Articles Posted by ConservativeMind
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Cranberry extracts appear to improve intestinal microbiota and help prevent chronic diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. A recent study reported beneficial effects after only four days of use. The research team showed that the polyphenols and oligosaccharides present in a cranberry extract boost the genus Bifidobacterium, associated with a reduced risk of diabetes and cardiometabolic diseases. "Normally, these bacteria are stimulated by dietary fiber consumption. We observed the same effect with cranberry extract with a dose almost 20 times lower," says Jacob Lessard-Lord. Cranberry extracts also stimulate the Akkermansia muciniphila bacterium, which plays an important role in the...
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Adding a pre-ketone supplement—a component of a high-fat, low-carb ketogenic diet—to a type of cancer therapy in a laboratory setting was highly effective for treating prostate cancer, researchers found. Prostate cancer is resistant to a type of immunotherapy called immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy. ICB therapy paves the way for our body's fighter cells, T cells, to kill the cancer. Murphy divided the models into different groups: immunotherapy alone, ketogenic diet alone, a pre-ketone supplement alone, the ketogenic diet with the immunotherapy, the supplement with the immunotherapy, and the control. While the immunotherapy alone had almost no effect on the...
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A common practice of shoulder surgeons may be impairing the success of rotator cuff surgery, a study from orthopedic scientists and biomedical engineers suggests. During the surgery, surgeons often remove a tissue called the bursa while repairing torn tendons in the shoulder joint, but the study suggests that the small tissue plays a role in helping the shoulder heal. The bursa is a thin, fluid-filled sac originally thought to protect the tendons by providing a cushion between the tendons and adjacent bones. The bursa often becomes inflamed, sometimes concurrently, when underlying tendons are injured, and surgeons often remove the tissue...
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A study suggests that a range of respiratory viral infections—including COVID-19 and influenza—may be preventable or treatable with a generic antibiotic that is delivered to the nasal passageway. A team successfully tested the effectiveness of neomycin, a common antibiotic, to prevent or treat respiratory viral infections in animal models when given to the animals via the nose. The team then found that the same nasal approach—this time applying the over-the-counter ointment Neosporin—also triggers a swift immune response by interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs) in the noses of healthy humans. "This is an exciting finding, that a cheap over-the-counter antibiotic ointment can stimulate...
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Researchers have found vitamin D encourages the growth of a type of gut bacteria in mice which improves immunity to cancer. The researchers found mice given a diet rich in vitamin D had better immune resistance to experimentally transplanted cancers and improved responses to immunotherapy treatment. This effect was also seen when gene editing was used to remove a protein that binds to vitamin D in the blood and keeps it away from tissues. Surprisingly, the team found that vitamin D acts on epithelial cells in the intestine, which in turn increase the amount of a bacteria called Bacteroides fragilis....
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A research team found positive effects of tai chi and aerobic exercise on sleep quality, psychological well-being, physical function, and circadian rhythm in patients with advanced lung cancer. The study, conducted over a four-year period, discovered additional advantages in terms of improving one-year survival rates and reducing fatigue. The research has demonstrated remarkable potential of tai chi as a non-pharmacological intervention for improving survival in advanced lung cancer patients. The research team conducted a meta-analysis to examine the effects of aerobic and mind-body exercises, two widely recognized forms of physical exercises, which differ in intensity and modality. The study showed...
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A quality improvement (QI) initiative to standardize care for babies in the NICU following surgery correlated with fewer unplanned intubations and improved mortality rates. The study streamlined care following surgery in 2019 through routine use of acetaminophen (Tylenol) for pain control, rather than opioids, and use of a checklist to ensure patients were ready for extubation. Following these changes, the number of unplanned intubations decreased more than 75%, resulting in 11 fewer unplanned intubations each year in the NICU. The percentage of infants receiving acetaminophen following surgery increased from 25% to 90%, which resulted in a significant decline in opioid...
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Conditions such as diabetes, heart attack, and vascular diseases commonly diagnosed in people with spinal cord injuries can be traced to abnormal post-injury neuronal activity that causes abdominal fat tissue compounds to leak and pool in the liver and other organs, a new animal study has found. Researchers found that a short course of the drug gabapentin prevented the damaging metabolic effects of spinal cord injury. Experiments revealed a cascade of abnormal activity within seven days after the injury in neurons and in visceral fat tissue. "As soon as we disrupt sensory processing as a result of spinal cord injury,...
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Managing a stroke victim's blood sugar levels after they receive powerful clot-busting drugs might help them survive their health crisis, a new trial finds. People with high blood sugar levels were more likely to suffer a potentially deadly brain bleed after clot-busters reopened their blocked brain arteries, researchers found. The risk was particularly high in older patients with more severe strokes. "These data suggest that more focus and research is needed on the management of high blood sugar in the treatment of stroke patients, particularly those with higher risk, more severe strokes," said Dr. Andrew Southerland. For the study, researchers...
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Researchers from the University of Cologne have found a new use for cnicin, a substance produced in blessed thistle. Blessed thistle (Cnicus benedictus) is a plant in the family Asteraceae and also grows in our climate. For centuries, it has been used as a medicinal herb as an extract or tea, e.g. to aid the digestive system. Researchers at the Center for Pharmacology of University Hospital Cologne and at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Cologne have now found a completely novel use for cnicin under the direction of Dr. Philipp Gobrecht and Professor Dr. Dietmar Fischer. Animal...
