All posts tagged: treating

A popular weight loss drug shows promise for treating alcohol addiction

A popular weight loss drug shows promise for treating alcohol addiction

Published by José Betancourt

A medication currently used to treat diabetes and obesity may offer a new way to help people struggling with alcohol addiction. A recent study published in eBioMedicine found that the drug tirzepatide reduces alcohol consumption and prevents relapse behaviors in rodents. These results suggest that medications targeting the body’s metabolic hormones could eventually become an option for treating alcohol use conditions. Alcohol addiction is a pervasive condition with limited medical treatments. Existing medications only work for some people and are not widely prescribed. This gap in care has prompted researchers to look for alternative approaches that target different systems in the body. Recently, researchers have turned their attention to medications that mimic hormones produced in the gastrointestinal tract. These hormones naturally regulate blood sugar levels and the feeling of fullness after eating a meal. Medications like semaglutide mimic one of these hormones, called glucagon-like peptide-1. These metabolic drugs have shown early promise in reducing alcohol intake in both animal studies and human trials. Tirzepatide is a newer medication that mimics two different gut hormones at …

In tariff case, Supreme Court justices bicker over treating Trump and Biden differently

In tariff case, Supreme Court justices bicker over treating Trump and Biden differently

Published by Sam Flores

WASHINGTON — Conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch pulled no punches in taking aim at his colleagues on the Supreme Court for a lack of consistency in approaching broad assertions of presidential power made by Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Gorsuch was part of the 6-3 majority that struck down most of Trump’s tariffs on Friday, but he wrote a separate 46-page opinion that chided several of his fellow justices over how they approached the case. His colleagues were effectively applying the same Supreme Court precedent differently under Trump than they did under Biden, he argued, writing: “It is an interesting turn of events.” His invective focused on a theory known as the “major questions doctrine,” which adherents say bars sweeping presidential action not specifically authorized by Congress. The conservative-majority court embraced the doctrine while Biden was in office to strike down broad plans, such as his effort to forgive student loan debt. But in ruling against Trump on tariffs Friday, the conservative majority splintered. Gorsuch, Justice Amy Coney Barrett and Chief Justice John Roberts were in …

Exercise rivals therapy and medication for treating depression and anxiety

Exercise rivals therapy and medication for treating depression and anxiety

Published by José Betancourt

A new, comprehensive analysis confirms that physical activity is a highly effective treatment for depression and anxiety, offering benefits comparable to therapy or medication. The research suggests that specific types of exercise, such as group activities for depression or short-term programs for anxiety, can be tailored to maximize mental health benefits for different people. These findings were recently published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. Mental health disorders are a growing concern across the globe. Depression and anxiety affect a vast number of people, disrupting daily life and physical health. While antidepressants and psychotherapy are standard treatments, they are not always sufficient for every patient. Rates of these conditions continue to rise despite the availability of traditional cares. Health experts have explored exercise as an alternative or add-on treatment for many years. However, previous attempts to summarize the evidence have faced challenges. Earlier reviews often mixed data from healthy individuals with data from patients suffering from chronic physical illnesses. This made it difficult to determine if mental improvements were due to exercise itself or …

Building a House: Treating Psychosis With Anti-Psychotics

Building a House: Treating Psychosis With Anti-Psychotics

Published by Jenni Sidey

I’m often asked how I think about anti-psychotic medications for psychosis, and whether I use them at all, given my emphasis on psychotherapy for psychosis. I do use them, if the patient is agreeable. I use them as sparingly as possible, because the side effects of antipsychotics are extremely uncomfortable, and the long-term effects are likely deleterious. (The data on long-term effects is confounded by the long-term effects of staying psychotic for decades, and results are contradictory, but that is for another post.) But often, in the earliest stages of our work together, a small dose of an antipsychotic can make our therapy work much easier. I think of the early stages of treatment with someone experiencing psychosis as akin to building a house. If we build the house on bare dirt without pouring a concrete foundation, the house might look fine for a while. But because the dirt under the house will shift with time, the house will crack and eventually collapse. The anti-psychotics act like a concrete foundation. They provide some emotional stability …

A common enzyme linked to diabetes may offer a new path for treating Alzheimer’s

A common enzyme linked to diabetes may offer a new path for treating Alzheimer’s

Published by José Betancourt

A protein long implicated in diabetes and obesity may hold the key to treating Alzheimer’s disease by reinvigorating the brain’s immune system. New research suggests that blocking this protein, known as PTP1B, allows immune cells to clear toxic waste more effectively and restores cognitive function in mice. The findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Alzheimer’s disease is characterized by the accumulation of sticky protein clumps called amyloid-beta. These plaques disrupt communication between brain cells and are widely believed to drive memory loss and neurodegeneration. The brain relies on specialized immune cells called microglia to maintain a healthy environment. In a healthy brain, microglia locate and engulf toxic clumps like amyloid-beta through a process called phagocytosis. However, in patients with Alzheimer’s, these immune cells often become lethargic. They fail to keep up with the accumulating waste, allowing plaques to spread. Scientists have struggled to find ways to safely reactivate these cells without causing damaging inflammation. There is a growing body of evidence linking Alzheimer’s to metabolic disorders. Conditions like type …

