Access to HIV medication has significantly reduced the number of AIDS related deaths in Africa. Yet in a number of African countries, one in four HIV infected still dies within the first few months of commencing treatment. One reason for these deaths is malnutrition which causes the HIV-virus to develop more aggressively. Now a team of researchers has shown that a dietary supplement given during the...
Complex interactions among diet, mitochondrial DNA and nuclear DNA appear to influence lifespan at least as much as single factors alone, a new study of the biology of aging shows. The findings may help scientists better understand the underlying mechanisms of aging and explain why studies of single factors sometimes produce contradictory results. ...
Overweight young people are more likely to be rejected as friends by peers who are of normal weight, according to new research by Arizona State University social scientists. Not having or losing friends is associated with higher depression and lower self-worth for young people, which could exacerbate the health problems associated with being overweight. ...
Evidence that sugar has a direct effect on risk factors for heart disease, and is likely to impact on blood pressure, independent of weight gain has been discovered in a study. The researchers conducted a review and meta-analysis of all international studies that compared the effects of higher versus lower added sugar consumption on blood pressure and lipids (blood fats or cholesterol) – both of which...
How can runners improve their performance, weight and fitness? Researchers have produced a mathematical model to optimize running, which could lead to personal e-coaching customized to each individual's physiological state. It also confirms a well-known fact in the sports community: runners who vary their speed spend their energy better and thus run longer. Mathematics gives them the opportunity to...
Women who go through menopause early -- at ages 40 to 45 -- have a higher rate of heart failure, according to a new study. Smoking, current or past, raises the rate even more. The authors' analysis of the data showed that women who went through menopause naturally at this early age had a rate of heart failure some 40% higher than women who went through menopause the usual age between 50 and 54. (The...
Gut bacteria communicate with their host to specifically regulate weight gain and serum cholesterol levels, new research has found. The research has implications for the rational selection and design of probiotics for the control of obesity, high cholesterol and diabetes. "Recent work by other groups has shown that bile acids act as signalling molecules in the host, almost like a hormonal network,...
Zinc supplements reduce diarrhea and other infections in malnourished children, and may prevent death, according to a new study, the first systematic review to focus on zinc as a means to prevent childhood death, including deaths caused by diarrhea, one of the biggest killers of under-fives. Zinc is a micronutrient with important roles in growth and in the immune, nervous and reproductive systems....
A team of scientists has investigated how 'body clock dysregulation' might affect obesity-related metabolic disorders. "Animal sleeping and eating patterns, including those of humans, are subject to a circadian rhythmicity," one researcher said. "And previous studies have shown an association between the dysregulation of circadian or body clock rhythms and some metabolic disorders," adding that this...
Feeling sluggish? Gaining weight? What you need is a shot in the arm, claim advertisers for trendy vitamin B12 injections. Don’t let marketers needle you. “If medical testing confirms that an individual has a vitamin B12 deficiency, a vitamin B12 supplement will help. But if a B12 deficiency has not been identified by a physician or primary care doctor, there is no need to waste energy and money on...
On average, a morbidly obese employee costs an employer over $4,000 more per year in health care and related costs than an employee who is of normal weight, research shows. The study also revealed that obese individuals who had comorbidities such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and high cholesterol incurred more costs than obese workers without these conditions, says a co-author. ...
Pink Himalayan, Breton Gray and Hawaiian Alea – the newer offerings of salt may be exotic, cost more and frequent the shelves of high-end stores, but they are just as bad for you as common table salt. “Typically people opt for natural vs. processed to avoid preservatives such as sodium, but in this case, all salt is sodium,” says a clinical dietitian. “Sea salt and table salt have an equivalent sodium...
New research published in Diabetologia (the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes) indicates that brief bursts of intense exercise before meals (termed exercise 'snacking' by......
Rates of obesity and overweight in both male and females are projected to increase in almost all countries of Europe by 2030, according to a statistical modelling study....
A new study from the University of Houston Department of Health and Human Performance (HHP) finds childhood poverty reaches into the lives of white, Hispanic and African-American young adult women......
A study of Italians who consume a diet rich in resveratrol -- the compound found in red wine, dark chocolate and berries -- finds they live no longer than and are just as likely to develop cardiovascular disease or cancer as those who eat or drink smaller amounts of the antioxidant. ...
The obese are advised to do physical exercise. But this can increase their physiological stress responses, and thereby make it more difficult to slim, according to a new study. This research may provide an explanation for the difficulties which many people encounter in losing weight despite energetic keep-fit efforts. ...
A comparison of the genomes of polar bears and brown bears reveals that the polar bear is a much younger species than previously believed, having diverged from brown bears less than 500,000 years ago....
New research has found that bariatric surgery is an effective way to control weight in morbidly obese patients who are at risk for developing atrial fibrillation (AF)....
New research has found a fourfold increase in the rate of diagnosed cases of celiac disease in the United Kingdom over the past two decades, but, still it appears that three quarters of people with celiac disease remain undiagnosed. ...