Category Health/Medical

New research finds Deep-Sleep Brain Waves Predict Blood Sugar Control

Researchers have uncovered a potential mechanism in humans that explains how and why deep-sleep brain waves at night are able to regulate the body’s sensitivity to insulin, which in turn improves blood sugar control the next day. (Illustration courtesy Matthew Walker)

Researchers have known that a lack of quality sleep can increase a person’s risk of diabetes. What has remained a mystery, however, is why.

Now, new findings from a team of sleep scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, are closer to an answer. The researchers have uncovered a potential mechanism in humans that explains how and why deep-sleep brain waves at night are able to regulate the body’s sensitivity to insulin, which in turn improves blood sugar control the next day.

“These synchronized brain w...

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AI finds a way to People’s Hearts (literally!)

Evaluation of Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction
Left: Chest radiograph
Right: Visualization of the grounds for the AI’s judgment
Credit: Daiju Ueda, OMU

Unveiling a groundbreaking and accurate AI-based method to classify cardiac function and disease using chest X-Rays. AI (artificial intelligence) may sound like a cold robotic system, but Osaka Metropolitan University scientists have shown that it can deliver heartwarming — or, more to the point, “heart-warning” — support. They unveiled an innovative use of AI that classifies cardiac functions and pinpoints valvular heart disease with unprecedented accuracy, demonstrating continued progress in merging the fields of medicine and technology to advance patient care. The results will be published in The Lancet Digital Health.

Valvular hea...

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THC use during Pregnancy linked to Changes in Fetal Development

A pregnant person sits in a doctor's office while the doctor asks questions from a clipboard. OHSU researchers in a preclinical study confirm consuming THC while pregnant could potentially affect the development of the fetus and lead to life-long health impacts for offspring. (Getty Images)
OHSU researchers in a preclinical study confirm consuming THC while pregnant could potentially affect the development of the fetus and lead to life-long health impacts for offspring. (Getty Images)

Oregon Health & Science University researchers showed that consuming THC while pregnant could potentially affect development of the fetus and lead to life-long health impacts for offspring.

The preclinical study was published today in the journal Clinical Epigenetics.

Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, is the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, a substance growing in popularity and availability in the United States...

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Pathogenic Bacteria use a Sugar in the Intestinal Mucus Layer to Infect the Gut, study shows

The Citrobacter rodentium (orange) rely on sugars in the intestinal mucus layer (green).
Harmful gut bacteria like Citrobacter rodentium (orange) rely on sugars in the intestinal mucus layer (green).

A new study by researchers at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and BC Children’s Hospital shows the sugar sialic acid, which makes up part of the protective intestinal mucus layer, fuels disease-causing bacteria in the gut.

The findings, published in PNAS, suggest a potential treatment target for intestinal bacterial infections and a range of chronic diseases linked to gut bacteria, including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), celiac disease, IBS and short bowel syndrome.

“Bacteria need to find a place in our intestines to take hold, establish and expand, and then they need to overcome all the different defenses that normally protect our gut,” says Dr...

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