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Long-term use of melatonin supplements, often used to promote sleep and address insomnia, was associated with a higher risk of heart failure diagnosis. Image credit: Gemini AI.

Long-Term Use of Melatonin Associated with Negative Health Effects

Nov 4, 2025 by News Staff

A review of five years of health records for more than 130,000 adults with insomnia who had used melatonin for at least a year found they were more likely...

Consuming high-flavanol foods during sedentary periods may be used alone or in combination with other strategies (e.g. breaking up sitting) to reduce the impact of inactivity on the vascular system. Image credit: Daniele et al., doi: 10.1113/JP289038.

Study: Flavanol-Rich Foods Protect Vascular Health in Men from Harmful Effects of Prolonged Sitting

Nov 3, 2025 by News Staff

Prolonged sitting temporarily impairs vascular function and blood pressure. Dietary strategies during sitting may ameliorate or aggravate the effects of...

Cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum) seeds. Image credit: Karyna Panchenko.

Cardamom Seed Extract Can Enhance Production of Antiviral Proteins, Study Says

Oct 14, 2025 by News Staff

Cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum) seed extract as well as its main bioactive ingredient, 1,8-cineole, have the potential to act as a beneficial antiviral...

Kiwifruits, rye bread and high mineral water, psyllium supplements, certain probiotic strains and magnesium oxide supplements are recommended to improve specific constipation outcomes. Image credit: Aziz3625.

Kiwifruits, Rye Bread and High Mineral-Content Water Could Help Alleviate Chronic Constipation

Oct 13, 2025 by News Staff

That’s according to the first ever evidence-based dietary guidelines for adults with chronic constipation. Published in the Journal of Human Nutrition...

The food-based Nordic Nutrition Recommendations 2023 also take the environmental impact of diet into account as measured by greenhouse gas emissions, land use, water use, and nitrogen and phosphorus utilization. Image credit: Serp Pae.

Nordic Nutrition Recommendations Associated with Longer Life

Sep 30, 2025 by News Staff

The Nordic Nutrition Recommendations 2023 emphasizes reducing meat consumption and increasing consumption of vegetables, fruits and berries, cereals, nuts,...

The daily consumption of mango for 24 weeks improved the glycemic control, insulin sensitivity, and body composition in adults with prediabetes, which supports the potential of mango as a practical dietary intervention for metabolic health. Image credit: Mohan Nannapaneni.

Daily Mango Can Improve Blood Glucose Indices, Body Composition in Individuals with Prediabetes

Sep 29, 2025 by News Staff

In a new study, published in the journal Foods, daily consumption of mango (Mangifera indica) for 24 weeks improved both short- and long-term blood glucose...

White matter degenerating microglia are a novel therapeutic target to potentially reduce the impact of white matter injury and myelin loss on the progression of cognitive impairment. Image credit: Miroslaw Miras.

Researchers Develop Self-Administered Digital Test for Diagnosing Alzheimer’s Disease

Sep 15, 2025 by News Staff

A proof-of-concept study by a team of Lund University scientists shows that their brief, self-administered digital cognitive test — named BioCog...

Sleep is known to promote tissue growth and regulate metabolism, partly by enhancing growth hormone (GH) release, but the underlying circuit mechanism is unknown. Ding et al. demonstrate how GH release, which is enhanced during both rapid eye movement (REM) and non-REM (NREM) sleep, is regulated by sleep-wake-dependent activity of distinct hypothalamic neurons expressing GH-releasing hormone (GHRH) and somatostatin (SST). SST neurons in the arcuate nucleus suppress GH release by inhibiting nearby GHRH neurons that stimulate GH release, whereas periventricular SST neurons inhibit GH release by projecting to the median eminence. GH release is associated with strong surges of both GHRH and SST activity during REM sleep but moderately increased GHRH and decreased SST activity during NREM sleep. Furthermore, Ding et al. identified a negative feedback pathway in which GH enhances the excitability of locus coeruleus neurons and increases wakefulness. Image credit: Ding et al., doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2025.05.039.

Animal Study Sheds New Light on How Sleep and Growth Hormone Regulation Interact

Sep 9, 2025 by News Staff

Neuroscientists from the University of California, Berkeley and Stanford University have explored brain circuits that control growth hormone release during...

People who walk a lot have less back pain than people who do not walk much -- and the volume is what matters most, not the intensity. Image credit: Tung Lam.

