News by Subject Medicine & Health

One in five young people have fatty liver disease (steatosis), with one in 40 having already developed liver scarring (fibrosis), research published today has found. The study, published in The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology, is the first to attempt to determine the prevalence of fatty liver disease and fibrosis in young healthy adults in the UK.

Many liver cancer tumors contain a highly diverse set of cells, a phenomenon known as intra-tumor heterogeneity that can significantly affect the rate at which the cancer grows, Mount Sinai researchers report. The immune system's contribution to this heterogeneity can have major clinical implications.

Tiny solutions are being sought for big liver problems by a scientist at McGovern Medical School at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth).

For the first time, scientists have been able to observe people developing Type 2 diabetes - and confirmed that fat over-spills from the liver into the pancreas, triggering the chronic condition.

Technique developed at Human Genome and Stem Cell Research Center, funded by FAPESP and hosted by the University of São Paulo, produced hepatic tissue in the laboratory in only 90 days and could become an alternative to organ transplantation in future.

A UMass Amherst study showed that environmentally relevant exposure to polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE), a brominated flame retardant, through the umbilical cord and breast milk permanently changed liver metabolism in rats.

Edith Cowan University researchers have found that a chronic disease affecting up to 80 per cent of overweight people may be causing an iron deficiency that simply leaves them too tired to get off the couch.