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FRIDAY, March 26, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- When people die some cells in their brains go on for hours, even getting more active and growing to gargantuan proportions, new research shows.Awareness of this activity, spurred on by "zombie genes," could affect research into diseases that affect the brain.For the study, researchers analyzed gene expression using fresh brain tissue collected during routine surgery and found that, in some cells, gene expression increased after death. The investigators observed that inflammatory glial cells grew and sprouted long arm-like appendages for many hours after death."Most studies assume that everything in the brain stops when the heart stops beating, but this is not so," said corresponding author Dr. Jeffrey Loeb. He is head of neurology and...

FRIDAY, March 26, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Using cellphones to track patients' painkiller use, a new study found more than 60% of opioid painkillers prescribed to surgical patients after their procedures went unused.That has implications for the ongoing epidemic of opioid misuse in the United States, where unused medications can be diverted to others. Giving surgical patients only the amount of pills they need could help curb the problem.In the new study, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine used an automated text messaging system that regularly checked in with more than 900 orthopedic or urologic procedure patients to ask about their pain and use of opioids prescribed to control their pain. The patients had common procedures, including knee...

FRIDAY, March 26, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- The brain may play a role in so-called broken heart syndrome, a new study suggests.Formally known as Takotsubo syndrome (TTS), it's a temporary -- but potentially deadly -- heart condition brought on by stressful situations and emotions.In this study, published March 25 in the European Heart Journal, researchers wanted to find out if increased stress-associated metabolic activity in the brain could increase the risk of the syndrome, so they analyzed brain imaging scans from 41 people who subsequently developed the syndrome and 63 who did not.The scans were conducted in the patients for other medical reasons."Areas of the brain that have higher metabolic activity tend to be in greater use. Hence, higher activity in the stress-associated...

FRIDAY, March 26, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Here's a silver lining to having to strap a mask across your face when you go out in public: That mask may also help guard against severe spring allergies, an expert says.Many patients with spring allergies are doing well this season because they're spending more time indoors and wearing a mask when they go outside, said Dr. Do-Yeon Cho, an associate professor of otolaryngology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham."A study that came out in 2020 showed that allergic rhinitis [hay fever] symptoms among nurses had been significantly reduced with face mask usage during the COVID-19 pandemic," Cho said in a university news release.Any type of face covering can significantly reduce the pollens and allergens that may enter your nose and mouth,...