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DNA found freely circulating in the blood is increasingly important clinically. Now a Johns Hopkins study has found that so-called ‘cell free DNA’ may be helpful in identifying risk for frailty and dementia in older folks. Clinician and researcher Lolita …

Can DNA in the blood indicate someone’s risk for frailty and dementia? Elizabeth Tracey reports Read more »

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Did you know the cells in your body have a housekeeping function called autophagy? Research by Sarven Sabunciyan and colleagues at Johns Hopkins has shown that aberrant messenger RNAs, or mRNAs, in pregnancy may alter this pathway and lead to …

How are messenger RNAs involved with disorders like depression? Elizabeth Tracey reports Read more »

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Examining the contents of small membrane bound sacs known as vesicles in maternal blood may help predict the development of postpartum depression after pregnancy, a Johns Hopkins study led by Sarven Sabunciyan has found. And since the condition develops in …

Can postpartum depression be predicted? Elizabeth Tracey reports Read more »

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Extracellular vesicles, or small balloon like structures, are released from both maternal and fetal cells during pregnancy, where they serve a communication function between mom and baby. Sarven Sabunciyan and colleagues at Johns Hopkins have also found they’re associated with …

Variations in levels of messenger RNA may help predict postpartum depression, Elizabeth Tracey reports Read more »

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During pregnancy cells from the mom’s side of the placenta communicate with those of the baby, and from baby to mom, using tiny structures known as vesicles. Now a Johns Hopkins team, including researcher Sarven Sabunciyan, has found that measurable …

Disruptions in cellular mother-baby communication during pregnancy may result in a host of ills, Elizabeth Tracey reports Read more »

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There’s a lot of communication going on between mom and baby during pregnancy, and some of that is cellular. Sarven Sabunciyan and colleagues at Johns Hopkins have been looking at one specific form of communication that’s disrupted in postpartum depression. …

Can a process of cellular communication between mom and baby during pregnancy underlie postpartum depression? Elizabeth Tracey reports Read more »

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Giving Covid vaccines to adults aged 75 and older has shown that while they do respond with antibodies, that response lasts a much shorter time than in younger people. Johns Hopkins geriatrics expert Sean Leng says the study also found …

Older men don’t respond as well to vaccination as older women, Elizabeth Tracey reports Read more »