Probiotics can protect the skeletons of older women
For the first time in the world, researchers at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, have demonstrated that probiotics, dietary supplements with health-promoting bacteria, can be used to affect the human skeleton. Among older women who received probiotics, bone loss was halved compared to women who received only a placebo. The research opens the door to a new way to prevent fractures among the elderly.
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In mice, stem cells seem to work in fighting obesity! What about stem cells in humans?
Obesity is an increasing global health problem associated with several comorbidities and a high risk of mortality. A wide spectrum of interventions has been proposed for weight management in clinical settings, but most are effective only in the short term, since it is common for patients with obesity to gradually regain the weight lost. This unfavourable outcome continues to stimulate researchers to search for an effective long-lasting treatment for obesity.
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Online information on vaccines and autism not always reliable, study shows
Research at Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS) has found that information available online can provide unreliable information based on old, 'weak' scientific studies. The study 'Fake news or weak science?' is published in open-access journal Frontiers in Immunology.
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Researchers find link between allergen in red meat and heart disease
A team of researchers says it has linked sensitivity to an allergen in red meat to the buildup of plaque in the arteries of the heart. While high saturated fat levels in red meat have long been known to contribute to heart disease for people in general, the new finding suggests that a subgroup of the population may be at heightened risk for a different reason - a food allergen.
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Big data identifies lipids as signatures of health and disease
Biology is swaddled in lipids: fats, oils, and even waxes envelop cells and their organelles, mediate the flow of vast biological information networks, protect fragile tissues, and store essential energy across multiple organisms. But despite their importance, lipids have traditionally been among the hardest biomolecules to study because of the diversity of their molecular structures, which are not determined by the well-defined building blocks and simple rules that govern DNA, RNA, and proteins.
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How to slow down Ebola
Between 2013 and 2016, West Africa suffered the most severe outbreak of Ebola ever recorded. In Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, a total of 29,000 patients were diagnosed with the disease. More than 11,000 people didn't survive. The epidemic has now passed, but researchers are wondering which intervention strategies would have been most effective in containing the disease.
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International agreement that human-relevant research is needed to enhance drug discovery
The average pre-approval cost of research and development for a successful drug is estimated to be US$2.6 billion and the number of new drugs approved per billion US dollars spent has halved roughly every 9 years since 1950. More than 90% of drug candidates entering clinical trials fail to gain regulatory approval, mainly as a result of insufficient efficacy and/or unacceptable toxicity, because of the limited predictive value of preclinical, animal-based studies.
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