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In A Nutshell * A single high-fat meal impaired both blood vessel function and brain blood flow regulation in healthy men within just 4 hours. * Older adults showed more pronounced declines, suggesting age-related vulnerability. *Triglyceride levels more than doubled after the meal, and brain vessels became stiffer. * These short-term changes may elevate stroke and cardiovascular risk, even in physically fit individuals. ======================================================================== CARDIFF, Wales — You’ve probably heard that greasy meals aren’t great for your heart, but new research suggests they might be just as bad for your brain, and the effects show up fast. Just four hours...

Eight essential nutrients make up the suite of B vitamins also known as the B complex. Research has revealed that these B vitamins influence a vast spectrum of human health and disease. "It's hard to study the B vitamins in isolation," says gastroenterologist Joel Mason. "Four of these B-vitamins cooperate as co-factors in many critical activities in cells in what we call 'one carbon metabolism.'" One of the most active areas for B vitamin research is cognitive health. By the age of 75–80, 40% of people have a diminished ability to absorb food-bound B12, says Mason. This deficiency leads to...

A research team is testing a new combination drug therapy that could both treat and prevent melanoma metastasis to the brain. Holmen first examined what causes melanoma cells to spread to the brain and identified focal adhesion kinase (FAK) as a potential target for new therapies. FAK is an enzyme that regulates cell growth, and, they found, is a major contributor to melanoma metastasis. "The window of time to treat a patient with brain metastasis is shortened because the average survival from time of diagnosis of brain metastasis is only about a year—even while using these other therapies." Holmen and...

A study from Tufts University found that daily consumption of pistachios can enhance eye health by increasing macular pigment optical density (MPOD), which helps protect against blue light and age-related eye damage. This benefit is attributed to pistachios’ unique content of lutein, a plant pigment essential for eye health and potentially useful in preventing age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Daily pistachios boost eye health by raising lutein, protecting against age-related damage, and supporting brain function. A recent study by researchers at Tufts University’s Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy suggests that eating pistachios daily may greatly benefit eye health. This...

Multiple studies in humans and mouse models indicate that sleep disruptions raise the risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD) by increasing the accumulation of disease-relevant proteins such as amyloid-beta (A-beta) in the brain. In the current study, a team discovered that restoring normal sleep by returning to normal the activity of the thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN), a brain region involved in maintaining stable sleep, reduced the accumulation of A-beta plaques in the brain. The study suggests that TRN not only may play a previously unsuspected driving role in symptoms associated with Alzheimer's, but also that restoring its normal activity could be...