Physicians from Inserm Unit 979 “Wave Physics for Medicine” at the ESPCI Paris together with clinician researchers from the neonatal intensive care unit of Robert-Debré AP-HP pediatric hospital and Inserm Unit 1141 have just made a scientific and medical breakthrough: the non-invasive imaging of brain activity in newborns using ultrasound. This will open up new avenues for bedside neurological diagnosis in full-term and premature babies. The details of their...
A research team in psychiatry at CEA-Neurospin, together with the Mondor Institute of Biomedical Research (INSERM) and the Henri-Mondor (AP-HP) university hospitals, has shown that a genetic variant associated with several psychiatric conditions alters a prefrontal-limbic network, which may increase the risk of developing schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. The results of this study were published online on October 2, 2017 in Journal of Neuroscience.
The French National Institute for Health and Medical Research (Inserm) and the Directorate of Research, Studies, Evaluation and Statistics (DREES) have published the preliminary results of the French National Perinatal Survey 2016. This report, based on a sample of births representing all births in France for the year 2016, presents the changes in the main perinatal indicators of health, medical practices and risk factors. It also describes the organization...
Space is an extraordinary laboratory for medicine and medical research on Earth. That is why Inserm and the CNES have been working together for more than a year[1] to accelerate research progress to improve the health of all of us. The presence of Thomas Pesquet, French astronaut from the European Space Agency (ESA), on board the International Space Station (ISS) for 6 months gave rise to many experiments, the...
The 11th edition of National "Dys" Day will be held on Tuesday, October 10, 2017. Created by the Fédération Française des DYS, it mobilizes parents who are members of associations together with professionals from across France. The various learning disabilities that begin with "dys", and which are now better understood by the general public, affect around 6 million people in France [1](METTRE CHIFFRE). An event is held in Paris...
Adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) is a gene whose mutations are associated with a rare, hereditary form of colorectal cancer known as familial adenomatous polyposis. Research led by scientists at the Institut Pasteur and Inserm have recently demonstrated that mutations to this gene do not only lead to the emergence of colon polyps; they also harm the immune system, leaving it unable to tackle inflammation of the colonic mucosa. This...
On Monday, October 2, three Americans, Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young, were awarded the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their research on the control of circadian rhythms.
An epidemiological study carried out by Inserm on families from the EDEN cohort (500 boys born between 2003 and 2006 and their mothers) shows that exposure during pregnancy to certain phenols and phthalates is associated with behavioral problems in boys between 3 and 5 years of age. The most worrying compounds in this respect are bisphenol A, triclosan and dibutyl phthalate (DBP).
Associated with an aging population and the development of metabolic syndrome, atherosclerosis is a leading cause of death worldwide. Researchers from Inserm Unit 970, the "Paris Cardiovascular Research Center" (Inserm/Université Paris Descartes), have succeeded in revealing the mechanisms underlying the formation of atherosclerotic plaques. In particular, they have discovered the protective role of autophagy, a mechanism for cleaning and recycling cell components, in the cells that line the inner...
A team of researchers from CEA, Inserm, and the Paris-Sud and Paris Diderot universities has shown that exposure to low doses of irradiation (0.02 Gy) leads of a loss of hematopoietic stem cell[1] (HSC) function. The team has also shown that irradiation at this low dose facilitates efficient bone marrow transplantation without myeloablation[2]. These results, published in Cell Reports on September 26, 2017, show both the positive and negative...