Categories : Neurodegenerative Diseases Surgeries & ProceduresTags : Leave a comment

Neurosurgery Samples Identifies New Drug Target for Alzheimer’s Disease

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Promising anti-inflammatory drug target can block receptors in the brain and potentially dampen down pathways to major brain conditions

Photo by Natanael Melchor on Unsplash

Inflammatory conditions in the brain, including traumatic brain injury and degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s could be targeted with an existing drug thanks to new research that shows it can work in brain cells.

In a study published in Brain, a team led by Professor Nicholas Barnes at the University of Birmingham has identified a critical receptor that when blocked inhibits neuroinflammation. This first-of-its-kind work with human brain tissue demonstrates how interrupting this pathway could open the door to treating a wide spectrum of chronic neurological conditions. These include not only traumatic brain injury (TBI), but also neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, and even psychiatric disorders such as depression and psychosis, these latter conditions are increasingly understood to have a neuroinflammatory component.

Using live cultures of human brain cells and slices of brain tissue obtained during neurosurgery, the researchers investigated the role of a receptor known as the P2X7 receptor, which is responsible for triggering inflammatory signalling.

This exciting discovery marks a major step toward repurposing existing therapeutics to combat neuroinflammation at its source. The identification of this receptor could have far-reaching implications for some of the most debilitating and widespread brain disorders

Professor Nicholas Barnes, Professor of Neuropharmacology

Their findings reveal that these P2X7 receptors drive the release of key proteins called cytokines involved in controlling inflammation. By blocking this receptor with a specific antagonist, the team was able to significantly reduce the inflammatory response in human brain tissue.

Professor Nicholas Barnes from the College of Medicine and Health at the University of Birmingham and corresponding author of the paper said: “This exciting discovery marks a major step toward repurposing existing therapeutics to combat neuroinflammation at its source. The identification of this receptor could have far-reaching implications for some of the most debilitating and widespread brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s and Multiple Sclerosis, or inflammation-linked psychiatric conditions like schizophrenia and depression”.

Brain’s resident immune sentinels

In order to study how brain cells respond to and manage inflammation, the team developed a way of turning a type of white blood cell into microglia, replicating a normal cellular transformation that has recently been identified to occur in the brain as a natural part of human ageing. These microglia are the central coordinators of the immune system in the brain.

Using readily accessible human peripheral monocytes taken from blood samples, the researchers converted them into microglia-like cells that were used to see how microglia are likely to respond to the inflammation signals. Using the P2X7 receptor antagonist, the team were then able to interrupt the triggers that these microglia give off as they are damaged and die.

Professor Barnes said: “Studying human microglia has long been a major challenge: once removed from their native brain environment, they rapidly lose their defining characteristics, likely due to the absence of critical regulatory signals. Our approach involved the use of monocyte-derived microglia which provide a powerful, scalable, and virtually unlimited platform for studying human microglial biology with unprecedented precision.

“Having identified the response in the human monocyte-derived microglia, this provided the impetus to translate these findings with human brain obtained following neurosurgical procedures. This successful translation means the next stage for this research is the development of clinical trials in patients with neurodegenerative conditions and patients with TBI where there are no effective pharmacological treatments to reduce the neuroinflammation and arising damage.”

Source: University of Birmingham

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A Few Licks of this Candy-coated Device Measures Medication Levels in Saliva

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A few licks of the lollipop-like prototype collects enough saliva to test for paracetamol levels.

The red, peach-flavoured candy coating on Lollylab stimulates saliva production, and a sensor at the bottom analyses it for paracetamol. Adapted from ACS Sensors 2026, DOI: 10.1021/acssensors.6c00691

What if checking medication levels were as simple as enjoying a lollipop? A candy-coated device, called Lollylab, could provide the answer. In ACS Sensors, researchers describe how the lollipop’s stem transfers saliva to a sensor that measures acetaminophen levels. In an initial test, a peach-flavoured prototype reliably detected the pain reliever in six people’s saliva in less than two minutes. Participants also found it more comfortable and easier to use than traditional collection swabs.

Taking more than the maximum recommended dose of paracetamol can cause serious side effects, such as liver damage. This is especially concerning for children who can be at risk of an unintentional overdose at low levels of the medication. Because paracetamol concentrations in saliva closely reflect those in blood, Sina Khazaee Nejad, Maral Mousavi, and colleagues thought saliva could be a simple, noninvasive way to monitor the medication’s levels. 

Mousavi says they were inspired by the saliva sampling system CandyCollect — a lollipop-like device meant to replace throat swabs — but those specimens need to be analysed elsewhere. In this work, the researchers wanted to create a miniature laboratory-on-a-lollipop, or Lollylab. “By turning a familiar object like a lollipop into both a saliva collection device and a sensor, Lollylab can collect the sample and perform the measurement directly at the point of care,” says Nejad, the first author of the paper.

Lollylab is built from two plastic pieces (each with a round end and a thinner stem) snapped together, with holes at the top for saliva to enter through. The team coated the top of the device with a red, peach-flavoured edible candy shell, which did not interfere with measurements. Saliva flows through the glass fibre paper-lined lollipop stem toward a graphene sensor at the bottom, which measures acetaminophen levels as changes in electrical current. The prototype device detected acetaminophen in both artificial and human saliva.

As proof of concept, six adults used Lollylab before and an hour after taking a standard adult dose of paracetamol (650 milligrams). The device reliably measured the drug in the participants’ saliva in less than two minutes, and they said it was easy to use and more comfortable than typical saliva swabs.

“The main takeaway is that diagnostic testing can be made much easier and more comfortable, especially for children,” says Nejad. Next, the researchers plan to validate Lollylab’s paracetamol measurements with more participants, including children, and develop it to detect other substances in saliva such as naturally occurring stress markers. “Our longer-term goal is to create a multi-assay platform capable of measuring several biomarkers, which could then be evaluated alongside acetaminophen [paracetamol] in larger clinical studies.”

Source: American Chemical Society

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Suspected Plague Incident Leaves 1 Dead, 200 under Quarantine in Siberia

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Scanning electron micrograph of Yersinia pestis, which causes bubonic plague, on proventricular spines of a Xenopsylla cheopis flea. Credit: NIAID

A 28-year old female lab technician at the Irkutsk Research Anti-Plague Institute of Siberia, Russia, died of double pneumonia (infection in both lungs) late last week.

Government officials in Russia have not confirmed that the woman died from pneumonic plague, but several media reports suggest she died after an accident involving a broken vial containing a live sample of plague, a deadly bacterial infection. Now, a rumoured 200 people are suspected to be under quarantine. 

Rospotrebnadzor, the official Russian infectious disease agency, said, “No micro-organisms associated with the employee’s professional duties were detected in samples taken from the patient.”

But over the weekend, media in Russia and elsewhere in Europe started to stoke concerns over a lab leak incident or fears that the woman worked in a bioterrorism unit. They suspected that the Russian government was covering up something that posed a serious risk to global health. 

Case does not cause ‘undue concern’

Michael Osterholm, PhD, MPH, director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP), which publishes CIDRAP News, said that if the woman did die from pneumonic plague, it would be possible to contain, and close contacts and fellow lab workers would be given prophylactic (preventive) antibiotics. 

This case does not cause undue concern.

“This case does not cause undue concern,” Osterholm said. “We would like more information, of course.”

Osterholm explained that if this incident happened in a friendly nation, people would not be so quick to jump to allegations of bioterrorism. But information from Russia, China, or North Korea often lacks transparency. Osterholm also said that, despite the attention-grabbing headlines, plague infections occur every year around the world. 

The bacterium Yersinia pestis is linked to three main types of plague. The first, bubonic plague, is the one associated with the Black Death and the Middle Ages. It’s spread through flea bites and attacks the lymph nodes. Septicaemic plague is also spread through flea bites and occurs when the bacteria enter the bloodstream.

Pneumonic plague attacks the lungs and is the deadliest of the three main plague types. It’s also the most dangerous in terms of biosecurity, because it can be transmitted from person to person via respiratory droplets. It is considered extremely contagious and has a short incubation period (time from exposure to first symptoms) of roughly 24 hours. 

From 2019 to 2025, the World Health Organization estimates there were 3800 suspected plague cases (mostly bubonic) in 10 countries, resulting in 423 deaths. The last recorded plague case in South Africa was in 1982.

The United States tracks five to seven cases of bubonic plague each year, most often in the Southwest. Though plague kills 30% to 60% of people without treatment, all three strains are very sensitive to modern antibiotics.

