Tag: protects

Children’s heavy digital media use is associated with a risk of being overweight later in adolescence. Physical activity protects children from the adverse effects of digital media on their weight later in adolescence. A recently completed study shows that six hours of leisure-time physical activity per week at the age of 11 reduces the risk

A newly discovered fat “shield” that prevents natural killer cells from being destroyed by their own deadly biological weapons also allows some cancer cells to evade an immune system attack, a study at Columbia University has found. The findings, which may lead to new treatments for aggressive cancers, were reported August 3 in the journal

Scientists at The Wistar Institute identified a new function of ADAR1, a protein responsible for RNA editing, discovering that the ADAR1p110 isoform regulates genome stability at chromosome ends and is required for continued proliferation of cancer cells. These findings, reported in Nature Communications, reveal an additional oncogenic function of ADAR1 and reaffirm its potential as

A study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that just under 20 percent of HIV-uninfected patients visiting Baltimore sexual health clinics were aware of pre-exposure prophylaxis medication (PrEP), a daily regimen that decreases a person’s risk of contracting HIV from sex by more than 90 percent. The paper,

Children are protected from severe COVID-19 because their innate immune system is quick to attack the virus, a new study has found. The research led by the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) and published in Nature Communications, found that specialized cells in a child’s immune system rapidly target the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). MCRI’s Dr. Melanie

Osteoarthritis is one of the most common problems associated with aging, and although there are therapies to treat the pain that results from the breakdown of the cartilage that cushions joints, there are no available therapies to modify the course of the disease. However, working in a mouse model of the disorder, researchers at Washington

An international research network of physicians and scientists is launching a clinical trial to evaluate whether the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) can protect front-line health-care workers against infection from SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The trial aims to enroll up to 30,000 health-care workers globally. Washington University School of Medicine in

A mutation that causes a type of muscular dystrophy that affects the limbs protects against HIV-1 infection, according to a study published August 29 in the open-access journal PLOS Pathogens by Sara Rodríguez-Mora, Mayte Coiras and José Alcamí of the Instituto de Salud Carlos III in Madrid, Spain, and colleagues. As the authors noted, this

Patients with lupus, an inflammatory disease in which the body’s immune system attacks its own tissues, are on average seven to nine times more likely to develop heart disease than the general population. Younger women with lupus are 50 times as likely to develop the disease as young women without the disease. The endothelium—the single

A team of researchers affiliated with several institutions in the U.S. and one in the U.K. has found that blocking a certain inflammatory pathway in mice protects tendons from injury. In their paper published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, the group describes their study of tendinopathies and possible ways to prevent them. Most people

A recent study completed at the University of Helsinki investigated the amount and quality of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in breast milk and gut of mother-infant pairs. The findings have been published in the journal Nature Communications. The researchers report three findings. First, infants who were breastfed for at least six months had a smaller number of

Dengue and Zika viruses are closely related and carried by mosquitos. In infested subtropical and tropical areas, dengue transmission often precedes Zika virus (ZIKV) infection, suggesting that women who previously acquired dengue immunity may be bitten by ZIKV-carrying mosquitoes during pregnancy. Whether that mother’s prior dengue immunity would protect her unborn baby from devastating brain

Heart failure affects about 5.7 million adults in the United States. The most salient risk factors for this condition, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), are: hypertension, a history of coronary heart disease or heart attacks, and diabetes. Since this condition, once acquired, has to be managed for life, healthcare professionals