Category Archives: medicine

New way to detect human-animal diseases tested in lemurs

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New way to detect human-animal diseases tested in lemurs. Duke Today, Jan. 27, 2016. RNA sequencing is uncovering emerging diseases in wildlife that other diagnostic tests cannot detect. Researchers used a technique called transcriptome sequencing to screen for blood-borne diseases in Madagascar’s lemurs, distant primate cousins to humans. The animals were found to be carrying several previously unknown parasites similar to those that cause Lyme disease in humans. The approach could pave the way for earlier, more accurate detection of disease outbreaks that move between animals and people.

Humans evolved to get better sleep in less time

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Humans evolved to get better sleep in less time. Duke Today, Dec. 14, 2015. Insomniacs take heart: Humans get by on significantly less sleep than our closest animal relatives. The secret, according to a new study of slumber patterns across 21 species of primates, is that our sleep is more efficient. Picked up by The New York Times, The Washington Post, TIME, the Daily Mail, BBC, Huffington Post, WPTV, News & Observer, Futurity, U.S. News & World Report and Voice of America.

Predicting cancer’s growth when clues are hard to come by

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Predicting cancer’s growth when clues are hard to come by. Duke Today, Nov. 2, 2015. Duke mathematicians are developing ways to help doctors predict how different cancers are likely to progress when measurements of tumor growth are hard to come by. In a new study, they describe a way to compare common models of tumor growth, using only two time-point measurements of tumor size — often the maximum available before patients begin treatment. Determining which models work best for different cancers is key to designing optimum treatment strategies.

Cell phones help track flu on campus

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Cell phones help track flu on campus. Duke Today, August 18, 2015. New methods for analyzing personal health and lifestyle data captured through smartphone apps can help identify college students at risk of catching the flu. With help from a mobile app that monitors who students interact with and when, researchers have developed a model that enables them to predict the spread of influenza from one person to the next over time. Unlike most infection models, their approach gives a personalized daily forecast for each patient. Picked up by Time Warner Cable News, WRAL, Futurity and the Huffington Post.

Pinpointing the cause of coughs and sneezes

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Pinpointing the cause of coughs and sneezes. Duke Research blog, July 30, 2015. Duke University students are trying to help doctors find a faster way to pinpoint the cause of their patients’ coughs, sore throats and sniffles. Undergraduates have teamed up with researchers at Duke Medicine to identify blood markers that could be used to tell whether what’s making someone sick is a bacteria, or a virus. The goal is to better determine if and when to give antibiotics in order to stem the rise of drug-resistant superbugs. Picked up by Nature.

Gut worms protect babies’ brains from inflammation

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Gut worms protect babies’ brains from inflammation. Duke Today, July 20, 2015. A study in rats finds that gut worms can protect babies’ brains from inflammation and long-term learning and memory problems caused by bacterial infections in newborns. Expectant mother rats with tapeworms even passed the protective benefits on to their worm-free pups, the researchers found. The findings could point to new ways to prevent or treat the chronic brain inflammation linked to cognitive disorders like Alzheimer’s disease, autism and depression. Picked up by Science Magazine and the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Outsmarting HIV with vaccine antigens made to order

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Outsmarting HIV with vaccine antigens made to order. Duke Research blog, June 29, 2015. AIDS vaccine researchers may be one step closer to outwitting HIV, thanks to designer antibodies and antigens made to order at Duke. HIV was identified as the cause of AIDS in 1983. Despite decades of progress in understanding the virus, an effective vaccine remains elusive. Now, a team of researchers have published a 3-D close-up of a designer protein that, if injected into patients, could help the immune system make better antibodies against the virus — a step forward in the 30-year HIV vaccine race.

Model could help counteract poisoning from popular painkiller

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Model could help counteract poisoning from popular painkiller. Duke Today, June 22, 2015. New research could help reverse deadly side effects caused by excessive doses of the drug acetaminophen, the major ingredient in Tylenol and many other medicines. Duke University researchers have developed a mathematical model of acetaminophen metabolism based on data from rats. The findings suggest that giving patients glutamine — a common amino acid in the body — alongside the standard antidote for acetaminophen overdose could prevent liver damage and boost the body’s ability to recover. Picked up by the Durham Herald-Sun.

Baboon friends swap gut germs

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Baboon friends swap gut germs. Duke Today, March 16, 2015. The warm soft folds of the intestines are teeming with thousands of species of bacteria that help break down food, synthesize vitamins, regulate weight and resist infection. If they’re so key to health, what factors shape an individual’s gut microbial makeup? Previous studies have pointed to the food we eat, the drugs we take, genetics, even house dust. Now, a new study in baboons suggests that relationships may play a role, too. Picked up by The Scientist.

