May even be destined to become an Olympic sport one day Pickleball, kind of a combination of tennis and ping pong, is the fastest-growing sport in the United States. The state of Washington, in fact, has declared it the state sport. Based on different reports, there are somewhere between five million and eight million pickleball…
Undiagnosed, untreated illness could lead to heart disease later in life, says lead researcher
Not enough men in Alberta – especially those in their 40s – are getting tested for diabetes, putting them at risk for heart disease, cancer and other illnesses, according to new population health research published in The Lancet Regional Health – Americas. “My main message to young men is that early diagnosis is critical because diabetes…
Kidney disease costs the health-care system more than $40 billion each year
Not many people think about the cost of kidney disease, says a University of Alberta researcher. But the toll on Canadians is high. Kidney disease will affect one in 10 Canadians and costs the health-care system more than $40 billion each year. The number of people living with end-stage kidney disease, which has no current…
Not being able to control your bladder can be embarrassing
You’ve probably seen the ads: A row of women in nothing but their undies. Look closer and you realize they are wearing special panties – extra protection so they don’t leak urine in public. The market for such products is growing as the population ages. In fact, people’s preferences for “absorbent briefs” (no longer known…
Treatment acts like a Band-Aid for mutations, allowing the body to rebuild muscle tissue
Up to 45 per cent of patients with the most common inherited neuromuscular disease could benefit from a new “cocktail” drug being developed at the University of Alberta, according to research published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The drug could provide an effective and economical treatment to lessen symptoms for the six of…
Risk calculator pinpoints suitable patients for guided biopsies that improves the current standard of care
A new risk calculator developed by a University of Alberta researcher and collaborators in the United States could reduce the number of unnecessary and invasive biopsies for prostate cancer. Adam Kinnaird, a surgeon and assistant professor in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, said the tool is available online for free, requires only conventional clinical data paired with…
New guidelines helps identify and treat testosterone deficiency as men age
Fatigue, weight gain and low libido are just three of the symptoms middle-aged and older men face as their testosterone levels decline, but many don’t realize what’s going on. Sometimes referred to as “male menopause” or “manopause” in reference to the symptoms women experience when their estrogen levels drop, the medical term for men is…
Anemia generates different immune responses in men and women
A University of Alberta-led study shows that when it comes to susceptibility to infections and other health conditions, sex matters. The research, published in the journal Frontiers in Immunology, was led by U of A immunologist Shokrollah Elahi. Elahi and his team looked at how anemia – a condition in which a person lacks enough mature red…
Could predict which men are at risk of developing an aggressive form of the disease
Scientists at the University of Alberta are part of a new research project to develop innovative precision diagnostics that could predict which men with prostate cancer are at risk of developing an aggressive form of the disease. The researchers will use germline sequencing (sequencing of the genes a person is born with) to determine which…
Hormones, chromosomes contribute to stronger immune response and better outcomes for female COVID-19 patients
Female COVID-19 patients face less severe disease complications and a lower risk of dying than male patients thanks to hormones and chromosomes that contribute to a stronger immune response, according to new research from a University of Alberta-led team. “The highlight of our study is how the sex differences in COVID-19 are linked to ACE2,” said senior…