Regular Walking May Reduce Risk of Chronic Low Back Pain

Sep 5, 2025 by News Staff

In a new study, published in the journal JAMA Network Open, daily walking volume and walking intensity were inversely associated with the risk of chronic...

Wretlind et al. aimed to investigate sex-specific single lipids associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Image credit: Wretlind et al., doi: 10.1002/alz.70512.

Omega Fatty Acids Could Protect against Alzheimer’s Disease in Women

Aug 20, 2025 by News Staff

New research demonstrates that associations between various lipids and Alzheimer’s disease — a devastating neurological disease that disproportionately...

This illustration depicts a 3D computer-generated image of a group of Escherichia coli. Image credit: James Archer, CDC.

Caffeine Can Reduce Effectiveness of Certain Antibiotics, New Research Suggests

Aug 14, 2025 by News Staff

Researchers from the University of Tübingen and the University of Würzburg have found that ingredients of our daily diet — including caffeine...

Torres et al. synthesized 80 archaeasins, 93% of which showed antimicrobial activity in vitro against Acinetobacter baumannii, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus spp. Image credit: Torres et al., doi: 10.1038/s41564-025-02061-0.

AI Finds New Molecules with Potential Antimicrobial Activity in Archaea

Aug 12, 2025 by News Staff

Antimicrobial resistance is one of the greatest threats facing humanity, making the need for new antibiotics more critical than ever. While most antibiotics...

Upper airway muscle training by blowing shankh improves subjective measurements of daytime sleepiness and sleep quality with improvement in objective measures of severity of obstructive sleep apnea. Image credit: Sharma et al., doi: 10.1183/23120541.00258-2025.

Ancient Practice of Blowing through Conch Shell Might Help Individuals with Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Aug 11, 2025 by News Staff

Improvements in daytime sleepiness, sleep quality, and apnea-hypopnea index observed in a new study suggest that respiratory muscle training through shankh...

Thompson et al. investigated whether supplementing older adults with monthly doses of vitamin D alters the incidence of major cardiovascular events.

Study Finds Link between Low Vitamin D Levels and Increased Risk of COVID-19 Hospitalization

Jul 28, 2025 by News Staff

In a new analysis of data from the UK Biobank, vitamin D deficiency was associated with an increased risk of COVID-19 hospitalization but showed only a...

A model of a Neanderthal man in modern clothing. Image credit: H. Neumann / Neanderthal Museum.

Serious Neurological Condition May Be Linked to Neanderthal Genes

Jul 22, 2025 by News Staff

Interbreeding between anatomically modern Homo sapiens and Neanderthals thousands of years ago may be responsible for Chiari Malformation Type 1, a serious...

Berry et al. demonstrate that erythritol -- at a concentration typically contained in a standard-size commercially available artificially sweetened beverage -- adversely affects brain microvascular endothelial cell oxidative stress, eNOS activation and NO production, ET-1 expression, and t-PA release in vitro. Image credit: Tafilah Yusof.

Study: Common Sweetener Erythritol Can Impact Brain Cells, Boost Stroke Risk

Jul 16, 2025 by News Staff

Erythritol, a common non-nutritive sweetener, is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events, according to new research...

Nielsen et al. find lactose intolerance may link consuming dairy, nightmares, and poor sleep. Image credit: Micha HNBS.

Study Finds Association between Lactose Intolerance and Nightmares

Jul 1, 2025 by News Staff

In a new study, researchers questioned 1,082 students at MacEwan University about the quality of their sleep, their eating habits, and any perceived link...

This image shows Oenothera biennis, a flower that produces an oil containing a high content of linolenic acid. Image credit: Georg Slickers / CC BY-SA 4.0.

Omega-6 Fatty Acids Do Not Raise Inflammatory Markers, Study Shows

Jul 1, 2025 by News Staff

In a large community-based study, researchers at Fatty Acid Research Institute observed weak but statistically significant inverse associations between...

Ball-and-stick model of ambroxol molecule. Image credit: Marina Vladivostok / ChemSpider.

Scientists Investigating whether Ambroxol Can Slow Parkinson’s-Related Dementia

Jun 30, 2025 by News Staff

Although a cough medicine called Ambroxol is approved in Europe for treating respiratory conditions and has a long-standing safety record, including use...