About 3 out of 4 Americans agree that smoking cigarettes causes health problems, but public perception of the risks posed by smoking may be declining, according to a Duke Health study published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.
Despite reports in recent years suggesting childhood obesity could be reaching a plateau in some groups, the big picture on obesity rates for children ages 2 to 19 remains unfavorable, according to a new analysis from Duke Health researchers.
Gleaning too much of the woody debris left on the ground after timber is cut can open the door for invasive fire ants and reduce invertebrate diversity, according to two new studies in North Carolina and Georgia.
Police officers rarely use force in apprehending suspects, and when they do they seldom cause significant injuries to those arrested, according to a multi-site study published in the March issue of the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery.
Duke Health has become the first healthcare institution in the U.S. to be awarded the highest honor for analytic capabilities by HIMSS Analytics, a global healthcare IT market intelligence, research and standards organization.
In JCI Insight, researchers reported the results of a phase I, multi-institution clinical trial for an investigational treatment for melanoma and other cancers with mutations in the BRAF or RAS genes.
UNC and NC State scientists created an injectable gel-like scaffold that can hold combination chemo-immunotherapeutic drugs and deliver them locally to tumors in a sequential manner. The results in animal models suggest this approach could one day ramp up therapeutic benefits for cancer patients.
Treating food allergies might be a simple matter of teaching the immune system a new trick, researchers at Duke Health have found. In a study using mice bred to have peanut allergies, the Duke researchers were able to reprogram the animals' immune systems using a nanoparticle delivery of molecules to the lymph nodes that switched off the life-threatening reactions to peanut exposures.
New research finds that altruism – and social media – can help corporations cultivate trust with consumers on mobile devices during and after natural disasters, such as hurricanes.
A drug used to slow cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease could offer clues on how drugs might one day be able to reverse brain changes that affect learning and memory in teens and young adults who binge drink.
In this study, published in Cell Reports, two labs at UNC and a group at Princeton University reprogrammed ordinary cells called fibroblasts into new and healthy heart muscle cells, and recorded changes that appear to be necessary for this reprogramming.
Scientists have developed the most sophisticated mini-livers to date. These organoids can potentially help scientists better understand certain congenital liver diseases as well as speed up efforts to create liver tissue in the lab for transplantation into patients.
Jo Cleveland, M.D., professor of gerontology and geriatric medicine at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, knows from experience that making lifestyle changes can be difficult for older adults. But she says there are four areas in which seniors can take some non-drastic steps to improve their chances of “aging optimally.”
Nuisance pest into medically important threat? A North Carolina State University study shows that histamine levels are substantially higher in homes infested by bed bugs than in pest-free homes, and that these histamine levels persist for months – even if the bed bugs have been eliminated from the home.
The UNC School of Medicine will host a continuing professional education (CPE) symposium on March 10, 2018 in Chapel Hill to educate medical professionals on the streamlining of care for patients with Atrial fibrillation or Afib.
UNC School of Medicine researchers discovered a structure on viruses that makes them better at crossing from the bloodstream into the brain – a key factor for administering gene therapies at lower doses for treating brain and spinal disorders. Experiments also showed decreased liver toxicity.
Charter Schools in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County are directly and indirectly undermining school district efforts to desegregate public schools, according to a new study released by the Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles at UCLA with researchers at UNC Charlotte.
A new study, led by researchers at RTI International, surveyed more than 1,900 adults in Oregon prior to the legalization of marijuana in the state and found that more than half (52.5%) consider alcohol to be more harmful than marijuana while few (7.5%) believe marijuana is more harmful to a person’s health.
In an effort to combat new HIV infections among men who inject drugs in Vietnam, researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill conducted the first study to explore how this population mixes together. Their results were published in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.
When we feel supported, we feel less stress. But sometimes we think we are being supportive of a romantic partner and we're not. Who hasn't experienced the self-satisfaction of feeling like we're 'helping' only to find we've only made the situation worse.
In a study published in the International Journal of Cancer, researchers analyzed health indicators for children born to young breast cancer survivors in North Carolina.
In a study published in the International Journal of Cancer, researchers analyzed health indicators for children born to young breast cancer survivors in North Carolina.
Researchers found that adolescents not susceptible to smoking cigarettes and who thought e-cigarettes were less harmful were more likely to use e-cigarettes. This UNC study found that 26 percent of those surveyed were at high risk for future e-cigarette use.
High exposure to radiofrequency radiation (RFR) in rodents resulted in tumors in tissues surrounding nerves in the hearts of male rats, but not female rats or any mice, according to draft studies from the National Toxicology Program (NTP). The exposure levels used in the studies were equal to and higher than the highest level permitted for local tissue exposure in cell phone emissions today. Cell phones typically emit lower levels of RFR than the maximum level allowed. NTP’s draft conclusions were released today as two technical reports, one for rat studies and one for mouse studies. NTP will hold an external expert review of its complete findings from these rodent studies March 26-28.
