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A less strenuous form of exercise known as whole-body vibration (WBV) can mimic the muscle and bone health benefits of regular exercise in mice, according to a new study. WBV consists of a person sitting, standing or lying on a machine with a vibrating platform. When the machine vibrates, it transmits energy to the body, and muscles contract and relax multiple times during each second.

Stroke patients who learned to use their minds to open and close a plastic brace fitted over their paralyzed hands gained some ability to control their own hands when they were not wearing the brace, according to a new study. The participants, all of whom had moderate to severe paralysis, showed significant improvement in grasping objects.

Regulatory T cells (Tregs; pronounced 'tee-regs'), a type of immune cell generally associated with controlling inflammation, directly trigger stem cells in the skin to promote healthy hair growth, researchers have discovered. Without these immune cells as partners, the researchers found, the stem cells cannot regenerate hair follicles, leading to baldness.

Scientists have found that some types of cancers have more of a sweet tooth than others.

Researchers have identified a new way to potentially slow the fast-growing cells that characterize all types of cancer. By removing a specific protein from cells, they were able to slow the cell cycle, which is out of control in cancer. The findings were made in kidney and cervical cancer cells and are a long way from being applied in people, but could be the basis of a treatment option in the future.

A team from the Aikenhead Centre for Medical Discovery at St Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne, Australia has successfully tested its innovative “Biopen.” The 3D bioprinting pen, which can be filled with stem cell hydrogel ink cartridges, was used to repair a sheep’s knee.

On May 23, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to pembrolizumab, made by Merck and marketed as Keytruda, for adults and children without remaining treatment alternatives and with metastatic solid tumors identified with a biomarker called microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair deficient (dMMR).

Globally, every 30 seconds a diabetic has a limb amputated because of a non-healing wound. A molecule produced by a Thai liver parasite could be the solution to those non-healing wounds -- and scientists are now able to produce a version of the molecule on a large enough scale to make it available for laboratory tests and eventually clinical trials

Sleeping less than six hours was associated with higher risk of death in people with metabolic syndrome, a cluster of several heart disease and diabetes risk factors. This effect was particularly strong in those with elevated blood pressure or poor glucose metabolism.

Sleep loss in mice sends the brain’s immune cells into overdrive. This might be helpful in the short term, but could increase the risk of dementia in the long run