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New Zealand should follow the UK and more than 30 other countries in introducing a tax on sugary drinks to tackle obesity and reduce deaths from chronic diseases, leading researchers say.
In a review of recent international and New Zealand research on the impact of food and beverage taxes, the researchers identify the strong level of scientific evidence showing such taxes work.
Tuberculosis still represents the infectious disease with the highest fatality numbers. It is caused by mycobacteria, which mainly attack the lungs but can also affect almost any other organ. The fatty acid biosynthetic factory is an important target in the fight against this infectious bacterium. The fatty acid synthase (FAS) is considered one of the most complex cellular machines. The team led by Holger Stark and Ashwin Chari of the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry has now discovered a protein that commands and controls FAS function.
H2020 European Research Council, Agence Nationale de la Recherche, Israel Science Foundation, Alex Grass Center for Drug Design and Synthesis
Clinicians combat the drug resistances of some cancer types by using a combination of different drugs. To make this approach more effective, chemists have designed a chemical conjugate that can simultaneously attack several cellular targets using different modes of action. Such a single-drug therapy would increase the chances of killing all cancer cells, the authors state in the journal Angewandte Chemie.
Already considered a global epidemic, human obesity continues to be on the rise. According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than 40% of the U.S. population is considered obese.
The gamut of adverse health effects associated with obesity is broad, including such devastating illnesses as type 2 diabetes, coronary artery disease, stroke, sleep apnea and certain forms of cancer. Patients often suffer depression, loss of mobility, social isolation and inability to work.
Nagoya University researchers and colleagues have revealed the nerve circuitry regulating the response of a tiny soil worm to changing temperatures. The findings, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, help clarify one way the nervous system translates external signals into behaviours.
BEER-SHEVA, ISRAEL...March 13, 2020 - Although aquaculture in treated wastewater is practiced worldwide, there is scant scientific research concerning whether organic micropollutants are present at safe levels for consumption.
Research conducted by the Royal Veterinary College (RVC), in collaboration with Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces and University College London (UCL), has found new insights into how a bone acts as an organ to regulate its shape and quantity to protect itself from breaking.
Bones can change their shape throughout our life by regulating bone formation and resorption processes, which is often a response to forces which press, pull and twist the skeleton during everyday movements and exercise. The purpose of this shaping is to limit any risk of fracture.
Spain boasts the highest strawberry production rate in Europe and, in order to maintain this key economic sector, is always looking to use innovation and research tools to keep being number one within the strawberry market.
This is the mission in which the Biotechnology and Plant Drug Analysis research group from the University of Cordoba plays an important role. They study strawberry fruit ripening, by analyzing the genes related to fruit quality in terms of color, firmness, aroma, taste and texture parameters, seeking to find the best product to be put on the market.
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In a study of kidney transplant recipients, the composition of certain immune cells in the blood 1 year after kidney transplantation was linked with a patient's subsequent risk of kidney transplant failure.
Washington, DC (March 12, 2020) -- A newly discovered blood marker may help physicians predict which patients who recently underwent kidney transplantation are at risk of experiencing organ rejection several years later. The findings appear in an upcoming issue of JASN.
Rates of at-risk alcohol consumption are higher in the South and East of Germany, compared to the North and West, according to a study published in the open access journal BMC Public Health. However, compared to West Germany, people in East Germany eat more healthily, while rates of smoking and lack of physical activity appear to be similar across regions.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Black, Hispanic and indigenous women are more likely to have gaps in insurance around the time of pregnancy than white women, a new study suggests.
Nearly half of all black, Hispanic, and Indigenous women had discontinuous insurance coverage between preconception and after delivering their babies compared to about a fourth of white women, according to the research in Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Around eight in every 100 children (8.4%; 673/7,994) aged 9-10 years in the USA report suicidal ideation (temporarily or regularly thinking about, considering, or planning suicide), according to a new nationally representative observational study of almost 8,000 children aged 9-10 years in the USA, published in The Lancet Psychiatry journal.
Importantly, less than two in every 100 (1.3%; 107/7,994) children aged 9-10 years reported a suicide attempt in the study, and around one in 100 (0.9%; 75/7,994) had past or current suicidal plans.
In December 2019, an outbreak of respiratory illness caused by a novel (new) coronavirus was identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. Since then various organizations and media outlets have struggled to identify the respiratory illness correctly.
The AMA Manual of Style, written by editors of the JAMA Network and published by Oxford University Press, has released guidance on the terminology.
An important biological mechanism that is thought to protect brain cells from neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's may also be involved in regulating sleep, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The researchers found that a signaling pathway that helps prevent the buildup of abnormal protein aggregates in brain cells is also required for sleep in both fruit flies and zebrafish. The fact that this mechanism is present in two evolutionarily distant species suggests that it may also be present in humans.
A ketogenic diet can lead to several flu-like symptoms within the first few weeks on the diet, according to a new study published in Frontiers in Nutrition. These symptoms peak in the first 7 days and dwindle after four weeks and range in severity, as reported by users on social media. These reports reveal common but yet unknown symptoms, such as flu fatigue, nausea, dizziness, decreased energy, feeling faint and heartbeat alterations.