A recent nationally-representative U.S. Department of Education study found that 28 percent of fall 2009 ninth-graders had not yet enrolled in a trade school or college by February 2016— roughly six-and-a-half years later.
The impact of congenital Zika syndrome on families will be substantial and will last a lifetime, given its severity and uncertainty about long-term outcomes for infants.
The National Toxicology Program (NTP) will hold a telephone press conference to summarize and answer questions about draft reports on the health effects of radiofrequency radiation exposure in rats and mice. The studies used radiofrequency radiation exposure levels equal to and higher than the highest level permitted for cell phone emissions today.
Amazon.com, Berkshire Hathaway, and JPMorgan announced plans yesterday to combine forces to manage employees’ health care, with a claim that they will develop technological solutions for simplified, high-quality healthcare. These companies represent over 1 million employees and huge potential resources, of both finances and experience, to make this happen.
Sixteen federal agencies partnered to develop a strategic roadmap that offers a new framework for the safety testing of drugs and chemicals, which aims to provide more human relevant toxicology data while reducing the use of animals. The roadmap was published Jan. 30 by the National Toxicology Program (NTP), a federal interagency program headquartered at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) in North Carolina. NIEHS is part of the National Institutes of Health.
Published in Nature, research from the UNC School of Medicine and UCSF revealed the first-ever crystal structure of the dopamine 2 receptor bound to an antipsychotic drug – a much-needed discovery in the quest to create effective drugs with fewer side effects.
Scientists looking for jobs after completing their training may soon have a new tool that helps them evaluate various career paths. The new tool uses a method that was developed by scientists at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of NIH. The method differs from others in that it separates employment trends in biomedical science by sector, type, and job specifics. The creators hope this novel approach will be useful throughout NIH, as well as for academic and research institutions around the world.
A study led by UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and published in the Journal of Cell Biology examined the role of the physical structure of the nucleus in cell movement through different surfaces.
CF researchers have now shown that the lungs’ bacterial population changes in the first few years of life as respiratory infections and inflammation set in. This research offers a way to predict the onset of lung disease and suggests a larger role for preventive therapies, such as hypertonic saline.
Recent studies testing multivalent combinations of three broadly neutralizing antibodies, or bnAbs, have yielded promising results in animal models of HIV prevention. Two investigators at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill describe the potential of bnAbs to inform HIV prevention, treatment and cure strategies in a recent article in the New Journal of Medicine.
In a study covering 300 million years of evolutionary history, researchers from North Carolina State University and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences found four necessary components to tail weapon development: size, armor, herbivory and thoracic stiffness.
A research team at the Duke Cancer Institute has found a new way to keep the immune system engaged, and is planning to test the approach in a phase 1 clinical trial.
Dr. Thomas Egan of the University of North Carolina School of Medicine says that a recent change in donor lung allocation policy was long overdue. However, because the change happened over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend in response to litigation, it came as a “tsunami” that was “sudden, unexpected, and may have huge consequences.”
Pope Francis’ visit to Peru on Jan. 15-22 takes him to the epicenter of the country’s informal and often illegal gold mining industry – the subject of groundbreaking environmental research by Wake Forest University scientists.
The National Toxicology Program (NTP) has named Brian Berridge, D.V.M., Ph.D., as its new Associate Director. Berridge, formerly of GlaxoSmithKline, will oversee day-to-day operations as NTP coordinates toxicology research and testing across nine different federal agencies, including the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Berridge is replacing John Bucher, Ph.D., who has served as Associate Director since 2007 and plans to continue with NTP as a senior scientist.
A new study from Duke Health has found pregnant women experienced less secondhand smoke exposure since the 2009 passage of the ‘smoking ban’ in North Carolina, which outlawed smoking inside public places such as bars and restaurants.
“Decorating” cardiac stem cells with platelet nanovesicles can increase the stem cells’ ability to find and remain at the site of heart attack injury and enhance their effectiveness in treatment.
Non-communicable diseases — such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease and diabetes — are responsible for more than 36 million deaths across the globe each year. 14 million of these constitute premature mortality, and 90 percent of these premature deaths take place in low- and middle-income countries.
As the U.S. opioid epidemic continues to produce high levels of morbidity and mortality, we are in need of innovative solutions that help people who inject drugs and their surrounding community.
The team of teaching innovators in the Department of Computer Science, lead by Dr. Kalpathi Subramanian, Associate Professor, received a $541,616 award
A recent study finds that taking steps to foster diversity makes a company more innovative, in terms of product innovations, patents created and citations on patents – meaning the relevant innovations are also used to develop new technologies.
Duke Health researchers found baseball players with higher scores on vision and motor tasks completed on large touch-screen machines called Nike Sensory Stations had better on-base percentages, more walks and fewer strikeouts -- collectively referred to as plate discipline -- compared to their peers.