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Drinking ketones improves heart health, a new small-scale study has found. This is the first time people with type 2 diabetes (T2D) have been given a drink with ketone esters—a supplement that is meant to plunge your system into ketosis (a metabolic state where your body is forced to burn fats instead of carbohydrates)—to monitor the effect on the heart. Dr. Maria Perissiou said, "We saw an improvement in cardiac efficiency after the participants had the drink with ketones, compared to a placebo drink." The trial involved 13 participants who were given a drink with ketones, and then a placebo...

A team of scientists has designed a strategy for preventing the cardiotoxic effects of anthracyclines, a widely used class of anticancer drugs. Cardiotoxicity is a frequent adverse secondary effect of cancer therapy with these drugs. The study demonstrates that treatment with the SGLT2 inhibitor empagliflozin can mitigate the cardiac injury associated with anthracycline therapy. Anthracyclines are first-line medications in the treatment of cancer, but in 5% of patients their use is associated with severe cardiotoxicity, leading to chronic heart failure. "Although anthracycline cardiotoxicity has been known about for decades, effective preventive therapies have been lacking due to limited knowledge of...

Cancer cells express an abnormal metabolism characterized by increased glucose consumption owing to genetic mutations and mitochondrial dysfunction. Previous studies indicate that unlike healthy tissues, cancer cells are unable to effectively use ketone bodies for energy. Furthermore, ketones inhibit the proliferation and viability of cultured tumor cells. As the Warburg effect is especially prominent in metastatic cells, we hypothesized that dietary ketone supplementation would inhibit metastatic cancer progression in vivo.

Increasing ketone supply to the heart in mice with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) allowed their hearts to utilize more ketones and produce more energy, according to preliminary research. Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, a common type of heart failure, occurs when there are signs and symptoms of heart failure with a high left ventricle filling pressure despite normal or a near-normal left ventricle ejection fraction of 50% or higher. Heart failure with reduced ejection fraction is when the heart's pumping power is 40% or less. Healthy hearts require a high rate of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production...

Researchers have identified mechanisms in the brain's hippocampal network that are rescued by ketones. These findings build on previous research showing that ketones can alleviate neurological and cognitive affects. As we age, our brain naturally becomes more insulin resistant. This creates a breakdown in communication between neurons, causing symptoms like changes in mood, cognitive decline, and eventually neurodegeneration. Nathan A. Smith, MS, Ph.D. and fellow researchers studied the mechanisms in the brain that break down when insulin resistance is suddenly present, like in trauma, but before symptoms manifest into chronic conditions, like diabetes or Alzheimer's. "Once neuronal function is lost,...

In a pilot study of 14 older adults with mild cognitive problems suggestive of early Alzheimer's disease, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers report that a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet may improve brain function and memory. "Our early findings suggest that perhaps we don't need to cut carbs as strictly as we initially tried. We may eventually see the same beneficial effects by adding a ketone supplement that would make the diet easier to follow," says Jason Brandt, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and neurology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "It's something that 400-plus experimental drugs haven't been...

While the keto diet can help you lose weight, it also has a ton of weird side effects, like the keto flu, diarrhea, and keto breath. Now, there’s apparently another one to add to that list: keto rash—and it sounds even worse than walking around with breath that smells like acetone. What is the keto rash? The keto rash—a.k.a. prurigo pigmentosa—is an uncommon inflammatory disease that’s often characterized by red, itchy bumps on the neck, back, and stomach, according to a literature review on the condition in the American Journal of Clinical Dermatology. While the rash’s exact cause is unknown,...

The internet is awash with misinformation about cancer, with potentially tragic consequences for patients There are few illnesses as terrifying in the public consciousness as cancer. With up to a third of us getting cancer at some stage in our lives, it is almost impossible to remain untouched by the disease. As an ominous reminder of our mortality, cancer scares us to the point that discussions about it are often avoided and the language we use is couched in euphemisms. The recent Channel 4 documentary "You're killing my son" told the story of Neon Roberts, a young boy whose treatment...

Researchers from Canada, France, Germany and the United States reporting in the journal Cell have found a new ground-breaking way of killing cancer cells. Traditional chemotherapy and radiotherapy cause damage to healthy cells, and other more targeted treatments are usually only effective for individual types of cancer. Contrastingly, a new potential treatment does not damage healthy cells and could also be used to treat a wide variety of different cancers. "Cancer cells grow and divide much more rapidly than normal cells, meaning they have a much higher demand for and are often starved of, nutrients and oxygen," explained study co-author...