Keyword: metabolism

Ornithine Transcarbamylase deficiency

OTC deficiency: First patient benefits from gene therapy trial

A patient at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham (QEHB) was the first person in the world to take part in a pioneering gene therapy trial for Ornithine Transcarbamylase (OTC) deficiency, a rare disease that causes toxic levels of ammonia to build up in the blood. Simon Smith, 45, was diagnosed with OTC deficiency as a teenager. Although he defied medical expectations by living a full life in…

Choline

Essential nutrient holds promise against Alzheimer’s

In a new study, researchers at the Biodesign Institute explore a safe and simple treatment for one of the most devastating and perplexing afflictions: Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Lead authors Ramon Velazquez and Salvatore Oddo, along with their colleagues in the Arizona State University (ASU)-Banner Neurodegenerative Disease Research Center (NDRC), investigate the effects of choline, an important…

Radiotherapy side-effects

Skin fibrosis: new treatment for cancer patients

A clinical-scientific team specializing in head-and-neck cancer has identified a way to manipulate metabolism to potentially curb skin fibrosis – a common side effect of radiotherapy affecting quality of life of cancer survivors. The study findings from the laboratory of principal investigator Dr. Fei-Fei Liu, Chief, Radiation Oncology, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health…

Glucose metabolism

Sugar and stress: how are they connected?

Chronic stress is a well-known risk factor for the development of psychiatric illnesses including depression disorders. The brain requires a great deal of glucose, and stress is known to alter glucose metabolism. However, if stress-associated mental impairments are linked to affected glucose metabolism remains to be seen. Researchers at the Department for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the Mainz…

Sodium consumption

Daily salt intake: How much is too much for our heart?

New research shows that for the vast majority of individuals, sodium consumption does not increase health risks except for those who eat more than five grams a day, the equivalent of 2.5 teaspoons of salt. Fewer than five per cent of individuals in developed countries exceed that level. The large, international study also shows that even for those individuals there is good news. However, the…

Right in the gut

MAIT cells sense metabolic state of enteric bacteria

A little-explored group of immune cells plays an important role in the regulation of intestinal bacteria. Changing metabolic states of the microbes have an effect on defense cells at different stages of alert or rest, as researchers from the Department of Biomedicine at the University and University Hospital of Basel report in the journal "Mucosal Immunology." It is known that the…

Heat therapy

Soaking in a hot tub has unexpected benefits, researchers find

According to new research, obese women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) may be able to improve their health outlook with a particularly enjoyable form of therapy: regular sessions in a hot tub. The research found that soaking in a hot tub several times per week for two months results in improved measures of cardiovascular health, beneficial changes in fat tissue and other improvements…

Small pill, great impact

Antibiotic resistance can be caused by small amounts of antibiotics

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are a global and growing problem in health care. To be able to prevent further development of resistance developing, it is important to understand where and how antibiotic resistance in bacteria arises. New research from Uppsala University shows that low concentrations of antibiotics, too, can cause high antibiotic resistance to develop in bacteria. In the present…

Long-term caffeine

There's a catch to your daily coffee intake, study finds

A study coordinated by the Institute of Neuroscience of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (Inc-UAB) and in collaboration with the Karolinska Institutet (KI) in Sweden provides evidence that a long-term consumption of caffeine has negative effects for Alzheimer’s disease, worsening the neuropsychiatric symptoms appearing in the majority of those affected by the disorder. The research was…

Abdominal fat

For women with kidney cancer, belly fat matters

Belly fat affects the odds of women surviving kidney cancer but not men, according to a new study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Half of female kidney cancer patients with substantial abdominal fat at the time of diagnosis died within 3 1/2 years, while more than half of women with little belly fat were still alive 10 years later, the researchers found.…

Harmful chemicals

Phthalates: increased exposure through dining out

Dining out more at restaurants, cafeterias and fast-food outlets may boost total levels of potentially health-harming chemicals called phthalates in the body, according to a new study. Phthalates, a group of chemicals used in food packaging and processing materials, are known to disrupt hormones in humans and are linked to a long list of health problems. The study is the first to compare…

