Tag: could

As humans, we may feel rather lucky about our evolutionary lot. We live longer than many other animals, and lifespans continue to increase thanks to better diets, advances in medicine and improved public health. But our quest to beat aging and the diseases that come with aging continues. Osteoarthritis rates, for example, have doubled since

An omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid has the potential to help fight heart disease, finds a new study by researchers at Cardiff University, in collaboration with Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. With funding from the British Heart Foundation, the team found that dihomo-gamma-linolenic acid (DGLA), an omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid, could halt the progression of atherosclerosis—one

Living in a polluted and busy area could raise your risk of old-age depression by a third, study finds People aged 50 and over had worse mental health if they lived in polluted areas They rated pollution and other neighbourhood nuisances in a European study Scientists blame toxic air causing inflammation and noise causing distress 

The laboratory study by RMIT, published in the British Journal of Nutrition, analysed two types of commercial goat milk formula. The research looked at oligosaccharides, a type of prebiotic that can boost the growth of beneficial bacteria and protect against harmful bacteria in the gut. Researchers found 14 naturally-occurring prebiotic oligosaccharides in the goat milk

Low-carb diets could reduce diabetes, heart disease and stroke risk even if people DON’T lose weight by cutting down on bread, potatoes and pasta Researchers at Ohio State University tested low-carb diets on 16 people  Weight loss was thought to be what caused the health benefits of diet changes But people’s blood fat and cholesterol

If we asked you how much plastic you’ve consumed in the last few days, you’d likely say ‘none’. No matter how much we chew our pen lids, most of us don’t tuck into a large chunk of plastic for dinner each night. But new research suggests that a typical person may be ingesting 5g of

About 40 percent of the affected patients with Huntington’s disease—a neurodegenerative pathology- show depression symptoms, even in early stages before the apparition of the typical motor symptoms of the disease. An altered function of Cdk5 kinase—an essential enzyme in several cell signalling pathways- could explain the physiopathology of the depressive-like behaviour in Huntington’s disease, according

In the winter of 2015, I felt totally overwhelmed. In the space of exactly one week, my son suffered a concussion on a school trip, a young and close family member suddenly passed away and, after years of working in science, I was told my job was going to be made redundant. On top of

A new drug that inhibits neonatal seizures in rodent models could open up new avenues for the treatment of epilepsy in human newborns. Researchers have identified that gluconate—a small organic compound found in fruit and honey—acts as an anticonvulsant, inhibiting seizures by targeting the activity of channels that control the flow of chloride ions in

Drugs used to target HER2-positive invasive breast cancer may also be successful in treating women in the first stages of the disease, researchers at The University of Nottingham have discovered. The findings, published in the British Journal of Cancer and led by experts in the University’s School of Medicine, suggest that extending anti-HER2 drugs to

A preclinical study led by scientists at the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer suggests that heating solid tumors during CAR T-cell therapy can enhance the treatment’s success. The researchers found that when a heating technique called photothermal ablation was combined with the infusion of CAR T cells, it suppressed melanoma tumor growth for up to 20

Parents who have five or more children may face a higher risk of heart disease than those who have only one or two keiki, according to new findings by public health researchers in the Myron B. Thompson School of Social Work at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Researchers led by Sara Hipp, a recent

Preterm birth is a leading cause of death among children under the age of five, with low resource countries facing the greatest challenge. But before solutions can be tested, researchers first need to be able to accurately measure the problem at a population level. This has been particularly difficult in countries where pregnant women don’t

People whose high cholesterol is resistant to treatment with statin drugs may soon have a new treatment option. This new class of drugs helps block synthesis of artery-clogging cholesterol, researchers explained. The drugs target an enzyme called ATP citrate lyase (ACL), part of the production pathway for “bad” LDL cholesterol in the body. In the

Millions of Americans are progressively losing their sight as cells in their eyes deteriorate, but a new therapy developed by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, could help prolong useful vision and delay total blindness. The treatment—involving either a drug or gene therapy—works by reducing the noise generated by nerve cells in the eye,

Cognitive frailty is a heterogeneous clinical manifestation characterized by the simultaneous presence of both physical frailty and cognitive impairment, in the absence of dementia, and it seems to entail a greater death risk than physical frailty or cognitive impairment separately. Despite the potential effect of regular physical activity to slow cognitive decline and its association

Precision cancer drugs called PARP inhibitors have a previously unknown ability to boost the immune system, and could help many more patients benefit from immunotherapy, a new study reveals. Scientists found that PARP inhibitors sparked a powerful immune response when used against cancer cells with weaknesses in repairing their DNA. The study changes our understanding

Infants may be more sensitive to non-native speech sounds than previously thought, according to a study published in the Journal of Memory and Language. The findings shed light on the way babies begin to understand language. The study, coauthored by Jessica Hay, an associate professor in the University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s Department of Psychology, and

Residents of aged care facilities who have been assessed as being at-risk of developing bedsores should not be repositioned every two hours, a UNSW Sydney study says. The accepted practice of two-hourly repositioning is not only ineffective at preventing pressure ulcers (bedsores) from developing, but it is suspected of causing behavioural problems by interfering with

Many studies have shown that eating fried foods on a frequent basis can lead to unwanted health consequences. Research has provided evidence that eating fried foods can affect cardiovascular health and heighten the risk of type 2 diabetes. In a new study on women over the age of 50 years from the United States, investigators