'There haven’t been any new drugs last 15 years, so it’s very promising to have uncovered a reason why some of that research may have failed'

A study in mice hints at a new approach for thwarting neurodegenerative diseases—but many questions remain.

Money has poured into Alzheimer's research, but until very recently not much of it went toward investigating infection in causing dementia. A million dollar prize may lead more scientists to try.

The World Health Organization says the number of measles cases in Europe jumped sharply during the first six months of 2018 and at least 37 people have died. The U.N. agency’s European office said Monday more than 41,000 measles cases were reported in the region during the first half of the year — more than in all 12-month periods so far this decade.

It may be possible in the future to screen patients for Alzheimer’s disease using an eye exam. Using technology similar to what is found in many eye doctors’ offices, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have detected evidence suggesting Alzheimer’s in older patients who had no symptoms of the disease. Their study, involving 30 patients, is published Aug. 23 in the journal JAMA Ophthalmology.

The Netherlands is pioneering new ways to treat dementia, with sensory aids, soothing music and other tools to calm and nurture patients.

Migration and a global shipping network have flattened biodiversity worldwide.

How did British medical worker Janet Parker become the world's last victim of smallpox? By Monica Rimmer.

A study shows higher risk of fatal lung disease in adults exposed to cigarette smoke in childhood.

Nearly 700 million people suffer from mosquito-borne diseases—such as malaria, West Nile, Zika and dengue fever—each year, resulting in more than 1 million deaths. Increasingly, many species of mosquitoes have become resistant to the popular pyrethroid-based insecticides. Today, researchers report a new class of mosquito repellents based on naturally occurring compounds that are effective in repelling mosquitoes with potentially fewer environmental side effects than existing repellents.

Taking a low-dose aspirin every day has long been known to cut the chances of another heart attack, stroke or other heart problem in people who already have had one, but the risks don't outweigh the benefits for most other folks, major new research finds.

By releasing specially bred mosquitoes that can't transmit viruses, scientists have been able to virtually eradicate dengue fever from the city of Townsville, Queensland, in north-eastern Australia – and they say the same methods could be scaled up

 Most UK and US cases occur after patients have unprotected sex in endemic countries.

Annelise Barron is developing a way to treat Alzheimer's through the immune system.

Gene-editing technology could be propelled into commercial farms within five years

Human herpes virus 6 and 7 were found in Alzheimer's-affected brains at levels up to twice as high as in those without Alzheimer's, the scientists reported Thursday.

Scientists find that a drug meant for another illness may significantly help Alzheimer's patients.

But the infection is surging elsewhere, particularly in the Americas.

Several new studies have rejuvenated a long-dismissed idea that links the common brain disease to the viral infections.

Bill Gates believes we need a better way of diagnosing Alzheimer’s before we’re able to slow the progression of the disease.

People who use homeopathy, herbal remedies and other alternative therapies as part of their cancer treatment are, on average, twice as likely to die from the disease as those who use conventional treatment only, a study has shown. This is because cancer patients using complementary therapies were much more likely to refuse some or all recommended treatment, resulting in a much poorer prognosis, Yale University researchers found.

Lone star ticks hunt in packs and spread an allergy to beef and pork. Thanks to climate change, they’re spreading. By Zoya Teirstein.

The committee to advise the President first met approximately one month after the virus first appeared. There had been more than 400 cases and 50 deaths so far, mostly split between Frankfurt, Germany, and Caracas, Venezuela. Patients presented with fever, cough, and confusion. In a disturbing number of cases, encephalitis — swelling in the brain — caused patients to fall into a potentially fatal coma.

New research suggests point mutations in bacteria arise at a relatively low, constant, rate and only 1% of these changes are lethal. Therefore, it is suggested that most mutations in bacteria may not have any effect on survival. This is perhaps surprising when we think of bacteria evolution, especially in the context of human health and antibiotic resistance. This research is summarised in a guest post below.

Nearly one in seven babies born to women infected with the Zika virus while pregnant had one or more health problems possibly caused by the virus, according to a Vital Signs report published Tuesday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The problems consisted of birth defects including small head size, brain damage, eye damage and nervous system problems, such as vision and hearing impairments, as well as seizures.

A bed net designed to kill insecticide-resistant mosquitoes could prevent millions of cases of malaria across sub-Saharan Africa, scientists have found. A two-year clinical trial in Burkina Faso showed that dousing bed nets with a combination of chemicals resulted in a 12% reduction in clinical malaria cases, compared with conventional bed nets.

New research identifies the various ways in which we’re most likely to come into contact with communicable diseases at airports. Turns out that toilets are surprisingly clean, but the same cannot be said for those plastic bins used at airport security, which are absolutely covered in viruses.

Simple blood tests may soon be able to deliver alarming news about your cognitive health.

Scientists have pinpointed a population of virus-infected bats, which they have linked to the mysterious outbreak of Sars disease 15 years ago. Hundreds died as the virus spread around the globe but its source was never traced.

Hailed as ‘enormously significant’, results in groundbreaking trial are first time a drug has been shown to suppress effects of Huntington’s genetic mutation

Climate change and disease evolution have been the wild cards of human history. By Kyle Harper.

Why do we have cures and medicines for some diseases but not others? Surprisingly, it is not because we cannot make the medicines; it is because we do not know enough about the diseases that need new medicines. To span the chasm between understanding the biology of a disease and successfully treating patients, we must foster collaborative efforts between biology and chemistry. The hope is that such cross-field cooperation will enable insights into disease biology by using chemical compounds that could lead to FDA-approved therapeutics.

Bill Gates is betting big that certain cancer therapies, if manufactured correctly, could help "control all infectious disease." Gates, cochair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, made the announcement during his keynote address at the recent JP Morgan Healthcare Conference. "This would be a huge victory for humanity — and potentially a significant market for the life sciences," Gates said, referring to the prospect of broadly effective immunotherapies.

British woman who can smell Parkinson’s disease has helped scientists discover 10 molecules linked to the condition which could lead to the first diagnostic test. Researchers at Manchester University first began to believe Parkinson’s might have a discernible odour when Joy Milne of Perth, Scotland, claimed she detected a change in the odour of her husband Les six years before he was diagnosed with the condition.

A strong virus, a less-than-effective vaccine, and an IV bag shortage that goes back to Hurricane Maria.