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Male infertility accounts for 40% of fertility problems in couples who have difficulty conceiving. UCLA urologist Dr. Jesse Mills explains the factors at play — and how to know whether you need to see a doctor.

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When beef, pork, fish or poultry are cooked using high-temperature methods, chemicals called heterocyclic amines (HCAs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) can form.

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When seniors experience memory problems, they may start worrying that they have Alzheimer’s disease. Indeed, Alzheimer’s is the most common cause of memory loss in the elderly – but sometimes an entirely different diagnosis is to blame.

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Many physical therapists use foam rollers to help patients recover from injuries – and for good reason. This flexible piece of equipment can help to increase range of motion, shorten recovery time, and enhance healing.

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A UCLA-led study has found how colon cancer alters its genes during development in order to avoid detection by the immune system, creating a specific genetic imprint in the process.

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The UCLA Alzheimer’s and Dementia Care Program has been producing a series of online videos aimed at helping caregivers understand how to care for persons with dementia. They utilize actors who portray both dementia patients and their caregivers and cover a wide range of issues facing caregivers.

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Cancer is one of the leading causes of death among Americans. At least 10 percent of cancers are caused by inherited mutations in genes such as BRCA1 and BRCA2. Parents with the cancer gene mutation have a 50 percent chance of passing it on to a son or daughter. It’s well-known that women with BRCA are at a very high risk for breast and ovarian cancer.

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An international study led by researchers at UCLA has found that a personalized vaccine targeting glioblastoma, the deadliest form of brain cancer, may help people live longer. Nearly 30 percent of people in the current trial have now survived for at least three years after receiving the vaccine.

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Scientists at the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA a have been awarded a $12M grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine – also known as CIRM – to initiate a phase 1 clinical trial to test a novel cancer treatment for advanced-stage lung cancer.

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UCLA researchers lay out the probabilities that a person will develop Alzheimer’s disease dementia based on age, gender and the results of biomarker tests, which can detect the presence of certain protein fragments in brain and spinal fluid or for brain cell changes linked with the disease.

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In a first-of-its-kind finding, a new stroke-healing gel helped regrow neurons and blood vessels in mice with stroke-damaged brains

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A new algorithm more accurately predicts which people will survive heart failure, and for how long, whether or not they receive a heart transplant. The algorithm would allow doctors to make more personalized assessments of people who are awaiting heart transplants, which in turn could enable health care providers to make better use of limited life-saving resources and potentially reduce health care costs.

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Researchers have developed updated guidelines for classifying a serious form of skin cancer called invasive melanoma.

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FINDINGS UCLA-led research suggests that receiving support from friends and acquaintances can help prevent black men who have sex with men from becoming infected with HIV. BACKGROUND Black men who have sex with men have disproportionately high rates of HIV infection. While social connections are known to influence the behaviors that influence people’s risk for HIV, little is known about whether they affect the risk for becoming infected with HIV.

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The 3 Wishes Project aims to improve the end-of-life experience in the intensive care unit by fulfilling small wishes for dying patients.

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For years, researchers have known that a gene called EAK-7 plays an important role in determining how long worms will live. But it remained unclear whether the gene had a counterpart in humans and – if it did – how that human version would work. Now, researchers led by UCLA’s Dr. Paul Krebsbach are the first to characterize the mechanism of the human equivalent, which they call mammalian EAK-7, or mEAK-7.

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The UCLA Division of Geriatrics has received a five-year, $13.6 million award from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to compare Alzheimer’s disease care delivered through a health system with care that occurs in a community-based setting.

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UCLA researchers have identified for the first time a receptor in the cell membranes of the heart that plays a key role in repairing damage caused by heart attack and cardiac arrest. The discovery of the receptor, in mouse and rat hearts, explains the mechanisms behind the protective effects of lipid emulsion and could improve treatments for humans with heart disease.

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About 2 percent of pregnant women suffer a severe form of morning sickness known as hyperemesis gravidarum, or HG. The hallmark symptoms include rapid weight loss, malnutrition and dehydration due to unrelenting nausea and vomiting. It is the second-leading cause of hospitalization during pregnancy. Researchers are finally getting some answers on what causes it.

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Anthrax, plague and tularemia are three potent agents terrorists would be likely to use in an attack, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Each is highly and quickly lethal to humans. But there are no licensed vaccines for tularemia and plague, and although there is an anthrax vaccine, it requires a burdensome immunization schedule and has severe side effects.

