FAB: News

Honey found to be a better treatment for upper respiratory tract infections than traditional remedies

A trio of researchers at Oxford University has found that honey is a better treatment for upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) than traditional remedies. In their paper published in BMJ Evidence-based Medicine, Hibatullah Abuelgasim, Charlotte Albury, and Joseph Lee describe their study of the results of multiple clinical trials that involved testing of treatments for upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) and what they learned from the data.

Can a healthy diet reduce risk of Parkinson's?

While movement problems are the main symptoms of Parkinson's disease, people with the disease often have non-motor symptoms such as constipation, daytime sleepiness and depression 10 or more years before the movement problems start. A new study suggests that eating a healthy diet in middle age may be linked to having fewer of these preceding symptoms. The study is published in the August 19, 2020, online issue of Neurology.

Researchers find link between gut microbiome and cancer treatment outcomes

Physicians at City of Hope, working in collaboration with scientists at Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), have found that greater gut microbial diversity in patients with metastatic kidney cancer is associated with better treatment outcomes on Food and Drug Administration-approved immunotherapy regimens. Their findings are outlined in a study published today in the journal European Urology.

Influence of vitamin D supplementation on a baby's gut microbiome

New research from the CHILD Cohort Study has shed light on the influence of vitamin D supplementation on a baby's developing gut microbiome. The study, published in the journal Gut Microbes, found that vitamin D supplementation is associated with compositional changes in a baby's microbiome—notably a lower abundance of the bacteria Megamonas—at three months of age.

Antibiotics associated with increased risk of inflammatory bowel disease

Antibiotics use, particularly antibiotics with greater spectrum of microbial coverage, may be associated with an increased risk of new-onset inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and its subtypes ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease.

Lipoic acid supplements help some obese but otherwise healthy people lose weight

A compound given as a dietary supplement to overweight but otherwise healthy people in a clinical trial caused many of the patients to slim down, research by Oregon State University and Oregon Health & Science University showed.

TV-watching snackers beware: You won't notice you're full if your attention is elsewhere

Eating while doing something perceptually-demanding makes it more difficult to notice when you feel full, shows new research from the University of Sussex.

Excess weight among pregnant women may interfere with child's developing brain

Obesity in expectant mothers may hinder the development of the babies' brains as early as the second trimester, a new study finds.

Personalised probiotic cocktails’ could be the future in tackling gut dysbiosis, study finds

“Personalised probiotic cocktails” may be possible after a team use new insights to predict the success of Faecal Microbiota Transplantation (FMT) in addressing recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection (rCDI).

Cinnamon may improve blood sugar control in people with prediabetes

Cinnamon improves blood sugar control in people with prediabetes and could slow the progression to type 2 diabetes, according to a new study published in the Journal of the Endocrine Society.

Miscarriage risk increases each week alcohol is used in early pregnancy

Each week a woman consumes alcohol during the first five to 10 weeks of pregnancy is associated with an incremental 8% increase in risk of miscarriage, according to a study by Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) researchers. The findings, published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, examine the timing, amount and type of alcohol use during pregnancy and how these factors relate to miscarriage risk before 20 weeks' gestation.

GI symptoms linked to behavioral problems in children, especially those with autism

This study highlights the link between GI symptoms and some problematic behaviors we see in preschool-aged children. Clinicians and parents need to be aware of the high occurrence of GI problems in kids with autism

Link between autism and eating disorders may be due to an inability to identify emotions – new research

Eating disorders have the highest mortality rates of any mental illness. They don’t discriminate, affecting people of all ethnicities, sexualities, gender identities, ages and backgrounds. However, one group is disproportionately affected by these disorders: people on the autism spectrum.

Gut bacteria in people with Huntington's disease may be a potential drug target

A world first clinical study of the gut microbiome in people with Huntington's disease (HD) has found that it is not just a disease of the brain, but also of the body. The study, led by Monash University's Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, with collaboration from the Florey Institute for Neurosciences found evidence of gut dysbiosis (altered bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract) in people with HD, with some of the gut measures associated with disease symptoms, such as impaired movements and thinking.

REM sleep tunes eating behaviour

Despite our broad understanding of the different brain regions activated during rapid-eye-movement sleep, little is known about what this activity serves for. Researchers at the University of Bern and the Inselspital have now discovered that the activation of neurons in the hypothalamus during REM sleep regulates eating behavior: suppressing this activity in mice decreases appetite.

Body weight has surprising, alarming impact on brain function

As a person's weight goes up, all regions of the brain go down in activity and blood flow, according to a new brain imaging study in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. One of the largest studies linking obesity with brain dysfunction, scientists analyzed over 35,000 functional neuroimaging scans using single-photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT) from more than 17,000 individuals to measure blood flow and brain activity. Low cerebral blood flow is the #1 brain imaging predictor that a person will develop Alzheimer's disease.

Sweet-taste perception changes as children develop

Compared with adults, children and adolescents are less sensitive to the sweet taste and need 40% more sucrose in a solution for them to detect the taste of sugar, a new study found. Along with higher taste-detection thresholds, both children and adolescents prefer significantly more concentrated levels of sweetness than adults.

What food cravings tell us about the quality of our diets

Do you dream of ice cream in a Zoom meeting or reach for potato chips as you check the latest COVID-19 stats? You may be experiencing something deeper than a whim, according to a team of scientists at the Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA) at Tufts University.

Supplements with potential to prevent Alzheimer's affect blood, but less so the brain

For years, a scientific puzzle has bedeviled researchers aiming to fight Alzheimer's disease, a common and incurable form of dementia. The results of numerous lab investigations and population studies support the preventive potential of omega-3 fatty acids, "good fats" found abundantly in fish. However, to date the majority of studies evaluating omega-3s for averting or curtailing cognitive decline in human participants have failed to show benefits.

Microalgae makes case as a viable omega-3 alternative to fish, study concludes

Microalgae may provide an alternative source of fish-derived omega-3 fatty acids, while also proving to be more environmentally friendly to produce, says German researchers.

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