Blood

In what sounds like sci-fi, transfusions of youthful blood can improve the health of older people. A new study has found that an existing arthritis drug can effectively rejuvenate blood stem cells, mimicking the benefits of young blood transfusions.

Skin-applied microneedle patches are already used to painlessly deliver medication and detect chemicals in a patient's bloodstream. A new one, however, reportedly stops wounds from bleeding much more effectively than traditional bandages.

Scientists believe they have discovered how a common disease called shingles can increase a person's risk of stroke. The research reveals how viral infections can be reawakened after lying dormant for years and cause health issues beyond acute disease.

When glassfrogs sleep, they turn their bodies transparent in order to evade predators. Scientists have now discovered that they do so by moving their red blood cells into their liver – and the finding could have implications for human medicine.

Engineers have developed an electronic patch capable of monitoring biomolecules in deep tissue, which they say can be used to detect a range of life-threatening conditions, including organ dysfunction and malignant cancers.

Data from a Phase 1/2 trial has revealed an experimental immunotherapy led to successful response rates in 73% of patients suffering multiple myeloma, a deadly form of blood cancer. An application to the FDA has been filed to bring the drug to market.

Researchers in the United Kingdom have discovered a blood biomarker that signals the presence of myocarditis. It's hoped the discovery will lead to a rapid blood test to catch this deadly and difficult-to-diagnose inflammatory heart condition.

Researchers in the UK have developed first-of-a-kind bone marrow “organoids” in the lab that bear the key features of the real thing and which the team hopes can lead to a new breed of bespoke treatments for cancer.

A study has shed light on the mystery of how high blood glucose leads to type 2 diabetes. The discovery reveals glucose metabolites can damage insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells, and disrupting this process could offer a way to treat the disease.

Researchers are proposing a treatment for stroke that involves infusing a blood protein to protect the brain from damage. Early tests in mice indicate if the treatment is given within hours of a stroke occurring it could improve long-term outcomes.

For the first time, human patients have received transfusions of blood cells that were grown from stem cells in a lab. A clinical trial investigating the safety of the procedure is currently underway, which could revolutionize blood transfusions.

Drugs given to the whole body can be too much of a shotgun approach, damaging cells that aren’t meant to be targeted. A new study has found that cloaking drugs inside red blood cells could help guide powerful but toxic antibiotics to target bacteria.