Source: University of Minnesota

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Autism Is Linked to 14-Year Deficit in Life Expectancy

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Excess mortality from influenza, malnutrition, pneumonitis, drowning, and pneumonia contributes to the life expectancy gap

Photo by Peter Burdon on Unsplash

People with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the United States face a 14-year deficit in life expectancy, finds a study published in JAMA Network Open. The study provides one of the first large-scale estimates of age-specific death rates and life expectancy among people with ASD.

Autism research has historically focused on biology, genetics, environmental risk factors, and diagnosis, with less attention to long-term health outcomes, crucial for understanding the natural history of the disorder and for developing intervention programs. The new findings, from researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and the University of Colorado Anschutz, highlight substantial disparities in life expectancy and identify causes of excess mortality that may be preventable.

“Autism is a complex lifelong condition with substantial costs to the US healthcare system,” said Guohua Li, DrPH, MD, professor of Epidemiology at Columbia Mailman School. “Elevated mortality risk in people with ASD has been reported since the late 1980s, but life expectancy for the autistic population remained unknown because of inadequate data on age-specific death rates.”

To examine life expectancy and causes of excess mortality, the researchers analysed data from the Transformed Medicaid Statistical Information System and Children’s Health Insurance Program Statistical Information System. The enhanced Medicaid data include mortality information linked to the National Death Index for beneficiaries in all 50 states and the District of Columbia from 2000 through 2020.

During the 21-year study period, 2 048 046 individuals with ASD were enrolled in Medicaid. Of these, 76 percent were male; 49 percent were non-Hispanic White, 15 percent were non-Hispanic Black, and 17 percent were Hispanic. A total of 18 268 Medicaid beneficiaries with ASD died between 2000 and 2020.

Life expectancy at birth for Medicaid beneficiaries with ASD was 64.9 years –5.6 years shorter than for the overall Medicaid population and 13.8 years shorter than for the U.S. general population. Estimates were broadly similar across sex and racial and ethnic groups, although the gap relative to the general population was greater for women than for men.

Life expectancy among Medicaid beneficiaries with ASD increased by 1.7 years during the study period, from 63.9 years in 2000–2004 to 65.6 years in 2015–2019. However, the gap compared with both the broader Medicaid population and the U.S. general population persisted.

Medicaid beneficiaries with ASD had a 44 percent higher mortality risk than other Medicaid beneficiaries. Excess mortality occurred across most categories of diseases and health conditions, with particularly heightened risk from influenza, malnutrition, pneumonitis, non-transport accidents, drowning, and pneumonia.

The researchers also found that, compared with the general population, autistic women experienced a greater life expectancy deficit than autistic men, largely associated with higher rates of psychiatric comorbidities and related excess mortality.

“Life expectancy for the autistic population enrolled in Medicaid in the United States is about 65 years, which is the same as for the general population in Haiti or Angola,” said Carolyn DiGuiseppi, MD, PhD, professor of epidemiology at Colorado School of Public Health. “This finding is sobering.”

“The good news is that much of the excess mortality among people with ASD is avoidable through improved social support, primary care, and home- and community-based services,” Said Li, who is also professor of anaesthesiology at Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Source: Columbia Mailman School of Public Health

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Pollen Season: New Map of South Africa’s Allergy Hotspots Gives You Time to Prepare

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Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels

Trevor Hill, University of KwaZulu-Natal; Andriantsilavo Hery Isandratana Razafimanantsoa, University of Cape Town; Caryn Upton, University of Cape Town; Dilys Berman, University of Cape Town; Frank Neumann, North-West University; Jemma Finch, University of KwaZulu-Natal; Jonny Peter, University of Cape Town, and Takudzwa Matuvhunye, University of Cape Town

For some South Africans, the beginning of the flower season is met not with the joys of spring but rather with a sniffy nose, itchy eyes and a cacophony of sneezing.

In South Africa, allergic rhinitis (hayfever) affects an estimated 20% to 30% of the population – children and adults. Asthma affects around 20% of children and 10% of adults. Air pollution can worsen asthma and eczema symptoms and cause eczema.

Most people recognise that pollen, despite being invisible to the naked eye, is a dominant airborne allergen driving conditions like hayfever. Sufferers are acutely aware that pollen in the air changes seasonally, depending on what is flowering.

But South Africans still know too little about when pollen seasons begin and end, or how they differ across the country. This is because there’s been very little consistent, long-term pollen monitoring. Without local records showing when different plants release pollen, it’s hard for doctors to identify what is causing a patient’s allergy. People with allergies are also left guessing when to start taking medicines that could prevent their symptoms.

