Medicine News

Study: High Levels of Air Pollution May Shorten Telomeres in Newborns

Perera et al find babies exposed in the womb to high levels of air pollution had shortened telomeres. Image credit: Chris LeBoutillier.
Jan 25, 2018 by News Staff

A new study, conducted before and after the 2004 closure of a coal-burning power plant in China, found children born before the closure had shorter telomeres — specialized sections of DNA that allow chromosomes to be faithfully copied during cell division — than those conceived and born after the plant stopped polluting the air. Perera et al find babies exposed in the womb to high levels of air pollution had shortened telomeres. Image...

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Turmeric contains curcumin, which has been shown to have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Image credit: Joachim Schlosser / CC BY-SA 2.0.

Turmeric Compound Boosts Cognitive Power, Reveals New Study

Jan 24, 2018 by News Staff

Daily consumption of a certain form of curcumin, a bioactive compound found in the cooking spice turmeric, improved memory and mood in people with age-related...

Zou et al found the fermentable fiber inulin restored gut health and protected mice against metabolic syndrome induced by a high-fat diet by restoring gut microbiota levels, increasing the production of intestinal epithelial cells and restoring IL-22 expression, which prevented gut microbiota from invading epithelial cells. Image credit: National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Dietary Fiber Intake Protects against Diet-Induced Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome

Jan 23, 2018 by News Staff

Consumption of fermentable fiber can prevent obesity, metabolic syndrome and adverse changes in the intestine by promoting growth of ‘good’ bacteria...

Colorized transmission electron micrograph of negatively stained SW31 (swine strain) influenza virus particles. Image credit: NIAID / CC BY 2.0.

Study: Flu Virus Can Be Spread Just by Breathing

Jan 19, 2018 by News Staff

According to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, it is alarmingly easy to spread the influenza virus by simply...

This study is the first to unveil a gut-brain connection linking high dietary salt intake to neurovascular and cognitive impairment. Image credit: Justin Kolenc.

Study: High-Salt Diet Causes Dementia in Mice

Jan 17, 2018 by News Staff

According to a new study published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, a high-salt diet reduces resting blood flow to the brain and causes dementia in...

Research from the Rockefeller University suggests that variability between strains of the same bacterial species could influence patient immune response. Image credit: Mogana Das Murtey / Patchamuthu Ramasamy / CC BY-SA 3.

Genetic Variation between Pathogen Strains Contributes to Diverse Patient Immune Responses

Jan 15, 2018 by Zvi Cramer

Individuals have wide-ranging physiological responses to the same species of pathogen. Researchers have demonstrated that different strains of a given...

There are many ways alcohol may cause cancer including directly damaging DNA, increasing levels of certain hormones and damaging the liver. Image credit: Laura M.

Research Shows How Alcohol Damages Stem Cell DNA

Jan 10, 2018 by News Staff

A team of researchers from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology and the University of Cambridge, UK, has shown...

Regular exercise training may provide protection against the future risk of heart failure. Image credit: Vesa Minkkinen.

Regular Exercise Can Reverse Damage from Heart Aging, Finds New Study

Jan 9, 2018 by News Staff

According to a new study published in the journal Circulation, proper exercise can reverse damage to sedentary, aging hearts and help prevent risk of future...

Sauna bathing is good for your health. Image credit: U. Leone.

Sauna Has Beneficial Effects on Blood Pressure and Arterial Stiffness

Jan 9, 2018 by News Staff

An international group of researchers has demonstrated that sauna bathing for 30 min reduces blood pressure and increases vascular compliance, while...

Parkinson’s disease. Image credit: Blausen Gallery 2014 / Wikiversity Journal of Medicine, doi: 10.15347/wjm/2014.010.

Caffeine May Help Diagnose Parkinson’s Disease in Early Stages

Jan 5, 2018 by News Staff

People with Parkinson’s disease have lower levels of caffeine in their blood than people without the disease, even if they consumed the same amount of...

This digitally-colorized scanning electron microscopic image depicts a large grouping of rod-shaped Clostridium difficile. Image credit: Janice Carr & Lois S. Wiggs, CDC.

