Category Biology/Biotechnology

Erythritol may impair cellular functions essential to maintaining brain blood vessel health, according to researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder. Findings suggest that erythritol increases oxidative stress, disrupts nitric oxide signaling, raises vasoconstrictive peptide production, and diminishes clot-dissolving capacity in human brain microvascular endothelial cells.

Erythritol has become a fixture in the ingredient lists of protein bars, low-calorie beverages, and diabetic-friendly baked goods. Its appeal lies in its sweetness-to-calorie ratio, roughly 60–80% as sweet as sucrose with a tiny fraction of the energy yield, and its negligible effect on blood glucose...

A trial of an interactive game that trains people to alter their brain waves has shown promise as a treatment for nerve pain — offering hope for a new generation of drug-free treatments.

The PainWaive technology, developed by UNSW Sydney researchers, teaches users how to regulate abnormal brain activity linked to chronic nerve pain, offering a potential in-home, non-invasive alternative to opioids.

A recent trial of the technology, led by Professor Sylvia Gustin and Dr Negin Hesam-Shariati from UNSW Sydney’s NeuroRecovery Research Hub, has delivered promisin...

Mold in houses is unsightly and may cause unpleasant odors. More important though, mold has been linked to a range of health effects—especially triggering asthma.

However, is mold exposure linked to a serious lung disease in children, unrelated to asthma? As we’ll see, this link may not be real, or if it is, it’s so rare to not be a meaningful risk. Yet we still hear mold in damp homes described as “toxic.”

Indeed, moldy homes can harm people’s health, but not necessarily how you might think.

What is mold?
Mold is the general term for a variety of fungi. The mold that people have focused on in damp homes is “black mold.” This forms unsightly black patches on walls and other parts of damp-affected buildings.

Black mold is not a single fung...

Eating a high-fat diet containing a large amount of oleic acid—a type of fatty acid commonly found in olive oil—could drive obesity more than other types of dietary fats, according to a study published in the journal Cell Reports.

The study found that oleic acid, a monounsaturated fat associated with obesity, causes the body to make more fat cells. By boosting a signaling protein called AKT2 and reducing the activity of a regulating protein called LXR, high levels of oleic acid resulted in faster growth of the precursor cells that form new fat cells.

“We know that the types of fat that people eat have changed during the obesity epidemic...