Author: healthadmin
A new paper argues that foods alone do not confer certain health benefits. What matters is what you replace on your plate, and that change can change how you interpret nutritional evidence. Opinion: Is this food healthy? Reconstructing nutritional evidence through counterfactual comparisons. Image credit: Anna Puzatykh / Shutterstock Recent opinion papers published in magazines clinical nutrition We advocate reframing nutrition research through counterfactual comparisons. Nutritional science, despite decades of research, continues to produce conclusions that are often perceived as context-dependent or inconsistent. Nutritional science often relies on surrogate results, such as intermediate physiological measurements and biomarkers, whose interpretation depends…
A major European trial suggests that reducing milk protein in infant formula may not lower BMI by age two, but may help put early growth on a more stable trajectory. Trial: Infant Milk Intervention Trial (ToMI): A randomized controlled trial of the effect of protein content in infant milk on BMI and growth. Image credit: MIA Studio / Shutterstock In a recent study published in the journal clinical nutritionresearchers present results from the Infant Milk Intervention (ToMI) trial, a multicenter (Spanish and German) randomized controlled trial (RCT) that investigated whether reducing protein intake during the first two years of life…
Northwestern University psychologist Andrea Russell sees anxiety in older adults with early cognitive impairment. Some people worry that missing words or forgetting appointments can be a sign of Alzheimer’s disease. Some people are afraid of making mistakes in public. Some people are too scared to consult a doctor. Seeing that uncertainty and the stigma surrounding dementia, Russell spearheaded a new study at Northwestern Medicine that found the majority of older adults are willing to undergo blood tests for biomarkers to assess their risk of Alzheimer’s disease. The study will be published April 15 in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of…
A University of Calgary-led study has found evidence that children with migraine-prone genes may be at higher risk of developing additional headaches after a concussion, which is known to be associated with lingering symptoms up to six months after the injury. Selina Orr, MD, associate professor in the Cumming School of Medicine, and Keith Yates, PhD, professor in the School of Arts, led the study, which studied more than 600 children between the ages of 8 and 16 who exhibited concussion symptoms and followed them for six months after the injury. This is the first study to examine specific genetic…
An analysis of data from the German Family Commission found that relationship satisfaction continues to decline for both men and women after becoming parents. These declines appear to be primarily driven by increases in negative couple behaviors (such as conflict) and decreases in positive behaviors (such as emotional intimacy and gratitude). For women but not men, increased domestic work also contributed to the decline, albeit to a surprising extent. The paper was published in. marriage and family journal. The transition to parenthood is a major life change that affects both social roles and psychological functioning. As an individual assumes the…
The FDA’s Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee is scheduled to meet this summer to discuss whether certain peptides should be allowed to be used from compounding pharmacies, suggesting a 2023 decision by the FDA could be reversed. The advisory committee will meet on July 23 and July 24 to consider the potential use of the seven peptides in specific uses, including ulcerative colitis, wound healing, obesity, and opioid withdrawal, according to a Federal Register notice. Each peptide in the table is proposed for inclusion in the 503A bulk list, which designates bulk drug substances from which physicians and pharmacies can compound…
With a new $6.2 million, five-year grant from the National Institute on Aging, researchers at Case Western Reserve University will use artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to identify genetic targets that could potentially treat Alzheimer’s disease. The goal is to provide doctors and drug companies with new information that can prevent, delay or even treat disease, said lead researcher Jonathan L. Haines, chair of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine. Drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat Alzheimer’s disease work by removing abnormal protein clumps called amyloid plaques that…
Practicing mindfulness meditation for just one week will improve your ability to remember to do things at specific times in the future. This mental boost is most noticeable when people don’t have easy access to a clock to track elapsed time. The results of this study were recently published in the journal consciousness and cognition. In our daily life, we always need to carry out planned actions at a certain time. People with diabetes may need to remember to inject insulin every day at 5 p.m. Psychologists refer to this cognitive skill as time-based prospective memory. It is a very…
As Daiichi Sankyo’s priorities become increasingly tied to its portfolio of innovative medicines, particularly in oncology, the Tokyo-based drugmaker follows in the footsteps of its peers in striking a deal to separate from its consumer health business. Daiichi has signed an agreement with Japanese beverage giant Suntory Holdings to transfer all shares in its subsidiary Daiichi Sankyo Healthcare. Daiichi Sankyo Healthcare sells popular over-the-counter medicines such as Lulu, a comprehensive cold medicine that has been around for decades, and Loxonin, an anti-inflammatory analgesic and antipyretic (PDF). Under the current transaction framework, the transfer would be worth 246.5 billion yen (approximately…
A team led by Project Associate Professor Harrison B. Smith of the Earth and Life Science Institute (ELSI) at Tokyo University of Science and Project Associate Professor Lana Sinapaen of the Institute for Basic Biology has introduced a new strategy to discover extraterrestrial life. Rather than looking for specific biological signals, their approach looks for patterns shared across groups of planets. This idea provides a new direction for astrobiology, especially when traditional biosignatures are unclear or unreliable. One of the biggest challenges in the search for extraterrestrial life is determining whether features observed on distant planets are truly indicative of…