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Getting a dog for the first time boosts walking and remote social ties

Rss Feed - Sun, 12/21/2025 - 18:01
First-time dog owners in Japan showed significant increases in walking activity and non-face-to-face social contact over one year compared with non-dog owners. No significant changes were observed in vigorous activity or face-to-face social contact, highlighting specific behavioral associations rather than broad lifestyle shifts.

Blood metabolite profiling outperforms BMI in predicting pregnancy complications

Rss Feed - Sun, 12/21/2025 - 17:44
This study shows that a blood-based metabolomic signature linked to maternal BMI predicts gestational diabetes and preeclampsia more strongly than BMI alone, particularly in late pregnancy. A subset of 16 metabolites statistically mediates the BMI–gestational diabetes association, highlighting metabolic pathways that may improve prenatal risk stratification.

Simple fruit granola intervention shows promising cardio-renal signals in CKD patients

Rss Feed - Sun, 12/21/2025 - 17:20
A single-arm intervention study in Japanese adults with moderate chronic kidney disease found that replacing breakfast with fruit granola for two months lowered systolic blood pressure, reduced LDL-related lipid markers, and decreased a urinary marker of tubular injury. Renal function remained stable, bowel habits improved, and findings were exploratory due to the small, open-label design.

Simple blood test maps hidden Alzheimer’s disease changes

Rss Feed - Sun, 12/21/2025 - 16:59
This population-based study used plasma pTau217 to estimate how common Alzheimer’s disease neuropathological changes are across age and cognitive status in a Norwegian community cohort. Prevalence rose steeply with age and was strongly associated with APOE ε4 genotype, education level, and kidney function, with implications for future use of blood biomarkers in clinical practice.

People with central vision loss can accurately judge approaching vehicles

Rss Feed - Fri, 12/19/2025 - 19:41
​People with central vision loss can judge the motion of vehicles almost as accurately as people with normal vision, a new international study shows.

Skin and internal organs sense cold through different molecular pathways

Rss Feed - Fri, 12/19/2025 - 19:33
A research team led by Félix Viana, co-director of the Sensory Transduction and Nociception laboratory at the Institute for Neurosciences (IN), a joint research centre of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and Miguel Hernández University of Elche (UMH), has demonstrated that the body uses different molecular mechanisms to detect cold in the skin and in internal organs.

Declining religious participation linked to rising deaths of despair

Rss Feed - Fri, 12/19/2025 - 18:59
A decline in religious participation among middle-aged, less educated white Americans may have played a role in the widely noted increases in "deaths of despair," a new study finds.

Genes influence the gut microbiome beyond the individual

Rss Feed - Fri, 12/19/2025 - 18:51
The gut microbiome - made up of trillions of microbes in the digestive tract - is vital for digestion and overall health. Diet and medication shape these microbial ecosystems, but the contribution of genetics has been more difficult to ascertain.

New CPRIT awards expand cancer prevention and treatment research in South Texas

Rss Feed - Fri, 12/19/2025 - 18:14
UT Health San Antonio, the academic health center of The University of Texas at San Antonio (UT San Antonio), received nearly $3 million in new academic and prevention awards as part of the latest funding round announced by the Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT).

New grant supports research into drug-induced brain toxicity

Rss Feed - Fri, 12/19/2025 - 18:05
Important FDA-approved drugs to treat HIV and cancer can save lives, but they come with their own risks. Some drugs used clinically are known to cause neurological side effects in up to half of patients, ranging from confusion and memory problems to permanent nerve damage.

Prenatal exposure to hot and humid conditions worsens child growth outcomes

Rss Feed - Fri, 12/19/2025 - 15:14
The dangers of heat and humidity are so well known it's become cliche to mention them. But the impacts can extend farther than even scientists and doctors realized.

New insights into how a molecular gatekeeper controls early protein modification

Rss Feed - Fri, 12/19/2025 - 14:57
For years, ETH researchers have been investigating a molecular complex that plays a key role in protein synthesis. They have now discovered that this complex also contributes a crucial function in ensuring that our DNA is properly processed and “packaged”.

Nanoplastics alter the gut barrier and metabolism depending on diet

Rss Feed - Fri, 12/19/2025 - 14:45
A team of researchers from INRAE, CNRS, and the University of Lille studied how low dietary doses of nanoplastics affected mice.

Long-approved drug shows promise in slowing neuron loss in Alzheimer’s disease

Rss Feed - Fri, 12/19/2025 - 14:28
Scientists at the University of Colorado Anschutz have discovered that while brain neuron changes, including cell loss, may begin in early life, a drug long-approved for other conditions might be repurposed to slow this damage, offering new hope for those with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other cognition issues.

DNA twisting controls how cells respond to estrogen

Rss Feed - Fri, 12/19/2025 - 14:20
Estrogens, the main female sex hormone, although they also perform some functions in men, are involved in a myriad of processes, which is why the body changes so much during menopause. This is because estrogens regulate hundreds of genes.

Viral DNA elements help control early embryonic development

Rss Feed - Fri, 12/19/2025 - 14:17
Transposable elements are stretches of DNA that can move around the genome. Many of these DNA sequences originate from long ago, when viruses inserted their genetic material into our ancestors' genomes during infection.

Access barriers keep Black and low-income patients out of genetics clinics

Rss Feed - Fri, 12/19/2025 - 14:12
Black patients and patients from socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods are dramatically under-represented in genetics clinics-often at rates half or less than those of White patients or individuals from wealthier areas-according to researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts General Hospital.

ACE2 protein may play a protective role against high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes

Rss Feed - Fri, 12/19/2025 - 14:03
A collaborative study from the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences (LMS) and Imperial College London has found that the protein ACE2 may play a protective role against two common conditions, high blood pressure and type-2 diabetes, which affect millions of people worldwide.

Study identifies TAK1 gene as a key brake on cancer immunotherapy

Rss Feed - Fri, 12/19/2025 - 11:53
Australian researchers have discovered that the TAK1 gene helps cancer cells survive attack from the immune system, revealing a mechanism that may limit the effectiveness of immunotherapy treatments.

Federal cuts to Housing First programs could sharply increase homelessness

Rss Feed - Fri, 12/19/2025 - 11:45
Eliminating federal funding for Housing First programs, initiatives that provide people experiencing homelessness (PEH) with stable housing without requiring sobriety or treatment, could lead to a sharp rise in homelessness nationwide, according to a new study published today in JAMA Health Forum.

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