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Keeping blood pressure under control could be crucial for women in preventing uterine fibroids, new research shows. Middle-aged women tracked for up to 17 years in a new study were 37% less likely to develop these painful growths if they treated their high blood pressure with medication. On the other hand, "patients with new-onset hypertension had a 45% increased risk of newly reported fibroids," said a team led by Susannah Mitro. As outlined in the study, uterine fibroids are benign but painful tumors that arise in the uterus and affect up to 80% of women by the age of 50....
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A team of researchers is uncovering how the juice from red cabbage, long used in traditional medicine, can alleviate inflammation-associated digestive health conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in mice, offering hope to Americans who suffer from IBD, including Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Santayana Rachagani's team found red cabbage juice boasts a diverse array of bioactive compounds that improved gut health and alleviated the symptoms of IBD in mice. "Red cabbage juice alters the composition of gut microbiota by increasing the abundance of good bacteria, resulting in increased production of short chain fatty acids and other bacteria derived...
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After the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) in 2002, many women have resisted taking hormone therapy (HT), especially after age 65 years, because of fears of increased risks for various cancers and heart disease. A new study shows that those fears may be unfounded, depending on the type, route, and dose of HT. A new large-scale study based on the records of 10 million senior Medicare women from 2007 to 2020, however, suggests that the implications of HT use beyond age 65 years vary by type, route, and dose. These findings are in line with the 2022 HT Position Statement of...
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A study shows that a non-invasive imaging test can help identify patients with coronary artery blockage or narrowing who need a revascularization procedure. Doctors use coronary CT angiography (CTA) to diagnose narrowed or blocked arteries in the heart. A CTA exam receives a score from mild (0–1) to severe (4–5). Patients with scores above 3 typically require medical treatments. Doctors have traditionally relied on invasive coronary angiography to image vessels and more recently have added fractional flow reserve (FFR) to identify and assess significant blockages. To assess CT-FFR, Dr. Randhawa conducted a retrospective study of patients who underwent coronary CTA...
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Scientists have discovered that a type of fat accumulates as tissue ages and that this accumulation can be reversed through exercise. Researchers analyzed both mice and human tissue before and after exercise allowing them to draw this conclusion. "The idea that we could reverse aging is something that was long considered science fiction, but these findings do allow us to understand a lot more about the aging process," says Riekelt Houtkooper. "Everyone says that 'it's just part of getting older,' but this doesn't actually have to be true," says Georges Janssens. In recent years, laboratory research has shown that we...
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Metformin is a widely prescribed drug for managing type 2 diabetes. In recent years, indications of its potential anticancer properties have emerged in research. A study has found that metformin activates the body's immune cells. The effect was particularly observed in what are known as dendritic cells, which are the most effective in helping the immune system identify cancer cells as foreign entities. "Our study found that metformin contributed to the metabolism of dendritic cells so that they became active and enhanced the immune response against cancer cells," says Rita Turpin. Identifying this effect can help to develop anticancer therapies...
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Combining a low dose of blood pressure medication with a higher intake of dietary-resistant starch might help stave off diabetic kidney disease, according to results from a new animal study. "Our study suggests that combining dietary interventions with a low dose of established medications for diabetic kidney disease management can provide a more feasible and lower side-effect alternative for patients to implement and improve their health outcomes by helping maintain their kidney integrity," said Claudia Carrillo. Dietary-resistant starch is found in unripe bananas, cooked and cooled potatoes, legumes and whole grains. This type of carbohydrate ferments in the large intestine,...
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Previous studies have questioned whether gut microbe imbalances and vitamin D deficiency may be linked to schizophrenia. New research published in Neuropsychopharmacology Reports now indicates that taking probiotics plus vitamin D supplements may improve cognitive function in individuals with the disease. For the study, 70 adults with schizophrenia were randomized to take a placebo or probiotic supplements plus 400 IU vitamin D daily for 12 weeks. Severity of the disease and cognitive function were evaluated by tests called the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and the 30-point Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), respectively. A total of 69 patients completed the...
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Removal of armpit lymph nodes can leave many breast cancer patients with lingering lymphedema, a painful and unsightly swelling of the arm. It's long been known that if a breast cancer has extensively spread within the lymph nodes, removing those nodes is the patient's only recourse. …To help clarify things for patients with such findings, de Boniface and colleagues tracked outcomes for nearly 2,800 breast cancer patients from five countries. All had metastases that were larger than 2 millimeters in one or two of their sentinel nodes. About half of the group were randomly chosen to undergo more complete armpit...
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Regular aerobic exercise later in life prevents genomic instability characterized by DNA damage and telomere dysfunction, according to a study. "These new findings will greatly impact our understanding of the mechanisms of how aerobic exercise improves vascular health at the level of genomic stability," says Jisok Lim, Ph.D. Late-life exercise used to be thought of as ineffective. However, existing studies indicate aerobic exercise later in life lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease-related mortality. Yet, specific factors contributing to this effect have not been completely understood. Researchers examined whether regular exercise with aging may prevent DNA damage and telomere dysfunction. Telomeres...
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