Pulmonary hypertension is a type of high blood pressure that affects the lungs of both animals and people. When tiny vessels in the lungs become narrowed or blocked, it becomes harder for blood to flow through and can cause the heart to weaken or fail.
Read moreResearchers have discovered a circuit in rats that links cigarette smoking and the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to a new study.
Read moreInsulin is normally produced by pancreatic beta cells. In many people with diabetes, pancreatic cells are not functional, causing a chronic and potentially fatal insulin deficiency that can only be controlled through daily insulin injections. However, this approach has serious adverse effects. In order to improve therapy, researchers have identified a protein called S100A9 which seems to act as a blood sugar and lipid regulator while avoiding the most harmful side effects of insulin.
Read moreIn symptom-free individuals, the detection of misfolded amyloid-beta protein in the blood indicated a considerably higher risk of Alzheimer's disease — up to 14 years before a clinical diagnosis was made. Amyloid-beta folding proved to be superior to other risk markers evaluated.
Read moreWhen the adrenal gland produces too much aldosterone, this often leads to high blood pressure and kidney damage (hyperaldosteronism). It has only recently emerged that several patients harbor a mutation in the gene for the ClC-2 chloride channel. Researchers have now been able to show for the first time how the altered channels cause the disease.
Read moreMany heart attack patients in China fail to receive beta-blockers which could prevent another event and save their life.
Read moreIn Germany alone there are around 400,000 patients who suffer from chronic inflammatory bowel diseases. For the first time, researchers have discovered that dysfunctions in blood vessels play a significant role in the development of such diseases. In experimental model systems, the progression of the disease slowed down significantly by eliminating these dysfunctions.
Read moreMealtimes can become a difficult experience for individuals with diabetes. After a meal, blood sugar levels may soar as the food digests or unexpectedly plummet if an insulin dose was more than the meal required.
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The 2019 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is being awarded jointly to William G. Kaelin Jr., Sir Peter J. Ratcliffe and Gregg L. Semenza for identifying molecular machinery that regulates the activity of genes in response to varying levels of oxygen.