by editor-oa | May 25, 2022 | Frontpage News
A new study, published in the American Thoracic Society’s (ATS) journal, finds that more than 9 million deaths worldwide, or 1 in 6 deaths, are associated with global pollution.
For the study, Dr. Dean Schraufnagel, from the ATS, and his team used 2019 data from the Global Burden of Disease, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) and assessed trends since 2000. The analysis of the available data showed that from 2000 to 2019, there was a steady decline in deaths from household air pollution and water sanitation, especially in Africa.
However, the number of deaths from other forms of pollution has risen. Authors believe that ambient particulate matter air pollution was responsible for 4.5 million deaths in 2019, up from 4.2 million in 2015 and 2.9 million in 2000.
Dr. Schraufnagel comments on the results of the study: “Our findings indicate almost immediate and substantial effects on health outcomes followed reduced exposure to air pollution. It’s critical that governments adopt and enforce WHO guidelines for air pollution immediately.”
by editor-oa | May 20, 2022 | Frontpage News
A team of scientists from the University of Bern, Switzerland, found how sleep helps the brain process emotions for the next day. In their study, researchers used a mouse model, yet it will help solve human sleep mysteries.
At this point, scientists know that rapid eye movement (REM) sleep helps humans consolidate their emotional memories. The current study helped to understand that silence is also a powerful tool. In the series of experiments with sleeping and awake mice, researchers found that the quieting of the prefrontal cortex during REM sleep helps the whole system reset.
The research team concluded that without proper REM sleep, networks in the brain can become ‘oversaturated’ with emotional messages, like fear, making it harder to determine important signals from background noise noticing that it can lead a mouse to act overly fearful or not fearful enough when they’re awake.
by editor-oa | May 18, 2022 | Frontpage News
In a new study, a team of scientists from Northwestern University in Evanston, U.S, tested the breast cancer drug abemaciclib in a few patients and discovered their symptoms improved and the brain tumor size reduced.
For their study, the researchers used genomic data from 565 tumors from two cohorts of patients who had been followed up for 5–6 years and profiled the DNA methylation of the cancer genomes. After this, they analyzed this alongside the presence of DNA repeats at certain points in the genome and also looked at the RNA present in the tumors to determine which genes had and hadn’t been expressed.
Then, the researchers then tested the drug abemaciclib, a cancer drug used to treat breast cancer, on tumor cells in cell lines, organoids, and xenografts in mice. The experiment results showed that the drug could be used to treat individuals with either immune-enriched tumors or hypermitotic tumors.
by editor-oa | May 17, 2022 | Frontpage News
Recent research from the University of Pennsylvania, U.S., finds that atopic dermatitis may develop differently than previously thought. With the help of the mouse model, the researchers found that fibroblast dysregulation contributes to atopic dermatitis development through RNA analysis.
In the current study, the mice were designed to lack the Ikkb gene responsible for activating NF-KB signaling, where NF-KB is “a master inflammatory transcription factor that regulates immune-responsive genes.”
Dr. Adam Mamelak, a board-certified dermatologist, who wasn’t involved in the study, comments on the results: “This study highlights a previously unrecognized molecular pathway in skin cells that can lead to a TH2 immune response in the skin. As we continue to unravel the cause and mechanism of action of atopic eczema and search for better treatments, these investigators have drawn our attention to a previously unrecognized piece of the puzzle.”
by editor-oa | May 16, 2022 | Frontpage News
In a new study, the results of which were published in mBio, researchers found that a balanced diet with high content of fiber was associated with lower levels of antimicrobial resistance in gut bacteria.
The scientists assessed the diets of over 250 participants, aged between 18 and 66, and also examined the genes of those participants’ gut microbiome, looking for antibiotic resistance genes.
Having analyzed the collected data, the researchers concluded that people who consumed diverse diets that were high in fiber and low in animal protein had fewer antibiotic resistance genes.
Study author Dr. Danielle G. Lemay explains: “We found that people who consume more diverse diets with more soluble fiber have lower numbers of antimicrobial resistance genes in their gut microbiomes. Therefore, a diverse diet high in soluble fiber potentially reduces the risk of an antibiotic-resistant infection.”
by editor-oa | May 13, 2022 | Frontpage News
A new study, carried out by a team of researchers at the Laboratory of Epidemiology and Population Sciences at the National Institute on Aging, found that higher levels of the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin together as well as β-cryptoxanthin were associated with a lower risk of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease.
In their study, the team used a large dataset of more than 7,000 people in the U.S., aged between 45 and 90 years. All these people were followed for an average of 16–17 years. The scientists assessed the levels of several antioxidants in the participants’ blood, including vitamins A, C, and E, and several carotenoids.
Dr. May Beydoun, the lead author of the study, says: “Our observational study suggests that if people consume a diet that is rich in specific carotenoids, as reflected by their blood levels of these nutrients, they may be at lower risk of developing dementia with age.”
