Scientists find that electrical shocks can change the types of cells in bacterial communities, offering a new approach to precisely control bacteria. Clusters of microscopic bacteria exist all around us. These invisible communities, known as biofilms, are found in habitats ranging from our skin surface to sewer pipes and play integral roles in environments spanning healthcare to...
Month: <span>May 2022</span>
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Obesity linked to higher risk of broken bones in women
by European Association for the Study of Obesity Credit: CC0 Public Domain New research being presented at the European Congress on Obesity (ECO) in Maastricht, the Netherlands (4-7 May), has found that women with obesity and overweight, particularly women with high waist circumference, are more susceptible to fractures than those with normal weight. In men,...
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Model finds COVID-19 deaths among elderly may be due to genetic limit on cell division
by Jake Ellison, University of Washington This illustration represents the core theory in a new modeling study led by the University of Washington: The circles represent the immune system’s aging, in which its ability to make new immunity cells remains constant until a person (represented by the human figures) reaches middle-age or older and then...
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FDA and its research take aim at thyroid association’s guideline on not using levothyroxine generics
Zachary Brennan Senior Editor Generic drugs represent the vast majority of all drugs prescribed in the US. But in some unique cases, the FDA acknowledges that there are doctors who are concerned about drugs with a narrow therapeutic window (i.e., as the FDA says, “drugs where small differences in dose or blood concentration may lead...
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Vegan diets boost weight loss, lower blood sugar in adults with overweight or type 2 diabetes
EUROPEAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE STUDY OF OBESITY A 12-week vegan diet may result in clinically meaningful weight loss and improve blood sugar control in overweight adults and those with type 2 diabetes, according to a meta-analysis of 11 randomised trials involving almost 800 participants (aged 18 or older), being presented at this year’s European Congress...
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Wearable Sweat Sensor Warns of Impending Cytokine Storm
MAY 5TH, 2022 CONN HASTINGS CRITICAL CARE, DIAGNOSTICS, EMERGENCY MEDICINE, MEDICINE Researchers at the University of Texas at Dallas, in collaboration with a company called EnLiSense, developed a wearable electrochemical sweat sensor that can detect chemokines in sweat, alerting the wearer and clinicians to a viral or bacterial infection. The device also warns of an impending...
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Study suggests severe obesity blunts antibody response to COVID-19 vaccines
EUROPEAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE STUDY OF OBESITY New research being presented at this year’s European Congress on Obesity (ECO) in Maastricht, Netherlands (4-7 May), suggests that adults (aged 18 or older) with severe obesity generate a significantly weaker immune response to COVID-19 vaccination compared to those with normal weight. The study is by Professor Volkan...
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Revealing the individual immune cells inside the plaque that causes life-threatening heart attacks
KOBE UNIVERSITY IMAGE: COMPARISON OF SINGLE-CELL RNA SEQUENCING RESULTS FOR CHRONIC CORONARY SYNDROME AND ACUTE CORONARY SYNDROME. CREDIT: FIGURE DERIVED FROM THE PAPER PUBLISHED IN CIRCULATION (2022) (DOI: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.121.058414) Through single-cell RNA sequencing, a research group has successfully illuminated the characteristics of Myeloid immune cells in coronary plaque, which causes acute coronary syndrome (this term...
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Active phase calorie restriction enhances longevity, UT Southwestern neuroscience study reveals
UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER IMAGE: JOSEPH TAKAHASHI, PH.D. CREDIT: UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER A new study in mice led by neuroscientists at UT Southwestern’s Peter O’Donnell Jr. Brain Institute shows that it’s not just calories that count. Timing feedings to match the active period of the circadian cycle extended the life span of lab mice more than...
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Researchers reveal possible molecular blood signature for suicide in major depression
by University of California, Irvine Credit: CC0 Public Domain A University of California, Irvine-led team of researchers, along with members of the Pritzker Research Consortium, has developed an approach to identify blood biomarkers that could predict the suicide risk of major depressive disorder (MDD) patients. The study, titled “Identification of potential blood biomarkers associated with suicide in...