Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), an antibiotic-resistant superbug, can cause life-threatening skin, bloodstream and surgical site infections or pneumonia. Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine now report that cigarette smoke may make matters worse. The study, published March 30 by Infection and Immunity, shows that MRSA bacteria exposed to cigarette smoke become even more resistant to killing by the immune system.
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Based on research in fruit flies, it has long been suspected that the most common mutation linked to both sporadic and familial Parkinson's disease (PD) wreaks its havoc by altering the function of mitochondria in neurons that produce the neurotransmitter dopamine.
Using stem cells derived from patients who have PD, scientist at the Buck Institute have confirmed that finding in human cells for the first time.
In a new paper, Buck researchers provide a valuable tool for testing potential treatments for the progressive, incurable neurodegenerative disease.
Researchers found that consuming the fish herring and mackerel, as well as three kinds of fish oils, raised blood levels of the fatty acid 16:4(n-3), which experiments in mice suggest may induce resistance to chemotherapy used to treat cancer, according to a study published online by JAMA Oncology.
Patients with cancer often adopt lifestyle changes and those changes often include the use of supplements. But there is growing concern about the use of supplements while taking anticancer drugs and the possible effect on treatment outcomes, according to the study background.
The findings, which have been published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, are in line with previous studies of eating habits that indicated a link between high consumption of dairy products and a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes.
However, the new study indicates that it is high-fat dairy products specifically that are associated with reduced risk.
It is estimated that 5% of women experience two clinical miscarriages and approximately 1% three or more losses.
Researchers at the University of Warwick and UHCW have discovered how body clock genes could affect women's ability to have children.
The study, by medics at Warwick Medical School and University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) NHS Trust, pinpoints how body clock genes are temporarily switched off in the lining of the womb to allow an embryo to implant. Timing of this event is critical for pregnancy.
While testosterone replacement therapies may be controversial in males, new research may extend this controversy to females too. That's because research involving mice suggests that there is an association between low levels of androgens (which includes testosterone), and atherosclerosis and obesity in females.
Supplemental folic acid can enhance blood vessel dilation in older adults, according to Penn State researchers, suggesting that folic acid supplements may be an inexpensive alternative for helping older adults to increase skin blood flow during heat waves and reduce cardiovascular events.
Inhalable particles include all particulate matter with a diameter smaller than 10 micrometers (PM10). In this group a distinction is made between even finer particles smaller than 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5) in diameter, which can deeply enter the lung, and ultrafine particles with diameters less than 0.1 micrometers (100 nanometers), which can also enter the blood stream.
Researchers have discovered that the inherent 'handedness' of molecular structures directs the behavior of individual cells and confers them the ability to sense the difference between left and right.
Body odor is a reality of daily life. The smell is caused by bacteria on the skin breaking down naturally secreted molecules contained within sweat. Researchers from Unilever and the University of York have studied the underarm microbiome and identified a unique set of enzymes in the bacterium Staphylococcus hominis that is effective at breaking down sweat molecules into compounds known as thioalcohols, an important component of the characteristic body odor smell.
Men who ate fruits and vegetables with higher levels of pesticide residues--such as strawberries, spinach, and peppers--had lower sperm count and a lower percentage of normal sperm than those who ate produce with lower residue levels, according to a new study by researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. It is the first study to look at the connection between exposure to pesticide residues from fruits and vegetables and semen quality.
The study will appear online March 30, 2015 in the journal Human Reproduction.
A new study finds that vegetable consumption is very low among women of childbearing age (WCBA), and that the nutrient-rich white potato is an important vegetable to this population's diet, particularly among subgroups with the lowest intake.
Cholesterol-lowering statins have transformed the treatment of heart disease. But while the decision to use the drugs in patients with a history of heart attacks and strokes is mostly clear-cut, that choice can be a far trickier proposition for the tens of millions of Americans with high cholesterol but no overt disease.
Now a report from preventive cardiologists at Johns Hopkins and elsewhere offers a set of useful tips for physicians to help their patients make the right call.
Patients with chronic kidney disease may be treated with a class of medications called Renin Angiotensin Aldosterone System inhibitors (RAASI's). Although these drugs protect the heart and kidney, a significant percentage of patients develop a dangerous side effect -- high potassium levels in the blood (hyperkalemia).
Elevated potassium puts patients at risk of death from cardiac arrhythmias. Lacking a drug to treat the problem, doctors either stop these beneficial drugs or may use kidney dialysis to quickly lower the potassium.
A short burst of intensive exercise before eating a high fat meal is better for blood vessel function in young people than the currently recommended moderate-intensity exercise, according to a new study from the University of Exeter.
Cardiovascular diseases including heart attacks and stroke are the leading cause of death in the UK, and the process underlying these diseases start in youth. An impairment in the function of blood vessels is thought to be the earliest event in this process, and this is known to occur in the hours after consuming a high fat meal.