News by Subject Medicine & Health

A preclinical in vitro study shows that selected plant-based herbal medicines, especially Ghanaian quinine and Japanese knotweed, work better than antibiotics against the bacterium that causes Lyme disease. These findings represent an important step towards the development of treatments that might be better tolerated and more effective than the current standard of care.

A new study, led by RCSI researchers, has found that patients receiving methadone treatment are most at risk of overdosing in the month following the end of methadone treatment and during the first four weeks of treatment.

Researchers at the University of California, Riverside, have completed a cross-sectional human study that compares biomarkers and metal concentrations in the urine of e-cigarette users, nonsmokers, and cigarette smokers. They found that the biomarkers, which reflect exposure, effect, and potential harm, are both elevated in e-cigarette users compared to the other groups and linked to metal exposure and oxidative DNA damage.

A real-world study of over 600,000 adult participants without a history of depression has found that the stop-smoking medication varenicline (marketed as Chantix and Champix) does not appear to be associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular or neuropsychiatric hospitalization compared with nicotine replacement therapy (NRT). These findings confirm those of earlier clinical trials, providing further evidence of the safety of varenicline as an aid to stop smoking.

A new study in the journal Family Practice indicates that intensive behavioral therapy from dietitians may be a very effective ways for older Americans to lose weight.

Researchers surveyed 153 transgender youths receiving gender-affirming care at a specialty clinic, and even in this relatively 'out' population, nearly half reported intentionally hiding their gender identity from a health care provider outside the clinic.

Maternal obesity may increase a child's risk for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to an analysis by researchers from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), part of the National Institutes of Health.

By studying how our brains 'synchronise' during shared experiences, social neuroscientists at the University of Konstanz show if alcohol risk messages catch on in an audience and lead to a reduction in drinking.