Health Lab Articles

purple and blue microscopic cancer cells with lab note badge on bottom right in yellow and navy
Health Lab

Pumping iron: inhibition of key pathway promotes iron-dependent cell death in pancreatic cancer cells

Cell culture study maps mechanisms underlying a new potential strategy for killing pancreatic cancer cells through a type of cell death known as ferroptosis.
white pills medicine bar graph
Health Lab

First-time opioid prescriptions got shorter, less potent after CDC guidelines

Doctors prescribed smaller and shorter courses of opioid pain medications like Oxycontin, Oxycodone, Vicodin after the 2016 CDC opioid prescribing guidelines.
drawing of pills in blue ink with lab note written on bottom right in yellow and navy blue
Health Lab

A risky combination of medicines gets riskier when a patient’s prescriptions come from two doctors

Multiple prescribers means higher overdose risk in patients taking a benzodiazepine (such as Xanax, Valium or Restoril) and an opioid (such as Vicodin, Norco or Percocet) at the same time
Image of colitis on black background
Health Lab

Tofacitinib for severe ulcerative colitis: Will it prevent colectomies?

A new Michigan Medicine study shows promising results in use of tofacitinib in treatment of acute severe ulcerative colitis (ASUC) to reduce colectomy.
Michael Asher's prosthetic leg with a black car with the license plate "I Lived" in the background
Health Lab

Michael’s Michigan Answer: A prosthetic leg built for speed

After losing half of his leg in a car accident in 2016, Michael was determined to get back to normal - and to get back to car racing.
Health Lab

How can nursing homes protect residents from infection? Follow the research

Nursing home residents were hit hard by COVID-19, but other infections threaten their health too including superbugs known as MDROs, and urinary tract infections.
figure walking away in red circle and tons ahead in green circles
Health Lab

What the Delta variant means for COVID-19 spread and vaccines

The Delta variant of COVID-19 is more transmissible and can cause breakthrough infections even in vaccinated people, but what does it mean practically for the vaccinated and unvaccinated, the immunocompromised and kids?
Meredith smiles while wearing her scuba gear
Health Lab

Meredith’s Michigan Answer: Getting back to her greatest passion

For 53-year-old Meredith Hoag, scuba diving was a source of pure joy. But over the last decade or so, Meredith began experiencing bone loss in her spine and later injured her back. Luckily, she knew just who to turn to.
Man sitting on sidewalk among green trees holding his hurt ankle
Health Lab

Achilles injuries skyrocket as America returns to normal. Here’s how to handle them

Treating them early makes a huge difference.
senior couple on couch with doctor on laptop
Health Lab

What does the future hold for telehealth? New report gives hints

Telehealth including video visits, e-Visits and other telemedicine have ramped up rapidly during the pandemic. New data could shape future use.
moving heart in red blue and dark blue and purple
Health Lab

Trial to use stem cells in baby hearts

Researchers study stem cells’ potential to preserve heart function and delay heart transplants for children with complex congenital heart disease.
doctor and researchers in lab coat and white coat in lab looking at syringe injection
Health Lab

Researchers uncover way to harness the power of immunotherapy for advanced prostate cancer

A protein called PIKfyve impacts multiple processes involved in metabolism and cell death; blocking it is key to making immunotherapy work in prostate cancer.
lungs drawn in blue ink with lab note written on bottom right with yellow background and blue text
Health Lab

Potential biomarker found for lung disease in scleroderma patients

The finding will indicate how aggressively physicians should treat patients with the associated condition.
senior woman climbs stairs and holds railing
Health Lab

The pandemic may have increased older adults’ fall risk

Falls are a major cause of injury to older adults but the pandemic led to a drop in physical condition and increase in fear of falling that could increase risk of injury.
teenager cupboard drawer gun with picture in yellow and black
Health Lab

More American parents of teens are purchasing firearms during the pandemic

Gun violence is the leading cause of death for high school aged teens in America, but more parents of teens, including teens with depression, are buying guns during the pandemic. Public health officials stress the importance of safely securing firearms in