Now, a pioneering scientific initiative is changing that. The South African Pollen Monitoring Network, set up seven years ago, sourced equipment and built research teams in different cities. The network has now produced South Africa’s first five-year pollen calendars for several different natural regions. These calendars show which plants release pollen in each region, when they release it and how pollen levels change during the year.

Previously, pollen was measured in only a few African cities, and researchers used different methods, making it difficult to compare the results. The new network uses the same method to collect pollen from the air at all its sites. However, many pollen grains look so similar that scientists can identify only the plant family, such as grasses, rather than the exact species.

The network covered inland grassland sites in Johannesburg and Bloemfontein, and savanna sites in Pretoria and Kimberley. Its coastal sites represented fynbos in Cape Town, the Indian Ocean coastal belt in Durban and Albany thicket in Gqeberha.

We are medical and environmental researchers who have studied pollen for more than 50 years collectively. Together with MSc candidate Yolanda Makgale, we formed a team that constructed these pollen calendars.

We found that grass was the most common pollen everywhere, Bloemfontein had the highest overall pollen levels, Johannesburg had the most tree pollen, and Kimberley the most grass pollen.

This research is important because these calendars could help doctors diagnose and manage allergies and support warnings about periods of high pollen exposure.

The pollen causing allergies in inland cities

Over five years, South African Pollen Monitoring Network researchers identified 103 types of pollen across seven South African cities. Grass produced the most pollen and was the main cause of pollen allergies. Inland cities had much higher pollen levels than coastal cities, and their grass pollen seasons lasted for more than 200 days a year.

Bloemfontein (grassland biome): highest total amount of pollen recorded over a year, mainly because of its high levels of grass and tree pollen. Grass released pollen for an average of 246 days each year – about eight months.

Kimberley (savanna biome): highest average concentration of grass pollen, with an open, grassy landscape and a grass season lasting, on average, 247 days a year.

Johannesburg (grassland biome): highest average tree pollen, probably due to its large “urban forest” of planted exotic trees.

Pretoria (savanna biome): high tree pollen counts, dominated by the exotic Morus (mulberry) tree, which contributed 25% to the total pollen catch.

Coastal cities

In contrast to the inland cities, coastal cities recorded lower overall pollen loads and shorter grass seasons, often under 100 days a year. This difference is likely due to coastal rainfall washing the pollen out of the atmosphere, combined with strong coastal winds.

Cape Town (fynbos biome): the longest tree pollen season in the country, lasting 297 days a year, starting early in July. The pollen profile is dominated by exotic trees, with Cupressaceae (cypress) accounting for 30% of the five-year average, followed by Myrtaceae (eucalyptus) at 11%, and Pinus (pine) at 9%.

Durban (Indian Ocean coastal belt): low overall pollen catch, with the shortest grass season in the study, lasting just 71 days and starting late in summer.

Gqeberha (Albany thicket biome): lowest overall annual pollen load among all seven cities, alongside the shortest tree (116 days) and grass (92 days) seasons.

Climate change impact on pollen allergies

Between 2019-2021 and 2022-2024, pollen levels fell across most regions. Grass pollen nearly halved, while tree pollen doubled in inland cities. Researchers now need to examine whether rainfall, weather, flowering seasons or changes in land use caused this shift.

Climate change may play a part by changing pollen levels and seasons. It can also increase the risk of “thunderstorm asthma”. During some storms, moisture bursts grass pollen into tiny pieces that winds push towards the ground. When inhaled, they can cause sudden and dangerous asthma attacks.

What this means for allergic patients

For people suffering from hay fever or asthma, calendars tailored to South Africa’s specific regions can act as an early warning system. Knowing exactly when pollen season starts lets patients begin preventive treatments, such as antihistamines or nasal sprays, before their symptoms start.

The new data revealed surprising allergy triggers. For instance, birch tree pollen, a major cause of hay fever in the northern hemisphere, was detected across South Africa where it is an ornamental, non-indigenous tree planted in gardens.

The general public may underestimate the dominant role of exotic trees in driving pollen load in big cities like Cape Town, Johannesburg and Pretoria. This finding should feed into decisions about what to plant.

What needs to happen next

Five years of pollen data show why year-round monitoring matters for public health. Researchers want to extend monitoring into rural areas and include pollen warnings in the national health system. They also hope to use DNA testing to identify allergy-causing plants that look identical under a microscope.

For now, the calendars help South Africans see which pollen is in the air, when levels are highest and when they may need to take precautions.

