Mushrooms show long-term benefits in those who suffer from treatment-resistant depression
Regardless of where one stands on legalizing psychedelics for mental-health treatment, Canada is late to the party when it comes to relaxing federal regulations. And given the disturbing rise (and costs of treating) trauma, depression and other mental health disorders worldwide, we better speed up. University researchers, consumers, investors and private-sector companies aren’t waiting for…
International Women’s Day encourages everyone to ‘Break the Bias’ in health care and research
If you are a woman – or love one – here are some facts that may surprise you: Almost three-quarters of the 750,000 Canadians who have Alzheimer’s are women. Women are 20 per cent more likely than men to develop lung cancer if they smoke the same number of cigarettes. Heart attacks are not recognized…
There are hundreds of clues all around us. Sights, smells, holes in trees, nests, songs and much more
I’d like to introduce you to the signs that wild things leave when they share our landscape. We already know birds sing and come to bird feeders, and that animals leave tracks. But what other clues do they leave to tell us they were here? There are hundreds of ways we can see what shares…
Pioneering U of A researcher part of international team brought together through $24M grant
When Karim Fouad started his career with the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine looking for a way to heal spinal cord injuries, he remembers the enthusiasm that rippled through his discipline as prospects for better treatments began to show real promise. “Spinal cord researchers thought they had found the reason the nerve cells don’t regrow in the…
Understanding drugs and viruses key to being ready for the next pandemic
Understanding exactly how antiviral drugs interact with viruses at a molecular level will be key to developing the broad-spectrum therapies needed to battle against the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and get ready to fight the next one, according to a newly published paper in the The Journal of Biological Chemistry. The paper reveals the inner workings of the…
Indigenous resource management key to ending environmental degradation and loss of culture
When Danika Littlechild was growing up in Maskwacis, Alta., her uncle would pick her up after school and walk her home through the bush to her kôhkom’s (grandmother’s) house. He would show her different plants and fungi along the way, teaching her their names and telling stories about when to harvest and how to use them for…
Diving at dawn and dusk could save time and money in battle against the voracious predators
Although time is in short supply in the war against the lionfish invasion in the Atlantic and Caribbean, a University of Alberta study suggests taking time to plan the where, when and who of this fight will give wildlife officials the best shot at keeping the voracious trespassers at bay. “Many invasive species removal plans…
Researchers achieve milestone in efforts to get patients with diabetes off injected insulin for good
Diabetes researchers are reporting early success in a first-in-humans clinical trial to test whether pancreatic cells grown from a patient’s own blood can be safely implanted and begin to produce insulin. The team reported on their proof of concept and safety study in a newly published paper in the journal Cell Reports Medicine. Of 17 patients who…
Overactive bladder can distract from balance and stability
A team of University of Alberta researchers focused on aging Albertans has found that urinary incontinence could be a contributing factor in falls among older adults. In a study published in the journal PLOS ONE, the researchers showed for the first time that the feeling of having to pee acts as a distracting factor that increases the…
Mimicry is usually designed to protect prey from predators. But some also use the tactic to fool prey
What you see may not be what you get when it comes to the natural world. Many animals use mimicry to fool predators and prey into thinking they’re something else, with insects putting on the best show in this regard. Tens of thousands of species of insects aren’t what they seem at first glance. But…
Regardless of where one stands on legalizing psychedelics for mental-health treatment, Canada is late to the party when it comes to relaxing federal regulations. And given the disturbing rise (and costs of treating) trauma, depression and other mental health disorders worldwide, we better speed up. University researchers, consumers, investors and private-sector companies aren’t waiting for…
