Today's date is: Thu, Feb 6, 2025 - 02:04:18 PM

Editor's Choice

Making Your Resolutions Stick

New Year’s resolutions—they’re easy to make but easier to break. Why is it so hard to make ...

Hot Yoga Could Help Relieve Depression Symptoms

In a small study of people with moderate to severe depression, hot yoga reduced symptoms in half ...

Chemicals Linked to Early Onset of Puberty in Girls

Compounds found in fragrances and other products triggered signaling pathways in mouse and human ...

Gut Bacteria Could Lower Cholesterol and Decrease Heart Disease Risk

Researchers pinpointed gut bacteria that affect levels of cholesterol and other compounds linked to heart disease.

The findings suggest that the risk of heart disease might be lowered with strategies to alter the levels of specific gut bacteria.

Weight-Loss Surgery Provides Lasting Benefits for Type 2 Diabetes Management

Bariatric surgery helped people with type 2 diabetes better control their blood glucose years later compared to medical and lifestyle interventions.

The findings support the use of weight-reduction surgery for treating type 2 diabetes in people with obesity.

Talk Therapy Significantly Reduces Risk of Postpartum Depression

An intervention given to pregnant women by non-specialist providers greatly reduced the chances of developing postpartum depression or anxiety.

Results of the trial, conducted in Pakistan, suggest that the approach could help avert postpartum mental health challenges in low-resource regions.

Excess Niacin May Increase the Risk of Cardiovascular Disease

A metabolite of niacin (vitamin B3) was associated with elevated risk of heart attack and stroke, likely due to inflammation in arteries.

The findings suggest new measures that may prevent or treat cardiovascular disease and raise concerns about the health effects of too much niacin.

The Salty Increase

Salt is essential to our body’s fluids. That’s likely why we evolved to enjoy its taste. On the other hand, anyone who’s gotten a mouth full of seawater knows that too much salt tastes terrible. Maybe your body’s trying to tell you something. It turns out that too much salt can lead to a host of health problems.

Mindfulness Training May Enhance Heart-Healthy Eating Choices

A program designed to enhance mindfulness and promote healthy behaviors led to improved self-awareness and better adherence to a heart-protecting diet.

This type of mindfulness training might help people make healthy changes that can reduce hypertension and cardiovascular risks.

How Intermittent Fasting Can Support Weight Loss in Individuals with Type 2 Diabetes

People with obesity and type 2 diabetes lost more weight using daily periods of fasting than by trying to restrict calories over a six-month period.

Blood sugar levels lowered in people in both groups, and no serious side effects were observed.

Enhanced Immunity Could Guard Against Various Hospital-Acquired Infections

A novel type of vaccine designed to stimulate the innate immune system provided protection for mice against a wide range of bacteria and fungi.

If effective in people, the approach could help prevent deaths from hospital-acquired infections caused by a variety of treatment-resistant microbes.

How Varied Exercise Routines Promote Better Health

People who fit most of their exercise into one or two days a week had the same reduced risk of disease as people who spread their activity throughout the week.

The findings suggest that people may not need to spread physical activities throughout the week to gain health benefits from them.

Restricted Food Choices Tied to Childhood Obesity

Children living in neighborhoods with low access to grocery stores early in life, even before birth, were at increased risk for obesity later.

The findings hint that improving early access to healthy foods might help to reduce the risk of childhood obesity.

Keto Diet Boosts Effectiveness of Experimental Cancer Therapy in Mice

Researchers showed how a ketogenic diet can enhance the effects of an experimental anti-cancer drug and starve pancreatic tumors in mice.

The findings suggest that diet might be paired with drugs to block the growth of certain types of cancerous tumors.

Exploring the Impact of Exercise on the Body

A study of endurance training in rats found molecular changes throughout the body that could help explain the beneficial effects of exercise on health.

Large differences were seen between male and female rats, highlighting the need to include both women and men in exercise studies.

How Anger Can Negatively Impact Heart and Blood Vessel Health

Researchers found that brief bouts of anger can impair the ability of blood vessels to expand and contract, which might have consequences for heart health.

Future studies will be needed to better understand the long-term effects of anger and other negative emotions on the body.

Antibody Treatment Significantly Lowers Malaria Risk in Children

A single dose of a monoclonal antibody given to children 6 to 10 years of age in Mali proved up to 77% effective at preventing malaria disease.

Researchers plan to test the antibody in other populations at high risk of death from malaria, including infants and pregnant people.

Green Spaces Linked to Better Mental Health in Young Children

Researchers found that young children (2 to 5 years old) living in areas with more green spaces had fewer symptoms of anxiety and depression.

The results suggest that kids’ access to green space may influence certain mental health risks.

Treating depression

While effective treatments for major depression are available, there is still room for improvement. This special Research in Context feature explores the development of more effective ways to treat depression, including personalized treatment approaches and both old and new drugs.

Antibody treatment protects adults against malaria

A single low dose of an experimental monoclonal antibody safely and effectively prevented malaria infection in a small clinical trial.

If confirmed in larger studies, this antibody-based approach could help block the spread of this life-threatening illness.

Malaria vaccines provide strong and lasting immunity

Researchers developed a malaria vaccination strategy that provided broad, long-lasting protection in controlled clinical trials.

The approach is now being tested in a Phase 2 clinical trial in Mali.

Drug Prevents Malaria in High-Risk Region

A combination drug treatment substantially reduced the incidence of malaria in young children without causing serious side effects.

The treatment could help reduce the burden of malaria among those most at risk, such as young children living in Africa.