Category Health/Medical

Researchers at McMaster University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have made two scientific breakthroughs at once: they not only discovered a brand-new antibiotic that targets inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), but also successfully used a new type of AI to predict exactly how the drug works. To their knowledge, this is a global first for the AI.

Detailed in the journal Nature Microbiology, the discovery unveils a promising new treatment option for millions of people affected by Crohn’s disease and other related conditions, while also showcasing important new applications fo...

There’s a long-held belief in diabetes prevention that weight loss is the main way to lower disease risk. Our new study challenges this.

For decades, people diagnosed with prediabetes—a condition affecting up to one in three adults depending on age—have been told the same thing by their doctors: eat healthily and lose weight to avoid developing diabetes.

This approach hasn’t been working for all. Despite unchanged medical recommendations for more than 20 years, diabetes prevalence continues rising globally. Most people with prediabetes find weight-loss goals hard to reach, leaving them discouraged and still at high risk of diabetes.

Our latest research, published in Nature Medicine, reveals a different approach entirely...

Research led by the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Aging in Cologne reports that misincorporation of ribonucleotides into mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) initiates an inflammatory cascade.

Mitochondria support cell survival through metabolic and signaling roles. Conversely, their disruption has been associated with inflammation, cell death and disease.

Innate immune activation through the cGAS-STING-TBK1 pathway can move a cell from short-term defense to a chronic state of alarm. cGAS-STING activity is linked to autoimmune and inflammatory diseases and contributes to senescence and aging, intertwining immune signaling with tissue decline.

Senescent cells then adopt a secretor...

People who sleep poorly are more likely than others to have brains that appear older than they actually are. This is according to a comprehensive brain imaging study from Karolinska Institutet, published in the journal eBioMedicine. The paper is titled “Poor sleep health is associated with older brain age: the role of systemic inflammation.”

Increased inflammation in the body may partly explain the association.

Poor sleep has been linked to dementia, but it is unclear whether unhealthy sleep habits contribute to the development of dementia or whether they are rather early symptoms of the disease.

In a new study, researchers at Karolinska Institutet have investigated the link between sleep characteristics and how old the brain appears in relat...