Urging HPV vaccine for boys could protect more people for same price

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Urging HPV vaccine for boys could protect more people for same price. Duke Today, March 11, 2015. Whether vaccinating U.S. boys against HPV in addition to girls is worth the cost has been hotly debated. But with HPV-related cancers in men on the rise, and coverage in girls stagnating below the levels needed to ensure that most people are protected, research suggests that devoting a portion of HPV funding to boys — rather than merely attempting to improve female coverage — may protect more people for the same price. Picked up by National Public Radio affiliate WUNC.

Predicting superbugs’ countermoves to new drugs

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Predicting superbugs’ countermoves to new drugs. Duke Today, Jan. 5, 2015. With drug-resistant bacteria on the rise, even common infections that were easily controlled for decades are proving trickier to treat with standard antibiotics. New drugs are desperately needed, but so are ways to maximize the effective lifespan of these drugs. To accomplish that, Duke University researchers used software they developed to predict a constantly-evolving infectious bacterium’s countermoves to one of these new drugs ahead of time, before the drug is even tested on patients. Picked up by the Duke Chronicle, The Scientist and Time Magazine.

Tie-dye fly

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Tie-dye fly. 1,100 Words, August 29, 2014. It may look like a poster for the Grateful Dead, but these Day-Glo rainbow stripes belong to a fruit fly. Duke biologist Amy Bejsovec is studying the patterns that emerge during a fruit fly’s development from egg to adult — information that may help treat diseases that arise when normal development goes awry.

Cancer-fighting drugs might also stop malaria early

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Cancer-fighting drugs might also stop malaria early. Duke Today, August 25, 2014. Scientists searching for new drugs for malaria have identified a number of compounds — some of which are in clinical trials to treat cancer — that could lead to new ways to fight the disease. Researchers identified 31 enzyme-blocking molecules, called protein kinase inhibitors, that curb malaria before symptoms start. By focusing on treatments that act early, the researchers hope to give drug-resistant strains less time to spread. Picked up by the Duke Chronicle and the Durham Herald-Sun.

Scientists uncover navigation system used by cancer, nerve cells

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Scientists uncover navigation system used by cancer, nerve cells. Duke Today, August 25, 2014. Researchers have identified a ‘roving detection system’ on the surface of cells that may point to new ways of treating diseases like cancer, Parkinson’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The study sheds light on the molecular mechanisms that enable both normal and cancerous cells to break through normal tissue boundaries and burrow into other tissues and organs.

Genome sequences show how lemurs fight infection

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Genome sequences show how lemurs fight infection. Duke Today, May 30, 2014. Coquerel’s sifakas are the only lemur species out of 17 at the Duke Lemur Center to fall prey to Cryptosporidium, a waterborne illness that causes weakness and diarrhea. Young sifakas are more likely to get sick, but if researchers can harness next-generation sequencing technology to figure out how older animals manage to fight the infection, they might be able to develop vaccines that provide infants the same protection. Picked up by National Geographic.

Hibernating lemurs hint at the secrets of sleep

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Hibernating lemurs hint at the secrets of sleep. Duke Today, September 4, 2013. By studying hibernation, a Duke University team is providing a window into why humans sleep. Observations of a little-known primate called the fat-tailed dwarf lemur in captivity and the wild has revealed that it goes for days without the deepest part of sleep during its winter hibernation season. The findings support the idea that sleep plays a role in regulating body temperature and metabolism. Picked up by WUNC, National Geographic, NBC News, US News and World Report, Huffington Post, Futurity, Discovery News and the Los Angeles Times.

Ethiopians and Tibetans thrive in thin air using similar physiology, but different genes

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Ethiopians and Tibetans thrive in thin air using similar physiology, but different genes. National Evolutionary Synthesis Center, December 6, 2012. Scientists have pinpointed genetic changes that allow some Ethiopians to live more than a mile and a half above sea level without getting altitude sickness. The genes differ from those reported previously for high-altitude Tibetans, even though both groups cope with low-oxygen in similar physiological ways, the researchers say. The study adds to our understanding of how high-altitude populations worldwide have evolved to be different from their low-altitude ancestors. Picked up by Futurity.

Deadly bird parasite evolves at exceptionally fast rate

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Deadly bird parasite evolves at exceptionally fast rate. National Evolutionary Synthesis Center, February 9, 2012.  A new study of a devastating bird disease that spread from poultry to house finches in the mid-1990s reveals that the bacteria responsible for the disease evolves at an exceptionally fast rate. What’s more, the fast-evolving microbe has lost a key chunk of its genome since jumping to its new host, scientists were surprised to find. Picked up by MSNBC.