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Left untreated, its sleep-disturbing effects can lead to life-threatening cardiovascular problems, including high blood pressure, chronic heart failure, atrial fibrillation and stroke. And for women, the impact can be even more severe.

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently announced that it is cracking down on the illegal sale of e-cigarettes to minors, including those under the Juul brand and other similar emerging brands such as myblue and KandyPens. The agency is also creating a Youth Tobacco Prevention Plan to stop the use of, and access to, Juul and other e-cigarettes. UCLA's Dr. Holly Middlekauff created an educational video to help teens understand the facts about e-cigs.

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UCLA Gram negative F. nucleatum-induced host-generated tsRNA inhibits the growth of F. nucleatum (top row) but not Streptococcus mitis (bottom row).   A new UCLA-led study provides clear evidence that cellular messengers in saliva may be able to regulate the growth of oral bacteria responsible for diseases, such as periodontitis and meningitis.

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Certain symptoms characteristic of learning disabilities or behavioral problems, such as fidgeting and difficulty concentrating, can arise from a child's discomfort due to seasonal allergies.

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Juice cleanses, sometimes called juicing, have become hugely popular for their supposed ability to help people shed weight quickly – particularly in preparation for a summer vacation or special event. But is juicing actually effective?

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UCLA geneticists have created a technique to hunt for hormones that influence how organs and tissues communicate with each other. The method enabled them to find naturally occurring molecules that play major roles in Type 2 diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease.

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A new study in the journal Nature Cell Biology has uncovered information about a key stage that human embryonic cells must pass through just before an embryo implants. The research, led by UCLA biologist Amander Clark, could help explain certain causes of infertility and spontaneous miscarriage. Infertility affects around 10 percent of the U.

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FINDINGS Researchers from UCLA and several other institutions found surgeries performed by older surgeons — age 50 and up — have lower patient mortality rates than those performed by younger surgeons, and that patient mortality rates do not differ significantly based on whether the surgeon is male or female. Broken down by age group and adjusting for various patient characteristics, mortality rates were 6.

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The number of first-time prescriptions for opioid drugs has not risen since about 2010, according to UCLA researchers. However, patients taking a class of drug known to increase the risk for overdoses were likelier to receive a first-time opioid prescription — a combination that could be linked to the current surge in opioid-related deaths.

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According to a new report by researchers at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, approximately 78,400 children in the U.S. are or have been married.

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UCLA-led research finds that internet search terms and tweets related to sexual risk behaviors can predict when and where syphilis trends will occur.

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Sitting, like smoking, increases the risk of heart disease, diabetes and premature death. Researchers at UCLA wanted to see how sedentary behavior influences brain health, especially regions of the brain that are critical to memory formation.

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Researchers have found that two targeted therapies could be more effective if used in combination to treat squamous cell carcinomas of the lung. The two drugs, MLN128 and CB-839, individually target the metabolism of key nutrients glucose and glutamine, respectively, prohibiting the cancer from switching metabolic gears between glucose (a simple sugar) and glutamine (an amino acid) to tap vital sources of energy. This switch enables the cancer cells to adapt their metabolism and evade treatments.

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Melanoma, a relatively rare but deadly skin cancer, has been shown to switch differentiation states, which can lead it to become resistant to treatment. Now, UCLA researchers have found that melanomas can be divided into four distinct subtypes according to their stages of differentiation.

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UCLA researchers have tweaked CRISPR technology, enabling them to monitor the outcome of tens of thousands of gene edits in the time it currently takes to analyze a few. The advance will improve scientists’ ability to identify the genetic changes most likely to harm cells and contribute to disease.

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An advance by UCLA neuroscientists could lead to a better understanding of astrocytes, a star-shaped brain cell believed to play a key role in neurological disorders like Lou Gehrig’s, Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s disease.

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Mitochondria, known to most people as the “powerhouses of the cell”, have been recognized for decades as the cellular organelle where sugars and fats are oxidized to generate energy. Now, new research by UCLA scientists has found that not all mitochondria fit this definition.

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University of California medical centers — UCLA Health, UCSF Health, and UC Irvine Health — have been awarded a five-year, $8 million award from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute to develop more effective approaches in advance care planning for seriously ill patients in primary care clinics.

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UCLA scientists discovered higher levels of a protein called humanin in the placenta tissue of women who give birth to severely underweight infants. The researchers suspect that humanin rises to protect the fetus during placenta failure.

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A $20 million commitment from Eugene and Maxine Rosenfeld will enable UCLA Health Sciences to enhance its ability to provide simulation training to future health care professionals and create a state-of-the-art health sciences learning center.