Body
Diabetes mellitus is a significant and growing health problem which contributes significantly to the prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD). According to the ERA-EDTA Registry, nearly a quarter (23%) of all patients who started renal replacement therapy in 2016 were patients with diabetes.
Defined as serum bicarbonate less than 22 mmol/L [2], metabolic acidosis is common in people with CKD stages 4-5 (eGFR
International guidelines recommend that, when serum bicarbonate concentration falls below 22 mmol/l, CKD patients should be treated with oral sodium bicarbonate to maintain serum bicarbonate within the normal range, unless contraindicated [2]. However, until recently, very few studies have tested the effectiveness of bicarbonate therapy in improving metabolic acidosis or its potential benefits in patients with CKD.
Excess weight and body fat cause a range of heart and blood vessel diseases, according to the first study to investigate this using a method called Mendelian randomisation.
In particular, the study published in the European Heart Journal [1] today (Friday), shows that as body mass index (BMI) and fat mass increase, so does the risk of aortic valve stenosis - a condition in which the valve controlling the flow of blood from the heart to the body's largest blood vessel, the aorta, narrows and fails to open fully.
A personalised active lifestyle programme for employees with metabolic syndrome (who are at high risk of heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes) that uses wearable activity trackers, a smartphone app, and face-to-face sessions with exercise coaches, can reduce disease severity in both men and women in various occupations, according to a randomised trial of over 300 workers published in The Lancet Public Health journal.
An estimated half of Ebola virus disease outbreaks have gone undetected since it was discovered in 1976, according to research published in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. Although these tend to affect fewer than five patients, the study, led by Emma Glennon at Cambridge University, highlights the need for improved detection and rapid response, in order that outbreaks of Ebola and other public health threats are detected early and consistently.
GALVESTON, Texas - A new study from The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston has further documented how muscles are affected by reduced gravity conditions during space flight missions and uncovered how exercise and hormone treatments can be tailored to minimize muscle loss for individual space travelers. The findings are available in PLOS One.
New Orleans, LA - In the first study of its kind, LSU Health New Orleans researchers report that women's pre-pregnancy overweight or obesity produces changes in breast milk, which can affect infant growth. The research findings are published in PLOS ONE, available online here.
The burgeoning field of personal genetics appeals to people who want to learn more about themselves, their family and their propensity for diseases. More and more consumers are using services like 23andMe to learn about their genetic blueprint.
Research conducted at the University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in São Paulo State, Brazil, shows that vigorous physical exercise such as strength and weight training can reduce accumulated liver fat and improve blood sugar control in obese and diabetic individuals in a short time span, even before significant weight loss occurs.
ATLANTA--A unique adjuvant, a substance that enhances the body's immune response to toxins and foreign matter, can prevent vaccine-enhanced respiratory disease, a sickness that has posed a major hurdle in vaccine development for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), according to a study led by the Institute for Biomedical Sciences at Georgia State University.
New research has identified a novel approach to staving off the detrimental effects of aging, according to a study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
Researchers from the University of Oxford, along with partners from five institutions around the world, have identified the human antibodies that prevent the malaria parasite from entering blood cells, which may be key to creating a highly effective malaria vaccination. The results of the study were published today in the journal Cell.
One of the most successful interventions in reducing infectious disease worldwide, vaccination still has limited effectiveness in protecting one group of patients - newborn infants. Now a study based at the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard has determined how a pregnant woman's vaccine-induced immunity is transferred to her child, which has implications for the development of more effective maternal vaccines.
In a clinical trial of 220 people with "wet" age-related macular degeneration, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers, collaborators from many sites across the country, and Genentech in South San Francisco have added to evidence that using a new implant technology that continuously delivers medication into the eyes is safe and effective in helping maintain vision and reduces the need for injections in the eyes.
The investigators note that research is needed on larger groups of patients before the implant can be approved for commercial availability and use.
In 2010, Professor Liliya Ziganshina (Head of Cochrane Russia), one of the co-authors of the paper, partook in a study on access to medicines with expert advice and methodology support from the World Health Organization (WHO) and Health Action International (HAI, Amsterdam). Later, in 2014, another co-author, Chinara M. Razzakova, continued this important study for her PhD thesis at Kazan Federal University.