Intermittent fasting, and fasting in general, has been a popular fad health gimmick, but the science isn't on its side. Instead, proponents believe mice are little people so if mice weaned on starvation diets lived longer, people would also.
Similar to stem cells differentiating to make your body's tissues, the immune system's macrophages pick a life path, differentiating into macrophages that recruit resources for wound repair or macrophages that recruit resources for wound sterilization. An article in the journal Cancer Research describes the relevance of macrophages to cancer: Cancers encourage macrophages to pick the path of wound-repair, making what are called "M2" or "repair-type" macrophages. Cancers use these M2 macrophages to promote their own growth. However, researchers can now successfully flip M2 macrophages into their wound-sterilizing cousins, called "M1" or "kill-type" macrophages, which, contrary to promoting the growth of new tissue, may aid the immune system in clearing the body of cancer.
An international team led by a researcher from Hiroshima University has succeeded in revealing the detailed structure of a massive ionized gas outflow streaming from the starburst galaxy NGC 6240. The team used the Suprime-Cam mounted on the 8.2-meter Subaru Telescope on Maunakea in Hawaii.
The ionized gas the astronomers observed extends across 300,000 light-years and is carried out of the galaxy by a powerful superwind. That wind is driven by intense star-forming activity at the galactic center. The light-collecting power and high spatial resolution of Subaru Telescope made it possible to study, for the first time, the complex structure of one of the largest known superwinds being driven by starbirth - and star death.
DURHAM, N.C. -- Meditation eases anxiety, fatigue and pain for women undergoing breast cancer biopsies, according to researchers at the Duke Cancer Institute. They also found that music is effective, but to a lesser extent.
The researchers note that adopting these simple, inexpensive interventions could be especially helpful in light of recent reports citing anxiety and pain as potential harms from breast cancer screenings and testing.
Diamonds are made of carbon, graphite is also made of carbon. Both are natural, yet one is quite valuable and the other is a commodity. Because of basic similarities, everyone wants to know if the value and hype of diamonds are justified, especially when they see them all over mainstream department stores.Is diamond really as rare as people make it out to be? The short answer is yes, diamonds are incredibly rare, geologically speaking. The longer answer is that they could even be considered Mother Nature’s scientific miracle.
MIAMI--New research from a University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science-led science team provides new insight into one of the world's most diverse and extensive ecosystems of living microbes. The study offers a new perspective on the growth and structure of rare, microbial reefs, called stromatolites, which are a window into the emergence and evolution of life on Earth.
When it comes to health and nutrition, academia goes through fads, they make their way to government panels, and then popular culture is stuck with them.
An international team of scientists has for the first time shown that mitochondria, the batteries of the cells, are essential for ageing.
In a study, published today in the EMBO Journal and led by Dr João Passos at Newcastle University, they found that when mitochondria were eliminated from ageing cells they became much more similar to younger cells. This experiment was able for the first time to conclusively prove that mitochondria are major triggers of cell ageing.
This brings scientists a step closer to developing therapies to counteract the ageing of cells, by targeting mitochondria.
Scientists at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) are a step closer to preventing the kind of injuries that affect ageing race horses like champion hurdler Rock on Ruby, the winner of Coral Hurdle at Ascot in 2015.
For the first time, the team at QMUL's School of Engineering and Materials Science were able to show how the types of proteins differ in parts of the tendon, and importantly how this changes as the tendon ages.
Co-author Dr Chavaunne Thorpe said: "When a horse runs, its muscles generate a massive amount of energy that is stored and released by the tendons in their legs. These can be likened to massive elastic bands that absorb energy as they are stretched, and release it again when they recoil.
Scientists have identified a genetic mutation responsible for a rare form of inherited hives induced by vibration, also known as vibratory urticaria. Running, hand clapping, towel drying or even taking a bumpy bus ride can cause temporary skin rashes in people with this rare disorder. By studying affected families, researchers discovered how vibration promotes the release of inflammatory chemicals from the immune system's mast cells, causing hives and other allergic symptoms.
An investigation published by The BMJ today raises new concerns about the top-selling anti-clotting drug, rivaroxaban (Xarelto).
It questions the validity of a pivotal trial - known as the ROCKET-AF trial - that was used to gain approval for rivaroxaban from the US and European regulators.
The trial, published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) in 2011, compared rivaroxaban with the older anti-clotting drug warfarin for preventing strokes in patients with irregular heartbeat (atrial fibrillation).
But there are now concerns about the trial results after The BMJ discovered that the blood clotting test device used during the trial had been recalled in December 2014 after giving falsely low test results.
SALT LAKE CITY - Anyone who's spent a night in a hospital knows the drill: In comes a phlebotomist, first thing in the morning, for lab tests. Physicians have long recognized that lab testing isn't necessary for all hospitalized patients on a daily basis. Regardless, such tests are often conducted because of routine.
A new paper, authored by University of Utah hospitalists and published in the Journal of Hospital Medicine, outlines how the 500-bed academic medical center used a tool developed at University of Utah Health Care, Value Driven Outcomes (VDO), to reduce superfluous lab testing, which is expensive, doesn't improve health outcomes and can harm patients.
Dallas, Texas -February 4, 2016 - MorNuCo Laboratories of West Lafayette, Indiana, and their ONCOblot® Test recently completed a retrospective clinical trial focusing on the early detection of malignant mesothelioma, with the exciting results that the ONCOblot® test detected a molecular marker that is indicative of the presence of mesothelioma, 4-10 years in advance of clinical symptoms appearing. MorNuCo Laboratories is elated to share these results with the public, as early detection is widely considered the corner stone of an effective strategy to reduce cancer-related deaths.
