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A randomized controlled trial finds that the synbiotic drug SIM01 relieves multiple symptoms of long COVID, or post-acute COVID-19 syndrome (PACS). SIM01 contains strains of anaerobic Bifidobacterium bacteria (which are probiotics) and soluble fibers (prebiotics) to alter the gut microbiome and possibly modify immune response. From June 2021 to August 2022, researchers from randomly assigned 463 adult long COVID patients at a single hospital in a 1:1 ratio to receive SIM01 or a vitamin C placebo by mouth twice daily for six months. The median interval between infection and random assignment was four months. "Decreased abundance of short-chain fatty acid-producing...

Even as pancreatic cancer treatments improve, only about 9% of patients survive past five years. Researchers have searched unsuccessfully to find genetic differences that explain why some patients survive long term and some do not and have now shifted their focus to the gut microbiome. The microbiome is a term used for the collection of microbes, including microorganisms like bacteria, that live on or in the human body. Jordan Kharofa, MD, said there was little known about the microbiome of long-term pancreatic cancer survivors. "There is emerging science suggesting that pancreas cancer survivors have a robust immune response in their...

is arguably one of the most important things to pay attention to when it comes to your overall health, as it can impact your risk of things like excessive weight gain, gastrointestinal disease, and even cancer. As more and more research is being done, experts are finding that food and diet play a large role in the care of your gut health. In fact, foods like yogurt, sprouted grains, salmon, and garlic have all been found to contribute in a positive way. 00:36 / 00:36 One food that stands out, in particular, is garlic. Not only because it's delicious, but...

Astronomers using the National Science Foundation's giant Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT) have discovered a frigid reservoir of simple sugar molecules in a cloud of gas and dust some 26,000 light-years away, near the center of our Milky Way Galaxy. The discovery suggests how the molecular building blocks necessary for the creation of life could first form in interstellar space. The astronomers detected the 8-atom sugar molecule glycolaldehyde in a gas-and-dust cloud called Sagittarius B2. Such clouds, often many light-years across, are the raw material from which new stars and planets are formed. The astronomers detected the same...