Exposure to blue light decreases blood pressure, reducing the risk of developing cardiovascular disease, a new study from the University of Surrey and Heinrich Heine University Dusseldorf in collaboration with Philips reports. During this study, published in the prestigious European Journal of Preventative Cardiology, participants were exposed to 30 minutes of whole-body blue light at approximately 450 nanometres, a dose comparable to daily sunlight - followed by exposure to a control light on a different day.
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Gap in research means millions living with long-term consequences of cancer
Millions of people are living with the long-term consequences of cancer and its treatment, but currently there is very little research on the problems they face and how these can be tackled, according to the UK's National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI). Thanks to successes in research on diagnosing and treating cancer, more people are living longer with cancer and with the lasting side-effects of treatments.
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Tumour immune cells could aid cancer therapies
A pioneering technique designed to spot differences between immune cells in tumours could speed the development of cancer treatments, research suggests. Scientists say the approach could be used to help doctors choose the best treatments for individual patients and predict which tumours are likely to respond to a particular therapy.
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Can chocolate, tea, coffee and zinc help make you more healthy?
Ageing and a low life expectancy are caused, at least partly, by oxidative stress. A team of researchers led by Prof. Dr. Ivana Ivanovi-Burmazovi from the Chair of Bioinorganic Chemistry at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), together with researchers from the USA, have discovered that zinc can activate an organic molecule, helping to protect against oxidative stress.
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Breakthrough neurotechnology for treating paralysis
Three paraplegics who sustained cervical spinal cord injuries many years ago are now able to walk with the aid of crutches or a walker thanks to new rehabilitation protocols that combine targeted electrical stimulation of the lumbar spinal cord and weight-assisted therapy. This latest study, called STIMO (STImulation Movement Overground), establishes a new therapeutic framework to improve recovery from spinal cord injury.
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Largest census of cancer genes to help understand drug targets
Researchers at the Wellcome Sanger Institute have created the first comprehensive summary of all genes known to be involved in human cancer, the "Cancer Gene Census". Describing all genes strongly implicated in causing cancer, the Census also describes how they function across all forms of this disease. Reported in Nature Reviews Cancer, the resource catalogues over 700 genes, to help scientists understand the causes of cancers, find drug targets and design treatments.
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Immunotherapy may become new first line treatment in some metastatic colorectal cancers
Immunotherapy with nivolumab and low-dose ipilimumab could become a new first line treatment in patients with some metastatic colorectal cancers following late-breaking results from the CheckMate-142 trial reported at the ESMO 2018 Congress in Munich. (1) The drug combination shrank tumours and had beneficial effects on survival in patients with microsatellite instabiliy (MSI)-high metastatic colorectal cancer.
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