Category: Science and Health

A new COVID-19 variant called XBB.1.16 (or, unofficially, Arcturus) seems to be spreading faster than other recent variants but doesn’t seem to cause more severe illness, according to initial studies. The variant has garnered attention from both the media and the World Health Organization (WHO) after seemingly sparking a spike in cases in India in […]

A protein associated with deadly liver cancer may hold the key to its treatment, according to a new study out of the University of California San Diego.  Activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4) is a protein previously associated with advanced liver cancer, per the peer-reviewed study published in the Journal of Hepatology. In healthy cells, ATF4 […]

Israel’s Enlivex Therapeutics announced a clinical collaboration with China’s BeiGene to evaluate the safety and efficacy of combining macrophage reprogramming and an anti-PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitor to improve the treatment of patients with advanced-stage solid tumors. Enlivex’s Allocetra is based on technology discovered by Hadassah-University Medical Center’s Prof. Dror Mevorah. It is designed to reprogram […]

A mechanism in the brain tries to protect itself from addiction if the person was exposed to childhood abuse, a new study has found. The peer-reviewed study, published in Molecular Psychiatry, has found that the brain can provide high levels of a cannabinoid substance to protect individuals from developing addiction. Previous research has shown that […]

Research has long shown that being overweight can significantly shorten lifespan — now new findings indicate that shedding pounds over a certain age can result in the same outcome.  The study, published in the peer-reviewed journal JAMA Network, found those who lost weight over the age of 65 were a third more likely to die within […]

Israeli celebrity model and influencer Adele Besapov recently revealed that she is recovering from cancer and underwent surgery to remove a thyroid tumor. Bespov shared photos from the hospital on Instagram and told her followers about the moments of terror after she was given the diagnosis, as well as how she only discovered her cancer […]

Keto, intermittent fasting, eating only potatoes and eggs, not eating any potatoes and eggs, no carbohydrates or the points method – weight loss diets are part of life for more than half of the population in the Western world. Most of us want to look shapely and are willing to make an effort for it. […]

On today’s daf, we read about the burial of the biblical patriarch Jacob in the Cave of Machpelah. As with the funerals of prominent people to this day, Jacob’s burial was attended by leaders who would have been the equivalent in stature to modern heads of state.   The Gemara describes the scene: They all came […]

For millennia, people have suspected a full Moon in the sky to cause mysterious changes in people. Popular culture and medical lore have long postulated a connection between a full Moon and exacerbations of psychiatric disorders. The word “lunatic” comes from the Latin luna – which means “moon.” Aristotle and the Roman philosopher Pliny the […]

Rachel Kafri, 102, received a new lease on life at the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya after becoming the patient thought to be the oldest person to ever receive a cardiac pacemaker. This medical device sends electrical pulses to help the heart beat at a normal rate and rhythm. Kafri, who was a neighbor of […]