September 23, 2021
Amyloid plaques found in the retinas of eyes may be an indicator of similar plaques in the brain, a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease, and may provide a more visible biomarker for detecting disease risk.
September 23, 2021
ancer cells proliferate despite a myriad of stresses -- from oxygen deprivation to chemotherapy -- that would kill any ordinary cell. Now, researchers have gained insight into how they may be doing this through the downstream activity of a powerful estrogen receptor. The discovery offers clues to overcoming resistance to therapies like tamoxifen that are used in many types of breast cancer.
An estrogen receptor that promotes cancer also causes drug resistance
September 14, 2021
A study found that girls whose parents smoked cigarettes were 75% more likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis as adults. The findings suggest that secondhand smoke exposure in childhood may increase the risk for rheumatoid arthritis.
Parents’ smoking during childhood linked to rheumatoid arthritis later in life
September 13, 2021
A perspective article challenges the 'energy balance model,' which says weight gain occurs because individuals consume more energy than they expend. According to the authors, 'conceptualizing obesity as a disorder of energy balance restates a principle of physics without considering the biological mechanisms underlying weight gain.' The authors argue for the 'carbohydrate insulin model,' which explains obesity as a metabolic disorder driven by what we eat, rather than how much. *Public health messaging exhorting people to eat less and exercise more has failed to stem rising rates of obesity and obesity-related diseases. *The energy balance model, which says weight gain is caused by consuming more energy than we expend, "restates a principle of physics without considering the biological mechanisms driving weight gain." *The carbohydrate-insulin model makes a bold claim: overeating doesn't cause obesity; the process of getting fat causes overeating. *The current obesity epidemic is due, in part, to hormonal responses to changes in food quality: in particular, high-glycemic load foods, which fundamentally change metabolism. *Focusing on what we eat rather than how much we eat is a better strategy for weight management.
Scientists claim that overeating is not the primary cause of obesity
September 10, 2021
Scientists have identified metabolic compounds within the blood that are associated with dementia. The study revealed that the levels of 33 metabolites differed in patients with dementia, compared to elderly people with no existing health conditions. Their findings could one day aid diagnosis and treatment of dementia.
Signs of dementia are written in the blood, reveals new study
September 9, 2021
About 300,000 to 400,000 fetuses per year from mothers with diabetes develop neural tube defects -- when the tissue that eventually forms the brain and spinal cord fails to form properly -- which can lead to miscarriage or profound disability. Now using studies in mice, researchers have identified the mechanism behind these structural birth defects, which they say is due to the neural tissue aging prematurely, halting its growth before it has made enough cells to finish forming the neural tube.
Mothers’ diabetes may induce premature aging of neural tissue leading to birth defects
September 9, 2021
Researchers have identified a specific molecule in a part of the brain called the thalamus that plays a key role in secondary effects of traumatic brain injury, such as sleep disruption, epileptic activity, and inflammation. They also showed that an antibody treatment could prevent the development of these negative outcomes.
September 8, 2021
A healthy plant-based diet was linked to a lower risk of getting COVID-19, and among people with COVID-19, a lower risk of experiencing severe symptoms.
September 8, 2021
Researchers found that breastfeeding mothers who received either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccination reported the same local or systemic symptoms as what has been previously reported in non-breastfeeding women, with no serious side effects in the breastfed infants.
No serious COVID-19 vaccine side effects in breastfeeding moms, infants, study finds
September 8, 2021
Researchers have determined that enhanced bone resorption activity due to a faulty immune response may underpin multifocal osteomyelitis -- painful, chronic bone infections -- in children with MSMD, a rare genetic condition resulting from a range of immune system mutations.
Impaired immune response may cause bone resorption in patients with genetic disorder