Funding came from Wellcome Trust (grant number: 311673), Cipla, Twinsaver, UCT Lung Institute Postdoctoral Research Fellow Award, a CSIR Parliamentary Grant, Novartis, University of Cape Town, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Clicks, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, Dr Reddy’s, SA Natural Products, and Zeiss Africa.

Trevor Hill, Professor, Department of Geography, University of KwaZulu-Natal; Andriantsilavo Hery Isandratana Razafimanantsoa, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the UCT Lung Institute, University of Cape Town; Caryn Upton, Medical Research Officer, Division of Allergology and Clinical Immunology, University of Cape Town; Dilys Berman, Lecturer and aerobiologist in the division of Allergology and Clinical Immunology, Department of Medicine and UCT Lung Institute, University of Cape Town; Frank Neumann, Professor of Geology, North-West University; Jemma Finch, Associate Professor of Geography and Palaeoecologist, University of KwaZulu-Natal; Jonny Peter, Associate Professor, Unit Head and also serves as Head of the Division of Allergology and Clinical Immunology at Groote Schuur Hospital, University of Cape Town, and Takudzwa Matuvhunye, Postdoctoral Researcher at the UCT Lung Institute, University of Cape Town

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Women are Turning to Testosterone, but What does the Science Actually Say?

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Ball and stick 3D model of testosterone. Source: Wikimedia CC0

Daniel Kelly, Sheffield Hallam University

A recent BBC report described women posing as men to get hold of testosterone gel, hoping to improve their menopause symptoms, because female testosterone products are not easily available to them. But why is the appetite for this predominantly male hormone exploding and are there risks involved?

Testosterone is usually thought of as the defining male hormone. It is linked to puberty, muscle development and reproductive function. But this overlooks an important biological reality. Women also produce testosterone, and it plays important roles throughout the body.

Although blood concentrations are typically about ten to 15 times lower than in men, testosterone remains biologically active in women.

Women make testosterone in their ovaries and adrenal glands, and the body also makes it by changing other hormones in fat, skin and muscle. Some of this testosterone is then used to make oestradiol, the main form of oestrogen in women of reproductive age.

But testosterone is not simply an oestrogen reservoir. It also acts directly on tissues throughout the body, including the bones, muscles, heart and blood vessels, and the brain. This has led researchers to look more closely at how testosterone may affect women’s health.

Similar to men, testosterone declines gradually across the reproductive lifespan, although patterns vary between individuals. This fall begins well before menopause, and unlike oestrogen, it doesn’t fall sharply at menopause as the ovaries decline.

Measuring how far it’s fallen is its own problem. Female levels are so low that routine blood tests have historically struggled to measure them reliably, making it hard to precisely define “normal” concentrations.

So why are increasing numbers of women interested in testosterone therapy after menopause?

What the evidence says

Because testosterone is known to influence sexual desire, one of its most studied uses in women is for hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) – persistent low sexual desire that causes distress.

A 2019 meta-analysis of 36 randomised trials found that carefully dosed testosterone can improve sexual desire and satisfaction in some postmenopausal women. International clinical guidelines recognise testosterone therapy as an evidence-based treatment for HSDD, the only condition in women for which there is enough clinical evidence to recommend testosterone therapy.

Sexual desire is shaped by relationships, stress, fatigue and mental health as much as by any single hormone. Testosterone is one input among several rather than a master switch.

Beyond sexual desire, high-quality clinical trial evidence in women is largely absent. But this does not necessarily mean testosterone has no broader influence on women’s health.

Randomised trials are the best way to establish whether a treatment causes a particular effect, but they cannot capture everything that happens in everyday medical practice. Patients may have other health problems or take several medicines, making it harder to know whether an improvement is due to testosterone or something else.

Testosterone is not a replacement for standard menopause hormone therapy. When it is prescribed, it is usually alongside oestrogen – and sometimes progesterone. Some women report that even after their conventional HRT (hormone replacement therapy) has been optimised, they still do not feel that their symptoms are fully addressed, and that adding testosterone makes a noticeable difference.

Women and doctors using testosterone in routine menopause care report improvements beyond sexual function. A recent UK study of 510 women at a specialist menopause clinic found that after four months on testosterone gel, women reported improvements in mood, cognitive symptoms and libido. These findings are interesting, but do not prove that the testosterone treatment caused these changes.

Real-world evidence should not replace randomised trials, but neither should the absence of large trials mean that these observations be simply dismissed. Instead, they can help identify effects worth testing in the clinical trials that are still needed.

