Thursday, March 28, 2024

How Exercise Changes Structure And Function Of Heart

For the first time researchers are beginning to understand exactly how various forms of exercise impact the heart. Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators, in collaboration with the Harvard University Health Services, have found that 90 days of vigorous athletic training produces significant changes in cardiac structure and function and that the type of change varies with the type of exercise performed. "Most of what we know...

High Fructose Corn Syrup: A Recipe For Hypertension, Study Finds

A diet high in fructose increases the risk of developing high blood pressure (hypertension), according to a paper being presented at the American Society of Nephrology's 42nd Annual Meeting and Scientific Exposition in San Diego, California. The findings suggest that cutting back on processed foods and beverages that contain high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) may help prevent ...

Discovery May Lead To Powerful New Therapy For Asthma

University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston researchers have found that a single enzyme is apparently critical to most allergen-provoked asthma attacks — and that activity of the enzyme, known as aldose reductase, can be significantly reduced by compounds that have already undergone clinical trials as treatments for complications of diabetes. The discovery, made in experiments conducted with mice and in human cell cultures, opens...

Reducing Consumption Of Glycotoxins From Heat-processing Of Foods Reduces Risk Of...

Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine report that cutting back on the consumption of processed and fried foods, which are high in toxins called Advanced Glycation End products (AGEs), can reduce inflammation and actually help restore the body's natural defenses regardless of age or health status. The benefits of a diet lower in glycotoxins are present even without changing caloric or...

Curry Powder Ingredient Kills Cancer Cells

Researchers from Ireland and Poland found that curcumin, a compound found in the popular Indian spice turmeric that gives curry powder its distinct yellow colour, killed oesophageal cancer cells in the lab via an unexpected cell-death mechanism that did not involve apoptosis or cell suicide. Moreover, they found that the compound started killing cancer cells within 24 hours and...

Promise Of A New Lupus Treatment Is A Groundbreaking Achievement

Human Genome Sciences (HGS) and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) today announced positive results from BLISS-76, the second of two large-scale phase III clinical trials of BENLYSTA™ (belimumab) for treating systemic lupus. A full presentation of results from BLISS-52 was recently shared at the 73rd Annual Scientific meeting of the American College of Rheumatology. Both trials succeeded in meeting their primary endpoints, which...

Use Of Low Dose Aspirin To Protect Against Cardiovascular Disease Should...

The latest issue of the Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin (DTB) reports that the use of low-dose aspirin to protect against heart attacks and strokes in individuals yet to develop obvious cardiovascular disease, should be abandoned. Low-dose aspirin is widely used to prevent further episodes of cardiovascular disease in people who have already had problems such as a heart attack or stroke. This approach is known as secondary prevention. It is well established and of confirmed benefit....

Link Between Male Diabetics With Allergies And Kidney Disease — Nothing...

For men with type 2 diabetes, a cell type linked to allergic inflammation is closely linked to a key indicator of diabetic kidney disease (nephropathy), suggests a study in the November Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN). "Allergy is a common disease that is increasing worldwide, so our findings may have important implications for diabetic nephropathy," comments...

Pumpkin Skin May Scare Away Germs

The skin of that pumpkin you carve into a Jack-o'-Lantern to scare away ghosts and goblins on Halloween contains a substance that could put a scare into microbes that cause millions of cases of yeast infections in adults and infants each year. That's the conclusion of a new study. In the study, Kyung-Soo Hahm, Yoonkyung Park and colleagues note that some disease-causing microbes are becoming resistant to existing antibiotics. As a result, scientists...

Statins Show Dramatic Drug And Cell Dependent Effects In The Brain

Besides their tremendous value in treating high cholesterol and lowering the risk of heart disease, statins have also been reported to potentially lower the risks of other diseases, such as dementia. However, a study in the October Journal of Lipid Research finds that similar statin drugs can have profoundly different effects on brain cells -both beneficial and detrimental. These findings reinforce...

Answering That Age-old Lament: Where Does All This Dust Come From?

Where does it come from? Scientists in Arizona are reporting a surprising answer to that question, which has puzzled and perplexed generations of men and women confronted with layers of dust on furniture and floors. Most of indoor dust comes from outdoors. Their report is scheduled for the Nov. 1 issue of ACS' Environmental Science & Technology, a semi-monthly journal. In the study, David Layton and Paloma Beamer point out that household dust consists of a potpourri that includes ...

Moderate Amounts Of Protein Per Meal Found Best For Building Muscle

For thousands of years, people have believed that eating large amounts of protein made it easier to build bigger, stronger muscles. Take Milo of Croton, the winner of five consecutive Olympic wrestling championships in the sixth century BC: If ancient writers are to be believed, he built his crushing strength in part by consuming 20 pounds of meat every day. No modern athlete would go to such extremes, but Milo's legacy survives in the high-protein diets of...