Science

Can the blind “see” with their ears? Hebrew University of Jerusalem brain scientists have tapped onto the visual cortex of people suffering from congenital blindness by using sensory substitution devices – making it possible for them to “see” and even describe objects.

Researchers found that using traditional fertility treatments alongside Chinese medicine can improve a woman's chances to conceive. 65.5 percent of the women who had both TCM and IUI treatments were later able to conceive, compared to 39.9 percent of women who had IUI treatment only.

Tel Aviv University researchers found that eating cake for breakfast could actually help you lose weight. In the study, obese participants who ate dessert for breakfast were better able to stick to their diet than participants who ate a low-carb, low-calorie breakfast.

Soroka hospital and Ben Gurion University in Israel are developing a unique method to detect various types of cancer through a simple blood test. Researchers say that in a first trial conducted recently, they succeeded in detecting cancer in almost 90 percent of cancer patients tested.

Researchers at the Israel Institute of Technology discovered that stress during pregnancy could be good for your child. They found that rats born to mothers who were stressed during their pregnancy showed stronger abilities to cope with stressful situations in maturity.

Easy Check, a new device under development in Israel, could allow diabetics to measure the glucose levels in their body simply by sampling their breath. Easy Check is a non-invasive device that can indicate the patient’s glucose levels by measuring the amount of acetone in the breath.

Israeli scientists created Nanocapsules loaded with health-promoting nutrients that protect the sensitive nutrients from degradation in liquids. These nanocapsules can potentially be used by the pharmaceutical industry to protect medicines in the stomach and their release in the intestines.

An Israeli study shows that blogs have therapeutic value for teenagers and can reduce their social anxiety or stress. The blog's public nature and its ability to allow feedback make it even more effective then a private diary, researchers say.

A new study shows that some sensitivities in children are a precursor to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in adulthood. According to the study, children who are overly sensitive to touch or smell may adopt ritualistic behaviours as a mechanism to regain a sense of control, which is symptomatic of adults who suffer from the disorder.

The Israeli biotechnology company BrainStorm announced successful results in its clinical trial for a drug against ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) - a fatal neurodegenerative disease also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

Scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel are developing a vaccine that can potentially help treat autoimmune diseases, such as Rheumatoid Arthritis and Chrohn’s disease. The vaccine has not yet been tested on humans.

Research carried out at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has provided the first proof of molecular risk factors leading to type 2 diabetes, providing an “early warning” sign that could lead to new approaches to treating this and other human disease conditions.

For the first time in the world researchers at the Technion Institute of Technology and Rambam Medical Center in Haifa in Israel created new blood vessels using embryonic stem cells. The researchers are hoping to achieve effective treatment of heart disease in the future.

The American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the marketing of a device that detects life-threatening cerebral hemorrhages without the need for CT Scans. The device will therefore prevent unnecessary radiation emitted by the scans.

A new research lead by Prof. Eitan Yaniv, head of the nose and sinus institute at the otolaryngology department at Beilinson Hospital in Israel, suggests that the communication style of a patient, which is a personal characteristic, influences the success of surgery.