A market that’s only just catching up

The evidence for using testosterone in women is strongest for sexual desire, but products made specifically for women have been much slower to arrive. In the US, for example, there’s still no approved testosterone product for women.

Of the three major sex hormones produced by the ovaries, oestrogen and progesterone have widely licensed products for women. Testosterone has been much slower to follow, with female-specific products still limited in many countries. This is despite evidence that testosterone can be used safely in women when given at doses designed to keep levels within the physiological female range.

International guidelines have recognised the lack of suitable products for women and called for testosterone treatments designed specifically for them. The issue is now receiving attention from regulators. In September 2026, the US Food and Drug Administration held a public workshop examining evidence gaps and the need for future drug development in this area.

Australia has led the way with Androfeme, a testosterone cream, being formally registered in 2020, specifically for female use. The UK granted it a marketing authorisation in July 2025, but it is not yet routinely available through the NHS.

The workaround has been men’s gel, measuring out a tenth of a sachet by eye. This is a less precise way to deliver a hormone for which the therapeutic dose is so small. If too much is applied, testosterone can rise above the desired range, increasing the likelihood of side-effects, such as acne and increased facial or body hair.

More importantly, evidence on the long-term safety of testosterone in women remains limited, particularly for heart disease, stroke and breast cancer, because trials have generally been short and often excluded women at higher risk of these conditions.

Demand continues to climb despite these uncertainties. NHS prescriptions to women in England rose roughly tenfold between 2015 and 2022, and in the US, testosterone prescribing has almost tripled over the past decade. The need for licensed female-specific testosterone products cannot be ignored, not just to improve access but to allow testosterone in women to be studied with the same scientific rigour it deserves.

Daniel Kelly, Senior Lecturer in Biochemistry, Sheffield Hallam University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Less than a month to go. ONE SMALL SPEEDO. ONE IMPORTANT CAUSE

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Excitement builds ahead of the 2026 Hollard Daredevil Run

The countdown is officially on! There are only a few weeks to go until streets around Mzansi are awash with purple, and the excitement is mounting. Friday 23 October sees the 2026 Hollard Daredevil Run take place at Zoo Lake in Johannesburg and at various locations countrywide. 

This annual initiative, which this year carries the bold tagline “Lekker Balls. Lekker Life”, raises much-needed awareness about prostate and testicular cancers and reinforces the potentially life-saving importance of early detection. Over the last seventeen years, the support from Daredevils across South Africa, and beyond, has been nothing short of incredible. It is also the sense of brotherhood and shared purpose that keeps Daredevils coming back. 

The Hollard Daredevil Run is highly visible, with participants running 5km in a purple speedo, but its real purpose is getting South African men and their families talking about prostate and testicular cancers, understanding their risks and taking action through early detection.

“We know that thousands of men running in purple speedos gets people’s attention. What matters is what we do with that attention,” says Adél Kriel, Hollard South Africa’s Head of Experiential Marketing. “There is bravery in putting on a purple speedo in public, but behind this bold campaign is a very serious message: Know your risks, know your body and don’t put off getting checked. It could save your life.”

The more men who participate, the greater the funds raised for CANSA and the Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) to fund awareness campaigns, Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) screening and patient support. 

The 2026 Hollard Daredevil Run takes place at Zoo Lake in Johannesburg on Friday, 23 October at 15:00, with runs happening at various locations across the country on the same day. Details of run locations around the country will be shared on the Daredevil Run social media platforms.

Purple speedos are being snapped up fast, but there’s still time to secure your entry. Get your colleagues, friends, fellow students and family members to participate in the run as well as raising funds, and start a conversation about men’s health. After all, the Hollard Daredevil Run has always been about much more than the finish line.​

“This October, purple is more than a colour. It’s a conversation starter, but its real impact comes when that conversation extends beyond race day into families, workplaces and communities. The more people who take part, the further that message can reach,” says Kriel. “You don’t have to be a runner. You just have to be willing to show up for this important cause”.

Make a bold decision to make a difference by entering today at https://www.hollard.co.za/daredevilrun. Let’s make this year’s run the most impactful one yet.​

About Hollard  

The Hollard Insurance Group (“Hollard”) is South Africa’s largest privately owned insurance group. Hollard provides short-term, life insurance and investment products to a diverse customer base. Hollard through Hollard International has access to 10 markets across the continent namely South Africa, Botswana, Ghana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.    

