Hepatitis - an inflammatory disease of the liver is caused due to viral infection. In 2015, it led to nearly 1.34 million deaths worldwide (almost equivalent to that caused by tuberculosis); most of the viral hepatitis deaths being due to chronic liver disease/primary liver cancer (mortality due to cirrhosis - 720,000; hepatocellular carcinoma - 470,000). Over time, mortality due to viral hepatitis is yet on a rise.

People who take simple steps to keep their heart healthy in young adulthood, such as exercising, eating a healthy diet and controlling blood pressure and cholesterol, may keep their brain from shrinking decades later. People who take care of their heart health in young adulthood may have larger brains in middle-age, compared to people who do not take care of their heart health, according to a study published recently in the online issue of Neurology.

  Modest weight gains – even among those who aren’t overweight – can cause dangerous changes to the heart, but small amounts of weight loss can improve the condition, new research from UT Southwestern Medical Center cardiologists shows.

A new high-precision feeding system for lab mice reinforces the idea that the time of day food is eaten is more critical to weight loss than the amount of calories ingested.

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences and UPMC have uncovered the molecular mechanism underlying corticosteroid resistance in severe asthma. The new findings have important clinical implications, suggesting that corticosteroids, the main treatment for asthma, may worsen the disease in this group of patients. Research was published recently in the journal JCI Insight.

People who survive a major heart attack often do better in the years afterward if they’re mildly obese, a study by UT Southwestern Medical Center cardiologists showed.