Body

Cardiorespiratory fitness is associated with reduced metabolic syndrome risk among smokers, according to researchers from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Public Health. The study was published today in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Smoking is estimated to cause 443,000 deaths each year in the United States, primarily from cancer, cardiovascular diseases and respiratory disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

An international team of scientists, led by researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, have found genetic overlap between Alzheimer's disease (AD) and two significant cardiovascular disease risk factors: high levels of inflammatory C-reactive protein (CRP) and plasma lipids or fats. The findings, based upon genome-wide association studies involving hundreds of thousands of individuals, suggest the two cardiovascular phenotypes play a role in AD risk - and perhaps offer a new avenue for potentially delaying disease progression.

Rooted in malfunctions in the tiny power plants that energize our cells, mitochondrial disorders are notoriously complex and variable, with few effective treatments. Now, novel findings in microscopic worms may hold great promise for children and adults with mitochondrial disorders. By using existing human drugs to improve metabolism and restore shortened lifespans in these laboratory animals, scientists have set the stage for human clinical trials of possible innovative therapies for mitochondrial disease.

A new study has found that wind instrument players have a reduced risk of developing obstructive sleep apnea.

Scientists have discovered a protein that plays a central role in promoting immunity to viruses and cancer, opening the door to new therapies.

Experiments in mice and human cells have shown that the protein promotes the proliferation of cytotoxic T cells, which kill cancer cells and cells infected with viruses. The discovery was unexpected because the new protein had no known function and doesn't resemble any other protein.

Obesity was associated with an increased risk for prostate cancer in African American men and that risk grew by nearly four times as body-mass index (BMI) increased, according to a new study. African American men have the highest incidence of prostate cancer of any racial or ethnic group in the United States, as well as the highest rates of aggressive disease and prostate cancer death. These elevated risks likely arise from both social and biologic factors. The associations of obesity with prostate cancer risk are complex.

New research might bring a frown to even the most heavily botoxed faces, with scientists finding how some of the potent toxin used for cosmetic surgery escapes into the central nervous system.

Researchers at The University of Queensland have shown how Botox - also known as Botulinum neurotoxin serotype A - is transported via our nerves back to the central nervous system.

Botox - best known for its ability to smooth wrinkles - has been extremely useful for the treatment of over-active muscles and spasticity as it promotes local and long-term paralysis.

Today it is not possible to predict how or if malignant melanomas will spread. Melanoma metastases are furthermore extremely difficult to eliminate as traditional treatment such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy is mostly ineffective. Only ten per cent of the patients survive once they reach an advanced stage with distant metastases.

The first-ever systematic study of the genomes of patients with ALK-negative anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL), a particularly aggressive form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, shows that many cases of the disease are driven by alterations in the JAK/STAT3 cell signaling pathway. The study also demonstrates, in mice implanted with human-derived ALCL tumors, that the disease can be inhibited by compounds that target this pathway, raising hopes that more effective treatments might soon be developed.

Macrophages destroy bacteria by engulfing them in intracellular compartments, which they then acidify to kill or neutralize the bacteria. However, some pathogenic bacteria, such as Salmonella enterica, have evolved to exist and even grow while within these acidified compartments. Yet, how Salmonella responds to the acidic environment and how that environment affects the virulence of this pathogen are unclear.

You might think that you can get away with eating fatty foods for a few days without it making any significant changes to your body.

Think again.

After just five days of eating a high-fat diet, the way in which the body's muscle processes nutrients changes, which could lead to long-term problems such as weight gain, obesity, and other health issues, a new study has found.

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.

Look at a primate or a Neanderthal skull and compare it with a modern human's. Notice anything missing?

We have one feature that primates, Neanderthals, archaic humans--any species, for that matter--don't possess: a chin.

"In some way, it seems trivial, but a reason why chins are so interesting is we're the only ones who have them," says Nathan Holton, who studies craniofacial features and mechanics at the University of Iowa. "It's unique to us."

In a recent study, Saint Louis University researchers found that salt pill consumption neither hurt nor helped performance for endurance athletes. Edward Weiss, Ph.D., assistant professor of nutrition and dietetics at Saint Louis University, cast doubts on the popular idea that salt consumption can help endurance athletes during competition in the the Journal of Sports Science and Medicine paper.

Skin is remarkably resistant to tearing and a team of researchers from the University of California, San Diego and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory now have shown why.