Let the sun shine on your health

Higher Vitamin D levels may be linked to lower risk of cancer

High levels of vitamin D may be linked to a lower risk of developing cancer, including liver cancer, concludes a large study of Japanese adults published by The BMJ today. The researchers say their findings support the theory that vitamin D might help protect against some cancers. Vitamin D is made by the skin in response to sunlight. It helps to maintain calcium levels in the body to keep bones,…

Nice catch

Eating fish may reduce risk of MS

Eating fish at least once a week or eating fish one to three times per month in addition to taking daily fish oil supplements may be associated with a reduced risk of multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a preliminary study that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 70th Annual Meeting in Los Angeles, April 21 to 27, 2018. These findings suggest that the omega-3 fatty acids…

High levels, low levels

How caffeine may help diagnose Parkinson’s disease

Testing the level of caffeine in the blood may provide a simple way to aid the diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease, according to a study published in the online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study found that people with Parkinson’s disease had significantly lower levels of caffeine in their blood than people without the disease, even if they…

Not so sweet after all

Could sugar be responsible for the obesity and diabetes epidemics?

The idea that sugar could be a fundamental cause of the global obesity and diabetes epidemics, with deleterious effects on the human body that go beyond just empty calories, should be considered seriously again, argues journalist and author Gary Taubes in The BMJ. In the midst of such a huge public health crisis, Taubes says “we must do more to discourage consumption while we improve our…

Sugar and health

The not so sweet side of Christmas

A new video by the University of Warwick highlights a bitter side to our sugar consumption at Christmas. The short film highlights how excessive consumption of sugar can affect our health – and how the sugar trade in the past and today has caused inequality and bloodshed. Today Britons eat too much sugar, on average 10 per cent of our daily calories come from sugar which is equivalent to 60 g…

The psychology of food

Gluten-free diet - hope or hype?

Walk into the local grocery store and you’re likely to find an array of products with the words “gluten-free” splashed across the label. Everything from cereal to frozen pizza to pasta — and even water — is getting the gluten-free treatment. According to a recent survey, 30 percent of Americans said they were cutting down or avoiding gluten altogether. And yet, only four percent of the…

Biology of Ageing

Road map to a longer life

In old age a variety of cellular processes decline and the risk to develop age-related diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s or Diabetes increases dramatically. But does ageing affect all organs and tissues in the body in the same way? And should drugs that are developed to improve health in old age have the same effect on every organ? Now scientists from the Max Planck Institute for…

Dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP4)

Obesity, fatty liver, insulin resistance: Liver enzyme might be to blame

German researches have linked the increased production of a certain enzyme in the liver to fatty liver and insulin resistance.

Nutrigenomics

Healthy diet? That depends on your genes

A recently published Cornell University study describes how shifts in the diets of Europeans after the introduction of farming 10,000 years ago led to genetic adaptations that favored the dietary trends of the time.

Spanish expert separates fables from facts

Seasonal over-indulgence

In the early months of a New Year many of us are tightening our belts after Christmas gastronomic indulgences. However, the belt may not be as long as it used to be and the gym treadmill may be the only answer.

Healthy Eating

Study Finds Association Between Eating Hot Peppers and Decreased Mortality

Like spicy food? If so, you might live longer, say researchers at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont, who found that consumption of hot red chili peppers is associated with a 13 percent reduction in total mortality – primarily in deaths due to heart disease or stroke – in a large prospective study. The study was published recently in PLoS ONE.

Eating fruits, veggies in youth linked to healthy heart decades later

Eating more fruits and vegetables as a young adult may keep your arteries free of heart disease 20 years later, according to research in the American Heart Association journal Circulation.

Parenteral nutrition

Blocking light improves premature babies' survival rates

The survival rate of premature babies born between 26 to 31 weeks of gestation is improved by blocking light from reaching the intravenously-fed infused nutritious mixture they depend on for survival, researchers at CHU Sainte-Justine and the University of Montreal have revealed in a new study.

Preclinical Alzheimer's disease

Omega-3 supplements and antioxidants may help

New research in The FASEB Journal suggests that clinical trials of omega-3 and antioxidant supplementation should be undertaken for people with Alzheimer's disease with mild clinical impairment.