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Neurologists Pin Down How Cannabis Causes Anxiety

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Photo by Elsa Olofsson on Unsplash

For the first time, Northwestern scientists have identified a set of neurons that play a role in generating anxiety after exposure to cannabinoid drugs, especially under stressful conditions. Cannabinoids are a class of substances that includes THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis.

In the study, the scientists exposed mice to a threatening odor. Before being exposed to the scent, derived from fox urine, the mice either received a placebo or a synthetic cannabinoid drug.

When they received the drug, the mice froze more often and spent less time investigating the predator door. These anxious behaviours, the scientists found, were linked to the drug’s activation of a small group of cells — known as somatostatin neurons — in the brain’s central amygdala, a region that processes fear and stress.

Importantly, when the scientists genetically silenced these somatostatin neurons, the drugged mice did not avoid the predator scent as much anymore.

“The results of this study could explain why a good trip can turn bad pretty quickly if people consume too much cannabis or the situation they are in turns stressful or scary,” said study senior author Dr Sachin Patel, chair of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.  

The study appears in Nature Communications.

How the study was conducted

Patel and colleagues tested several doses of the synthetic cannabinoid on mice and tracked how much time they spent near the predator odor, and whether they froze or fled from the scent. To simultaneously record brain activity, the team implanted a small microscope into the mice’s brain.

The scientists also conducted brain tissue experiments to analyse how the cannabinoids affected interactions between neurons. They found that the drug weakened the brain’s natural “brake” on the somatostatin neurons, allowing them to become more active.

“Higher doses of cannabinoids and environmental stress worked together to synergistically release the ‘brake’ on the central amygdala, which in turn drove excessive anxiety,” Patel explained.

Why the findings matter

Cannabis use in the US has steadily increased in recent years and so have emergency department visits related to adverse effects from the drug. Previous studies have also found an association between cannabis use and increased risk of anxiety in the long term. What’s more, anxiety and mood disorders are also on the rise globally.

“Understanding how cannabis affects brain function to generate its psychoactive effects could ultimately reveal new ways to counteract negative consequences should they arise in some people,” Patel said. 

Patel also noted that the findings could have implications beyond cannabis. “Suppressing the activity of somatostatin neurons in the central amygdala could represent a final pathway for reducing anxiety symptoms, not just in the context of cannabis side effects,” he explained.

Source: Northwestern University via EurakAlert!

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New Technology Advances Understanding of Eye Pressure and Glaucoma

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For millions of people at risk of glaucoma, healthy eye pressure can mean the difference between preserving vision and losing it. Yet despite decades of research, scientists still do not fully understand what regulates daily changes in eye pressure or how those fluctuations may contribute to glaucoma. A series of three studies led by Christopher Passaglia, USF Health professor and associate chair in the Department of Medical Engineering, is helping fill in those gaps.

Recently published in Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, Passaglia’s latest research, with USF alumna Alexandra Zamitalo serving as lead author, centres on a first-of-its-kind wireless eye-pressure monitoring system developed in his lab. The technology collects continuous measurements in rats, which share daily eye-pressure rhythms similar to those observed in humans.

Using the technology, researchers investigated how the body’s circadian rhythm may help regulate pressure inside the eye. This internal clock helps manage sleep, hormone production and other daily functions, with light serving as an important signal that keeps it synchronized.

No one was continuously measuring eye pressure until we figured out a way. It was then that we started seeing patterns that had largely been invisible before, providing one of the most detailed looks yet at the biological mechanisms that control eye pressure. This could eventually help researchers develop new approaches for understanding and treating glaucoma.

Christopher Passaglia
USF Professor

Eye Pressure and the Body’s Circadian Rhythm

Most people think of eye pressure as a single number measured during an annual eye exam. But Passaglia notes that eye pressure constantly changes and follows a daily pattern linked to the body’s circadian rhythm.

“Researchers have known for years that eye pressure rises and falls over 24 hours,” Passaglia said. “The problem is that most measurements are taken when patients are awake and sitting in a doctor’s office. What happens while a person is sleeping is rarely captured.”

Passaglia’s monitoring device uses a miniature pressure sensor connected to the rat’s eye through a tiny tube, collecting data while the animals go about their normal activities. Unlike a traditional eye exam, which provides only a snapshot in time, the technology captures pressure changes throughout the day and night.

