Body

Concerns have been raised over the long-term use of nutritional supplements containing chromium, after an Australian research team found the supplement is partially converted into a carcinogenic form when it enters cells.

Chromium is a trace mineral found primarily in two forms. Trivalent chromium(III) picolinate and a range of other chromium(III) forms are sold as a nutritional supplements, while hexavalent chromium(VI) is its 'carcinogenic cousin'.

Backyard chickens may live a sweeter life than chickens on commercial poultry farms, but roaming green grass and scratching real dirt exposes these birds to a different suite of parasites than those found in most commercial facilities. A paper in the latest issue of the Journal of Medical Entomology by University of California, Riverside scientists Amy C. Murillo and Bradley A. Mullens reveals what's crawling on backyard birds, and the answer will likely make chicken fanciers itch.

BOSTON [January 11, 2016]--Previous studies have shown an association between high folic acid intake and a reduction in the immune system defenses needed to fight viral infections and cancer. In a new study in mice published in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, scientists at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University (HNRCA) set out to determine if excess folic acid intake caused adverse changes in the immune system.

Puff Adders are the ultimate ambush predator.

This African viper species, Bitis arietans, relies on stealth, both to find its prey and to hide from their predators. And, while they have always been hard to find visually, they turn out to be virtually impossible to detect by scent.

What do people value, why and how? This should be a leading question in sustainability research, but putting it into practise can be tricky. A new paper published in the journal Ecosystem Services looks at how to improve stakeholder participation in the research on and governance of ecosystem services (ESS) as a stepping point to more comprehensive and participatory research practises.

The eating habits of mothers may be key to keeping wild animal populations steady, a study suggests.

The discovery shows that the food intake of mothers - which impacts on the appetite of their offspring - protects animals from periods of population boom and bust.

It could explain why a decades-old scientific theory that predicts populations should swell until they are too big, at which point their numbers should crash, has never been validated in the wild.

Since prehistoric times, clays have been used by people for medicinal purposes. Whether by eating it, soaking in a mud bath, or using it to stop bleeding from wounds, clay has long been part of keeping humans healthy. Certain clays have also been found with germ-killing abilities, but how these work has remained unclear.

A new discovery by Arizona State University scientists shows exactly how two specific metallic elements in the right kinds of clay can kill troublesome bacteria that infect humans and animals.

A Phase II study instrumental in the recent approval of a new multiple myeloma treatment was published online today in The Lancet. Winship Chief Medical Officer and multiple myeloma expert Sagar Lonial, MD, was lead author on the paper, "Single-agent Daratumumab in Heavily Pretreated Patients With Multiple Myeloma: An Open-label, International, Multicentre Phase 2 Trial."

Malaysian scientists are joining forces with Harvard University experts to help revolutionize the treatment of lung diseases -- the delivery of nanomedicine deep into places otherwise impossible to reach.

Under a five-year memorandum of understanding between Harvard and the University of Malaya, Malaysian scientists will join a distinguished team seeking a safe, more effective way of tackling lung problems including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the progressive, irreversible obstruction of airways causing almost 1 in 10 deaths today.

Little is known about the long-term health of survivors of childhood cancers that affect vision, but two new studies provide valuable insights that could impact patient care and follow-up. The findings are published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Public-health experts have long expected that kids who eat more carrots and apples are less likely to eat a lot of candy and fries, but new research is calling that into question.

Preschoolers from low-income neighborhoods in Columbus who ate fruits and vegetables and drank milk many times every day were just as likely to eat foods high in sugar, salt and fat as those who rarely ate healthy foods, found a research team led by Sarah Anderson, associate professor of epidemiology at The Ohio State University.

A clinical trial using cholesterol-lowering treatment Simvastatin in people living with Parkinson's is getting underway in centres across the country -- with the hope that it could become one of a number of effective treatments available to treat Parkinson's.

Oakland, CA (January 11, 2016) - The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) dietary pattern, which is high in fruits, vegetables and low fat dairy foods, significantly lowers blood pressure as well as low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol.

RICHLAND, Wash. -- Seashells and lobster claws are hard to break, but chalk is soft enough to draw on sidewalks. Though all three are made of calcium carbonate crystals, the hard materials include clumps of soft biological matter that make them much stronger. A study today in Nature Communications reveals how soft clumps get into crystals and endow them with remarkable strength.

LA JOLLA--Glioblastoma multiforme is a particularly deadly cancer. A person diagnosed with this type of brain tumor typically survives 15 months, if given the best care. The late Senator Ted Kennedy succumbed to this disease in just over a year.

But scientists at the Salk Institute have discovered a key to how these tumor cells proliferate so quickly --and ways to turn this engine of tumor growth into a target for cancer treatment.