Elder Care (Everybody)

USC researchers have uncovered a hidden driver behind the early and severe onset of Alzheimer's in people with Down syndrome: iron overload in the brain. Their study revealed that individuals with both conditions had twice the iron levels and far more oxidative damage than others. The culprit appears to be ferroptosis, an iron-triggered cell death mechanism, which is especially damaging in sensitive brain regions.

A common diabetes drug may be the next big thing for migraine relief. In a clinical study, obese patients with chronic migraines who took liraglutide, a GLP-1 receptor agonist, experienced over 50% fewer headache days and significantly improved daily functioning without meaningful weight loss. Researchers believe the drug s ability to lower brain fluid pressure is the key, potentially opening a completely new way to treat migraines. The effects were fast, sustained, and came with only mild side effects.

A new nanotechnology breakthrough may soon eliminate the need for painful biopsies. Scientists have developed a patch filled with nanoneedles thinner than a human hair that can painlessly extract molecular data from tissues without removing or damaging them. This enables real-time disease monitoring, particularly for conditions like brain cancer and Alzheimer s, and could radically change how doctors diagnose and track disease. The patch works quickly, integrates with common medical tools, and provides results using AI, opening doors to personalized medicine and better surgical decisions.

Scientists have uncovered how exercise directly influences brain health in Alzheimer's disease by pinpointing the exact brain cells affected. Using cutting-edge RNA sequencing and mouse models, researchers identified changes in specific cells like microglia and a novel type of astrocyte after exercise.

Acetaminophen may be doing more than just dulling pain in your brain it could be stopping it before it even starts. Scientists at Hebrew University have discovered that a metabolite of the drug, AM404, blocks pain signals right at their source by shutting down specific sodium channels in pain-sensing nerves. This radically shifts our understanding of how this common medication works and opens a door to new, more targeted painkillers that might eliminate side effects like numbness or weakness.

Researchers asked patients, some of whom had experienced lower back pain for up to 40 years, if being in nature helped them coped better with their lower back pain. They found that people able to spend time in their own gardens saw some health and wellbeing benefits. However, those able to immerse themselves in larger green spaces such as forests felt even more positive, as they were able to lose themselves in the environment and focus more on that than their pain levels. The researchers have recommended trying to incorporate time spent in nature into people's treatments plans, and are also using their findings to develop virtual reality interventions that allow people to experience some of the benefits of being in nature without the need to travel anywhere if they are unable to do so.

Chronic inflammatory bowel disease is challenging to treat and carries a risk of complications, including the development of bowel cancer. Young people are particularly affected: when genetic predisposition and certain factors coincide, diseases such as ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease usually manifest between the ages of 15 and 29 -- a critical period for education and early career development. Prompt diagnosis and treatment are crucial. Researchers have now discovered a therapeutic target that significantly contributes to halting the ongoing inflammatory processes.

A trial of an interactive game that trains people to alter their brain waves has shown promise as a treatment for nerve pain -- offering hope for a new generation of drug-free treatments.

A new way of thinking about Alzheimer's disease has yielded a discovery that could be the key to stopping the cognitive decline seen in Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases, including ALS and Parkinson's.

Singing to your infant can significantly boost the baby's mood, according to a recent study. Around the world and across cultures, singing to babies seems to come instinctively to caregivers. Now, new findings support that singing is an easy, safe, and free way to help improve the mental well-being of infants. Because improved mood in infancy is associated with a greater quality of life for both parents and babies, this in turn has benefits for the health of the entire family, the researchers say. The study also helps explain why musical behaviors may have evolved in parents.

A new study suggests that mindfulness training and/or non-invasive brain stimulation could reduce bladder leaks and feelings of urgency in patients with 'latchkey incontinence.'

The process of necrosis, a form of cell death, may represent one of the most promising ways to change the course of human aging, disease and even space travel, according to a new study.

Immediate recovery efforts receive the most attention after severe natural disasters, yet new data from researchers at Drexel University and the University of Maryland suggests these climate events often also leave a critical long-term -- and often unaddressed -- problem in declines in access to health care.

Researchers have identify a set of biomarkers that could someday make it easy to spot the disease in a patient's blood sample.

A new device that monitors the waste-removal system of the brain may help to prevent Alzheimer s and other neurological diseases, according to a new study. In the study, participants were asleep when they wore the device: a head cap embedded with electrodes that measures shifts in fluid within brain tissue, the neural activity from sleep to wakefulness and changes in the brain s blood vessels.