The measurements showed that eye pressure follows a daily rhythm, rising at night to levels that, if sustained continuously, are associated with glaucoma. Yet the animals do not develop the disease for reasons researchers do not yet fully understand. Researchers also found that the nighttime increase is driven by neural signals traveling from the brain to the eye. That suggests pressure is connected to the biological timing system that coordinates functions throughout the body, rather than being regulated solely within the eye.

“If you think about what the brain does, it’s constantly coordinating activities throughout the body,” Passaglia said. “What we’re showing is that eye pressure appears to be another one of those processes under that kind of control.”

Because elevated eye pressure is a major risk factor for glaucoma, understanding what drives those fluctuations could help researchers determine why some people develop the disease and how it progresses over time.

The Surprising Influence of Light

To test whether circadian rhythms influence eye pressure, researchers disrupted the animals’ normal light-dark cycle by exposing them to constant light.

We were actually surprised by how strong the effect was,” Passaglia said. “When we exposed them to constant light, the rhythm disappeared and mean pressure started climbing. That was a much stronger effect than we expected.”

The results suggest light may play a larger role in regulating eye pressure than researchers previously understood. While the studies were conducted in rats and do not suggest that everyday exposure to artificial light causes glaucoma, they provide further evidence that the eye is closely connected to the body’s internal clock and raises new questions about how disrupted light cycles may affect long-term eye health.

Pathway for Future Glaucoma Research

While the findings are not expected to immediately change how glaucoma is treated, identifying the neural pathways, chemical messengers and eye tissues involved in regulating eye pressure gives researchers a clearer picture of how the system works from the brain to the eye.

By revealing when and how circadian signals influence eye pressure, the research may help explain why some therapies work differently at different times of day and whether treatment timing could influence effectiveness.

“What we’re really trying to understand is the fundamental biology,” Passaglia said. “Once you understand the mechanism, then you can start thinking about better ways to intervene.”

Original written by Joey Garcia, University Communications and Marketing 

Source: University of South Florida

Categories : Obstetrics & GynaecologyTags : Leave a comment

New Approach to Achieve Lasting Cure for Persistent Bacterial Vaginosis

On By ModernMedia
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya: https://www.pexels.com/photo/bottle-with-pills-11361813/

Researchers and clinicians from Monash University and Bayside Health’s Melbourne Sexual Health Centre are trialling new combinations of antibiotics to treat persistent bacterial vaginosis (BV), following their landmark discovery that the condition is sexually transmissible.

Bacterial vaginosis is the most common vaginal condition among women of reproductive age and is caused by a loss of healthy vaginal bacteria and an overgrowth of other bacteria which upsets the natural balance of the vaginal microbiome.

Researchers from Monash University and Bayside Health’s Melbourne Sexual Health Centre published a landmark study in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2025, showing treating male partners reduces BV recurrence in women by more than 60 per cent.

The discovery reshaped international thinking on the condition and won this year’s Australian Infectious Diseases Research Centre Eureka Prize for Infectious Diseases Research.

Their latest study, published in The Lancet Obstetrics, Gynaecology & Women’s Health, builds on the original finding to reveal why some women continue to experience a repeat diagnosis of BV even when their male partners are treated concurrently, identifying two distinct pathways to repeat infection: re-infection and persistence of BV-bacteria.

Lead author Dr Lenka Vodstrcil, a Senior Research Fellow at Monash University and Bayside Health’s Melbourne Sexual Health Centre, said this has enabled them to work on tailoring treatments that will improve cure rates for millions of women worldwide.

“While partner treatment improves cure for most women in a monogamous relationship, there are some women who have persistent BV-bacteria that survive initial therapy before couples resume sex after treatment,” Dr Vodstrcil said.

“By identifying this early, we can intervene with more intensive female-focused treatments before the infection takes hold again.”

Senior author Vice-Chancellor’s Distinguished Professor Catriona Bradshaw, clinician scientist and Head of Research Translation and Mentorship at Monash University and Bayside Health’s Melbourne Sexual Health Centre, said the new approaches to treatment that are being trialed by her team include longer duration and new combinations of antibiotics designed to eradicate persistent BV-causing bacteria.

“Using partner-treatment to mitigate re-infection and more intensive strategies that target persistence of BV-bacteria, we hope to create more effective treatment approaches that can be tailored to an individual and achieve higher levels of cure for all women,” Professor Bradshaw said.

Read the research paper: https://doi.org/10.1016/S3050-5038(26)00259-1

Source: Monash University