Artificial Sugar Trehalose Linked to Clostridium difficile Epidemics

Jan 4, 2018 by News Staff

An artificial sugar called trehalose enhances the virulence of epidemic lineages of Clostridium difficile, a Gram-positive spore forming bacterium that...

Dr. Koehler and co-authors describe a defined in vitro 3D culture system that generates skin organoids from mouse pluripotent stem cells. The skin organoids contain self-organized skin layers and skin appendages, including hair follicles, sebaceous glands, and adipocytes. Image credit: Lee et al, doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2017.12.007.

Researchers Use Mouse Pluripotent Stem Cells to Grow Hairy Skin

Jan 3, 2018 by News Staff

A process using pluripotent stem cells from mice can generate skin tissue complete with hair follicles, according to a team of researchers from the Indiana...

Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disease, characterized clinically by progressive memory loss, cognitive decline, and aberrant behavior. In Alzheimer’s, changes in tau protein lead to the disintegration of microtubules in brain cells. Image credit: Alzheimer’s Disease Education and Referral Center / National Institute on Aging.

New Diabetes Drug Shows Promise against Alzheimer’s Disease

Jan 1, 2018 by News Staff

A ‘triple receptor’ drug originally created to treat type 2 diabetes could be used to treat Alzheimer’s disease after researchers from China and...

Exercising twice a week may improve memory and thinking ability in patients with mild cognitive impairment, according to a new guideline released by the American Academy of Neurology. Image credit: Ingrid Holiho.

Exercise May Improve Memory, Thinking in People with Mild Cognitive Impairment

Dec 28, 2017 by News Staff

For people with mild cognitive impairment, don’t be surprised if your health care provider prescribes exercise rather than medication. According to a...

Vasopressin is an antidiuretic hormone, whose best known functions are to promote water retention and maintain fluid balance. However, it also has other effects, and Mayer et al discovered that these include stimulation of red blood cell maturation. Image credit: Gerd Altmann.

Antidiuretic Hormone Vasopressin Stabilizes Blood Volume, Study Shows

Dec 28, 2017 by News Staff

Vasopressin, also called antidiuretic hormone, is released from the brain, and known to work in the kidney, suppressing a process called diuresis. According...

The new systematic review of previous studies showed an overall positive association between the consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks and indices of obesity in both children and adults. Image credit: MasterTux.

New Review Confirms Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Are Linked to Overweight and Obesity

Dec 26, 2017 by News Staff

According to a systematic review of recent cohort studies and randomized controlled trials, published in the journal Obesity Facts, consumption of sugar-sweetened...

Sweet cherries (Prunus avium). Image credit: U. Leone.

Sweet Cherry Compounds May Protect Against Weight Gain

Dec 26, 2017 by News Staff

Researchers at the University of Tasmania, Australia, have conducted trials to determine the efficacy of anthocyanins — bioactive compounds found...

This transmission electron microscopic image depicts the ultrastructural details of an influenza virus particle. Image credit: Erskine L. Palmer & M.L. Martin / CDC.

New Diagnostic Test Could Help Detect Respiratory Viral Infection Faster

Dec 25, 2017 by News Staff

According to a study published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, a new test that measures mRNAs or proteins in human nasal epithelial cells could...

Hong et al demonstrated that the memory protection conferred by blueberry vinegar was linked to activation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)/cAMP response element binding protein (CREB)/serine-threonine kinase (AKT) signaling. Image credit: Hong et al, doi: 10.1021/acs.jafc.7b03965.

Blueberry Vinegar Improves Memory in Amnesic Mice, New Study Shows

Dec 22, 2017 by News Staff

Dementia is an umbrella term used to describe severe changes in the brain that cause memory loss. The condition affects 30-50% of the American population...

According to Liu et al, frequent fish consumption may help reduce sleep problems (better sleep quality), which may in turn benefit long-term cognitive functioning in children. Image credit: Takedahrs.

Weekly Fish Consumption May Help Reduce Sleep Problems, Improve Cognitive Performance in Children

Dec 22, 2017 by News Staff

According to a study published in the journal Scientific Reports, children who eat fish at least once a week sleep better and have IQ scores that are four...

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