A new study shows how neurochemicals affect fMRI readings
The brain is an incredibly complex and active organ that uses electricity and chemicals to transmit and receive signals between its sub-regions.
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The brain is an incredibly complex and active organ that uses electricity and chemicals to transmit and receive signals between its sub-regions.
3 hours ago
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People at risk should be tested for atrial fibrillation every time they attend a health appointment, according to results of the AFFECT-EU project, which is holding its final event today in Brussels, Belgium. Patients at ...
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According to a new study led by investigators at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian, for younger Black patients living in rural parts of the Southeastern United States, peer coaching is more effective than traditional ...
5 hours ago
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We have all found ourselves in a place we would rather not be, a school reunion, the never-ending work meeting or a distant relative's wedding reception. In such situations, it is often a good option to make the best of it. ...
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A blood test could help identify those at highest risk of dying from heart failure, new research has found. The study found that patients with highest levels of a protein called neuropeptide Y (NPY) were 50% more likely to ...
8 hours ago
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An "anti-hunger" molecule produced after vigorous exercise is responsible for the moderate weight loss caused by the diabetes medication metformin, according to a new study in mice and humans. The molecule, lac-phe, was discovered ...
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Short-term very low calorie diets are safe for teenagers living with moderate to severe obesity when closely monitored by an experienced dietitian, says new research to be presented at the European Congress on Obesity (ECO ...
Mar 16, 2024
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Doctors may someday be able to use bodily fluids to noninvasively detect breast cancer in patients earlier than is possible now.
Mar 16, 2024
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Dengue, caused by the virus transmitted by the bite of the female Aedes aegypti mosquito and, to a lesser extent, the Aedes albopictus mosquito, is an acute illness characterized mainly by high fever, body aches, and redness ...
Mar 16, 2024
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A blood test for colon cancer performed well in a study published Wednesday, offering a new kind of screening for a leading cause of cancer deaths.
Mar 16, 2024
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Blood is a specialized bodily fluid that delivers necessary substances to the body's cells — such as nutrients and oxygen — and transports waste products away from those same cells.
In vertebrates, it is composed of blood cells suspended in a liquid called blood plasma. Plasma, which comprises 55% of blood fluid, is mostly water (90% by volume), and contains dissolved proteins, glucose, mineral ions, hormones, carbon dioxide (plasma being the main medium for excretory product transportation), platelets and blood cells themselves. The blood cells present in blood are mainly red blood cells (also called RBCs or erythrocytes) and white blood cells, including leukocytes and platelets. The most abundant cells in vertebrate blood are red blood cells. These contain hemoglobin, an iron-containing protein, which facilitates transportation of oxygen by reversibly binding to this respiratory gas and greatly increasing its solubility in blood. In contrast, carbon dioxide is almost entirely transported extracellularly dissolved in plasma as bicarbonate ion.
Vertebrate blood is bright-red when its hemoglobin is oxygenated. Some animals, such as crustaceans and mollusks, use hemocyanin to carry oxygen, instead of hemoglobin. Insects and some molluscs use a fluid called hemolymph instead of blood, the difference being that hemolymph is not contained in a closed circulatory system. In most insects, this "blood" does not contain oxygen-carrying molecules such as hemoglobin because their bodies are small enough for their tracheal system to suffice for supplying oxygen.
Jawed vertebrates have an adaptive immune system, based largely on white blood cells. White blood cells help to resist infections and parasites. Platelets are important in the clotting of blood. Arthropods, using hemolymph, have hemocytes as part of their immune system.
Blood is circulated around the body through blood vessels by the pumping action of the heart. In animals having lungs, arterial blood carries oxygen from inhaled air to the tissues of the body, and venous blood carries carbon dioxide, a waste product of metabolism produced by cells, from the tissues to the lungs to be exhaled.
Medical terms related to blood often begin with hemo- or hemato- (also spelled haemo- and haemato-) from the Ancient Greek word αἶμα (haima) for "blood". In terms of anatomy and histology, blood is considered a specialized form of connective tissue, given its origin in the bones and the presence of potential molecular fibers in the form of fibrinogen.
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA