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Burning sugars to light up brown fat

November 30, -0001 • 12:00 AM

Do you recognize that warmth when you wake up on a cold morning snuggled under a blanket? A recent study reveals that you owe this glorious feeling to a unique type of fat cell - the brown fat.

This fat cell is unlike it's cousin- the white fat, which is typically stored around the waist causing obesity when in excess and distressing when you stand in front of a mirror! In fact an abundance of brown fat is associated with being lean and a low glucose level- a sugar, excesses of which causes...

Gut microbiome protects against malaria

November 30, -0001 • 12:00 AM

The WHO estimates that 214 million cases of malaria were reported worldwide in 2015, mostly in Africa (88%), South-East Asia (10%) and the Eastern Mediterranean Region (2%). Children under five are particularly susceptible to the severe form; over 306,000 children under five died due to malaria last year.

Malaria is caused by a parasite called Plasmodium, which has an intricate vital cycle that involves two different hosts to reproduce.

One of the development stages of the parasite happens in...

Meet Zika, 2016's Ebola

November 30, -0001 • 12:00 AM

Just as we thought that we had turned a corner and had Ebola under control, a new monster rears it's ugly head in the form of the Zika virus.

The most common symptoms of the virus are fever, rash, joint pain and an eye infection known as conjunctivitis. It is estimated that only 1 in 5 infected people get symptoms, which usually last for a few days. No one knows yet how long the virus incubates in the body before the symptoms appear.

Unlike Ebola, people rarely die of Zika virus and the illness...

Worry as Zika Escalates

November 30, -0001 • 12:00 AM

Title Ideas: DSC03415-MosquitoW2
Meet Zika, the new Ebola.
Zika: the new terror of 2016
Worry as Zika escalates

Just as we thought that we had turned a corner and had Ebola under control, a new monster rears it's ugly head in the form of the Zika virus.

The most common symptoms of the virus are fever, rash, joint pain and an eye infection known as conjunctivitis. Only 1 in 5 infected people present with symptoms and the time taken from infection to presentation of symptoms is still unknown.

...

Friends or Foes: the GMO debate

November 30, -0001 • 12:00 AM

Love them or loathe them, Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are very much part of modern life.

It has been normal practise in livestock breeding to select individuals with desirable traits to breed together in the hope of achieving multiple desirable traits in the offspring.

A simplistic example, crossing a horse known for speed with a horse of desirable coat colour would ideally give you a fast horse with the desired coat colour.

Of course, this form of artificial selection does not...

A question of how much hormone helps improve IVF success

November 30, -0001 • 12:00 AM

Infertility is the impossibility to conceive after one year of regular attempts in the absence of a contraceptive. Usually infertility is a complex issue because causes are varied and can combine masculine and feminine disorders requiring an individualized study of each case. However, in 30% of all occurrences there is a documented feminine cause. For most women emotional consequences of not getting a pregnancy after some time are usually taxing and devastating. In industrialized countries,...

Life happens, coffee helps..

November 30, -0001 • 12:00 AM

Consider your morning; your alarm goes off, you get up and get dressed, probably yawn and then pour yourself a nice mug of coffee to allow you to start the day. This general routine is carried out by millions and is seen as nothing more than wake-up call. However, a recently published study on the benefits of coffee has found that drinking one to five cups of coffee a day, both caffeinated and decaffeinated, actually lowers the risk of total mortality (or death). Coffee is one of the most...

Sperm carries memories of dad's eating habits

November 30, -0001 • 12:00 AM

At some point in our lifetimes, we have all inherited family heirlooms passed on from generation to generation. Our bequests could range from say a grandfather's clock or dad's watch to that of our dads teaching us how to ride a bike or even how to handle money.

But besides these obvious material additions and habits, what if our fathers also bequeathed, our own feeding behavior?!

This is precisely the focus of a new study by a team of Scandinavian researchers, led by Dr. Romain Barres, an...

A marker for migratory breast cancer spreading to brain

November 30, -0001 • 12:00 AM

Genetically speaking, breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease.

Primary tumors are classified in types and subtypes according to the genes expressed or muted by their cells.

This background greatly conditions prognosis and subsequent progression of the disease.

'Triple negative' breast cancer (TNBC) constitutes a particularly challenging kind of carcinoma.  It denotes three missing markers, which individually are associated with breast cancer. 

While they are still vulnerable to conventional...

When the young lose their way

November 30, -0001 • 12:00 AM

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is currently the 6th leading cause of death in the United States with only 45% of people knowing that they have the disease. Alzheimer's is a progressive disease where proteins build up in lumps called 'plaques' in the brain, stopping nerves talking to each other. This can lead to the loss of brain tissue, which causes the symptoms of Alzheimer's. It eventually leads to Dementia, which is a general term for memory loss and problems with thinking, coordination and...

No more exercise, just pop a pill...

November 30, -0001 • 12:00 AM

The concept of an exercise pill- a drug that you could take which mimics the beneficial effects of physical exercise, is of huge consumer interest.

Research into these types of pill have been underway since 2004, however, most of the front-runner candidates are still in experimental stages.

A recent article published in a CellPress journal, reviews the 8 potential exercise pills that are being investigated, highlighting that this area of research is being developed and could be seen on the...

Your brain has room for optimism

November 30, -0001 • 12:00 AM

Optimism is a personality trait that has been defined by psychologists as the tendency to hold overall favorable expectancies about our future.

Now there is physical evidence for the headquarters of optimism- a brain region linked to a buoyant nature and certain degree of resilience against adversity.

Recently, researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign performed a study in healthy individuals to explore the connection between brain regions and emotional health.

Dr.Sanda...

German PKV Insurance

German Private Health Insurance

Both private Health Insurance in Germany and public insurance, is often complicated to navigate, not to mention expensive. As an expat, you are required to navigate this landscape within weeks of arriving, so check our FAQ on PKV. For our guide on resources and access to agents who can give you a competitive quote, try our PKV Cost comparison tool.

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Hospital and Clinic Directory

Germany is famous for its medical expertise and extensive number of hospitals and clinics. See this comprehensive directory of hospitals and clinics across the country, complete with links to their websites, addresses, contact info, and specializations/services.

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