awareness of humanitarian activities. A day to honour the work of humanitarians worldwide has become of increased importance, seeing as the total number of people in need of humanitarian help has drastically risen over the past decade. This day also underlines the importance of international cooperation in meeting humanitarian needs around the world, highlighting the demand to do more, as humanitarian crises continue to grow. The theme of this year’s WHD is to “Inspire the World’s Humanity”, and is aided by the #ShareHumanity digital campaign, aiming at mobilizing a larger and more active citizenship through social media, at a time at which the world is ever more digitally connected. More on the World Humanitarian Day may be found here: http://www.worldhumanitarianday.org/

Health

20 May 2015

Staff Picks for #MHBlogDay

Our Frontiers Editorial Office brought to our attention a couple of papers that are getting a lot of attention lately so we decided to write a short blog in honor of Mental Health Blog Day (#MHBlogDay) . The first is a paper on the association between depressive symptoms and physical diseases in Switzerland (read full paper).  The objective of the paper is to estimate the association between the symptoms and physical diseases to estimate mental and physical health care costs in the future. The second paper that is growing in interest is The Grand Challenge by the SCE. The grand challenge paper is interesting because it’s the SCE’s reflection on the 2013 release of DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual which lists mental disorders). The paper looks at the impact psychiatric diagnoses have on the lives of the people and on the health care systems that support them. It also looks at how moving from the current categorical approach to diagnoses to a continuum approach could help solve some of the current problems. Have a great #MHBlogDay!