Iran cracks down on medical workers treating protesters

Iran cracks down on medical workers treating protesters

Published by Sam Flores

Bodies outside the morgue in Kahrizak, Iran. Still from a video filmed between January 9 and 11, 2026, and posted on social media. SOCIAL MEDIA VIA AP On Monday, February 2, Sanam, a young doctor in Tehran, who preferred to use a pseudonym, was spending a quiet night at home when security forces burst into her apartment. The previous day, the intelligence services unit (herasat, in Persian) at her hospital had asked for the names and identity numbers of wounded protesters who had come in for treatment. Sanam replied: “I do not have this information.” On Monday morning, four police officers broke down her door and threatened to kill her unless she cooperated within two or three days. She has since left her home and now lives in fear of arrest. Since the mass protests that took place in Iran from January 8 to 11 to call for the fall of the Islamic Republic, the authorities have tightened their grip on doctors and medical workers who care for the injured. In its February 2 edition, …

Treating cancer before 3pm could help patients live longer

Treating cancer before 3pm could help patients live longer

Published by skeptic

Administering cancer treatments at a particular time could be a relatively simple but effective intervention Kenneth K. Lam/ZUMA Press/Alamy Delivering cancer immunotherapy earlier in the day really could extend survival, according to the first randomised-controlled trial into how the timing of such interventions affects patient outcomes. Our body’s cells and tissues follow 24-hour cycles of activity, known as circadian rhythms, that influence everything from our mood to our metabolism and immune system. More than a dozen observational studies have found that cancer patients who happen to receive checkpoint inhibitors – a kind of immunotherapy drug that helps certain immune cells kill cancer – earlier in the day seem to have a substantially lower risk of their condition worsening and leading to death. But now, Francis Lévi at Paris-Saclay University in France and his colleagues have carried out the first randomised-controlled trial into chronotherapy – timing treatments around circadian rhythms – using a combination of chemotherapy and immunotherapy drugs for cancer. The team recruited 210 people with non-small cell lung cancer who all received four doses …

Single protein is key to treating a deadly genetic heart disease targeting young athletes

Single protein is key to treating a deadly genetic heart disease targeting young athletes

Published by Jenni Sidey

A research team at the University of California San Diego has discovered a novel and promising method of treating arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM), a rare inherited heart disease that can strike suddenly and violently, developing into a life-threatening condition in young, healthy athletes. By restoring expression of an important protein, connexin-43, in murine (mouse) models, the investigators dramatically improved overall heart function, significantly reduced dangerous heart arrhythmias, and increased survival rates by greater than twofold. Patients with ACM do not have the ability to efficiently pump blood due to damage to their cell-to-cell contact proteins, known as desmosomes, which are weakened by genetic defects. Furthermore, patients with ACM experience an increased risk for sudden cardiac death, particularly athletes, because of the additional stress placed on an already damaged, structurally weak heart by prolonged, high levels of activity. Results of this study, published in the journal Circulation: Heart Failure, indicate that one potential gene-based therapy will offer hope for the treatment of many different types of patients with this condition. This benefit appears regardless of the underlying …

US treating friendlies like World Cup matches as tournament nears – Pochettino

US treating friendlies like World Cup matches as tournament nears – Pochettino

Published by Sam Flores

NEW YORK, Jan 29 : The United States will treat their upcoming friendlies like World Cup matches, coach Mauricio Pochettino said on Thursday, aiming to set the right tone before playing in front of home fans at the four-yearly tournament. The United States, who are co-hosting the World Cup with Canada and Mexico in June and July, play Belgium and Portugal in a pair of March friendlies in Atlanta, before facing Senegal in Charlotte, North Carolina, in May and Germany in a Chicago “send-off match” in June. “The idea is that the World Cup will start in March when we are all together because it’s time to show – like we were showing in the last camp in November or October – our identity, our way to play and the way that we want to perform in the World Cup,” Pochettino told reporters. The United States came up short in the CONCACAF Gold Cup final last summer but ended the year with a handful of solid performances, winning their final three friendlies of 2025 against …

Immune signal in the brain may offer new target for treating meth addiction

Immune signal in the brain may offer new target for treating meth addiction

Published by Jenni Sidey

Methamphetamine addiction has a way of looping back on itself. A rush of pleasure pulls you in, cravings follow, and the brain learns that the drug is the fastest route to reward. Yet scientists still lack an approved medication that directly treats methamphetamine addiction. That gap has left clinicians relying on counseling and support, while researchers hunt for new biological targets. Now, University of Florida neuroscientists say they have identified a key chain reaction in the brain that could open a new path: testing immune-modulating medicines as a way to interrupt meth’s grip. In a preclinical study, a team at the McKnight Brain Institute led by Habibeh Khoshbouei, Ph.D., Pharm.D., traced how meth triggers both dopamine surges and an inflammatory signal that, surprisingly, can feed those dopamine effects. “Unlike alcohol or opioids, there currently is no medicinal therapeutic approach for methamphetamine addiction,” said Khoshbouei, a professor of neuroscience and psychiatry. “So this is an important societal issue.” Identification of dopamine neurons in the VTA. (CREDIT: Science Signaling) Meth is a highly addictive stimulant. It is …