Health

The International Society of Blood Transfusion (ISBT) has recognized a new blood group system called KANNO, first identified by scientists in Japan.

The so-called supercentenarians who reach or live beyond their 110th birthdays have an abnormally large amount of special immune cells in their blood that could contribute to their longevity, Japanese researchers said.

Nobel Prize winner Koichi Tanaka says the predictive blood test for Alzheimer’s disease he and colleagues spent almost a decade developing is a double-edged sword. Without medications to stave off the memory-robbing condition, identifying those at risk will do nothing to ease the dementia burden and may fuel anxiety. But if used to identify the best patients to enroll in drug studies, the minimally invasive exam could speed the development of therapies for the 152 million people predicted to develop the illness by 2050.

A Tokyo-based bio-venture company has developed a simple and effective test for cancer screening that requires just a drop of the subject's urine and a bunch of roundworms known as nematodes.

Scientists have devised a simple test to evaluate cognitive functions of elderly people to determine signs of early onset of dementia.

Time to fill up on the seaweed. Whether your taste leans toward “wakame” or kelp, new research indicates eating it more often could reduce your chances of developing ischemic heart disease, such as a myocardial infarction.

Biogen Inc revived plans on Tuesday to seek U.S. approval for Alzheimer's treatment aducanumab, surprising investors and saying data from more patients in two discontinued studies showed the drug reduced the decline of patients suffering from the disease.

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry will begin a model project this fiscal year to test the use of advanced technologies at facilities that provide assistance to people with disabilities.

NEC Corp. said Thursday that it will experiment with using fingerprint recognition technology to promote vaccination among infants in developing nations.

Japan's national medical insurance system was given the go-ahead on Wednesday to cover leukemia treatment using expensive Kymriah from Swiss drugmaker Novartis.