Author: healthadmin

A new bill in California continues the state’s efforts to crack down on ultra-processed foods, proposing that manufacturers put a sticker on the front of their products to indicate that they are not ultra-processed. Rep. Jesse Gabriel said at a news conference Wednesday that he hopes the seal, which is voluntarily applied for by manufacturers, will help people make healthier choices at the grocery store and encourage companies to reformulate to meet eligibility requirements. “You don’t need a PhD in chemistry to understand what parents are feeding their children,” said Gabriel, who introduced the bill, AB 2224. Democratic politicians are…

The FDA has approved Denali Therapeutics’ enzyme replacement therapy for inherited lysosomal storage diseases, breaking a series of recent rejections of rare disease drugs by the agency. By approving Denali’s tibidenosp. alfa, now known as Avraya, the FDA has given the green light to the first treatment that can address the harmful cognitive symptoms of Hunter syndrome. “Abraya is the first product approved to address the neurological complications of Hunter syndrome,” Tracy Beth Hogue, MD, acting director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER), said in a March 25 release. “This accelerated approval was based on a…

A diet high in wheat fiber protects mice from intestinal inflammation, according to a study published by researchers at Georgia State University’s Institute of Biomedical Sciences (IBMS). This finding helps explain why the incidence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is increasing and suggests that eating whole wheat foods may reduce the risk of developing inflammatory bowel disease. The study is reported in two research papers published in the journal. Scientific advances and mucosal immunology – They investigated the impact of wheat fiber, which is present in whole wheat and wholemeal bread but is largely absent from “white bread” and other…

A large-scale clinical trial led by USF researchers aimed at slowing the onset of dementia continues to receive significant support from the federal government to address the public health crisis. The Preventing Alzheimer’s Disease through Cognitive Training (PACT) study received an additional $2.8 million from the National Institutes of Health to continue researching whether computer-based brain training exercises can reduce the risk of cognitive impairment and dementias such as Alzheimer’s disease. PACT research currently has more than $50 million in federal funding. PACT, which began at the University of South Florida in 2020, has expanded to 10 locations in the…

Chronic inflammation can increase cancer risk, and new research reveals important details about how it happens in the gut and points to better ways to identify and reduce risk. Scientists at the Broad Institute and Harvard University have shown in mice that after colitis or chronic enteritis, seemingly healed intestinal tissue retains memories of early inflammation through molecular “scars” that may make it easier for cancer to later take hold. These memories are encoded as changes in the epigenome that are passed from cell to cell through generations of cell division and can have long-term effects on gene activity and…

Anyone who has survived a bad stomach illness knows that feeling. Loss of appetite begins and lingers even after the initial illness. The same is true for millions of people around the world who are chronically infected with parasites. But scientists have long been puzzled as to exactly why. Now, researchers at the University of California, San Francisco have traced the molecular pathways that connect the gut immune system to the brain during parasitic infections to explain how the immune system triggers anorexia. The question we wanted to answer was not only how the immune system fights parasites, but…

Consider two seemingly unrelated medical puzzles. First: Every day, our bodies generate hundreds of billions of new cells, many of which mutate. If cancer arises from cell mutations, why don’t we all get the disease all the time?Second, severe autoimmune diseases such as lupus and multiple sclerosis often develop without warning. No one knows what triggers them. A new study from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) shows that naturesuggesting that the two puzzles may be directly connected. This research has revealed that our immune systems are pre-equipped with antibodies that fight tumors and attack the brain. ”Patients with autoimmune diseases…

Helen Branswell covers issues broadly related to infectious diseases, including outbreaks, preparedness, research, and vaccine development. Follow her on Mastodon and Blue Sky. You can contact Helen on Signal at hbranswell.01.Staff at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention met on Wednesday, with many expecting an announcement by the Trump administration of the selection of a new leader for the beleaguered agency. But instead, acting director Jay Bhattacharyya said a permanent director is likely to be named by Thursday. A transcript of the hour-plus all-hands meeting obtained by STAT revealed that staff members asked Bhattacharyya tough questions. Mr. Bhattacharya scored…

A new report shows that Iowa has higher rates of more than a dozen types of cancer associated with pesticides and pollutants than other regions, and researchers say pesticide exposure alone can rival the risks of smoking. Iowa has the second highest cancer rate in the nation. Only 1 of 3 states with cancer on the riseaccording to the National Institutes of Health. For many types of cancer, the state’s numbers are well below the national average. For example, the prostate cancer incidence rate in Iowa is 129 per 100,000 people, while the U.S. average is 116 per 100,000. The…

Over the past two decades, psychological distress has increased among teenagers, especially adolescent girls, around the world. Recent research published in Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry Paradoxically, countries with higher levels of gender equality are found to have wider disparities in mental health between boys and girls. Researchers link this widening gap to the double burden of increased academic pressure and expectations placed on young women. Adolescence is a sensitive period of brain development and social growth. Mental health problems that begin during these formative years often continue into adulthood. Around the world, mental health indicators among teenagers have…