Category Health/Medical

The Right ‘5-a-day’ Mix is 2 Fruit and 3 Vegetable Servings for Longer Life

Studies representing nearly 2 million adults worldwide show that eating about five daily servings of fruits and vegetables, in which 2 are fruits and 3 are vegetables, is likely the optimal amount for a longer life, according to new research published today in the American Heart Association’s flagship journal Circulation.

Diets rich in fruits and vegetables help reduce risk for numerous chronic health conditions that are leading causes of death, including cardiovascular disease and cancer. Yet, only about one in 10 adults eat enough fruits or vegetables, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“While groups like the American Heart Association recommend four to five servings each of fruits and vegetables daily, consumers likely get inconsistent messages ...

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Bitter Receptor involved in Anti-Inflammatory effect of Resveratrol?

Grapes; Public Domain, U.S. Department o Agriculture — Agricultural Research Service http://www.ars.usda.gov/SP2UserFiles/Program/304/ARS-PDPlan2006.pdf

Human gum cells as a test system for investigating interactions between resveratrol, bitter receptors and the release of inflammatory markers.

Resveratrol is a plant compound found primarily in red grapes and Japanese knotweed. Its synthetic variant has been approved as a food ingredient in the EU since 2016. At least in cell-based test systems, the substance has anti-inflammatory properties...

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Hydrogel Injection may change the way the Heart Muscle Heals after a Heart Attack

NUI Galway
Graphic of heart and injectable hydrogel. Photo: CÚRAM

Researchers at CÚRAM, the SFI Research Centre for Medical Devices based at National University of Ireland Galway, and BIOFORGE Lab, at the University of Valladolid in Spain, have developed an injectable hydrogel that could help repair and prevent further damage to the heart muscle after a heart attack.

The results of their research have just been published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

Myocardial infarction or heart disease is a leading cause of death due to the irreversible damage caused to the heart muscle (cardiac tissue) during a heart attack. The regeneration of cardiac tissue is minimal so that the damage caused cannot be repaired by itself...

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4D Bioengineering materials Bend, Curve like Natural Tissue

4-D hydrogel-based materials can undergo multiple conformational shape changes in response to environmental cues. (Image: Aixiang Ding)
4D hydrogel-based materials can undergo multiple conformational shape changes in response to environmental cues. (Image: Aixiang Ding)

Researchers have developed new 4D hydrogels – 3D materials that have the ability to change shape over time in response to stimuli – that can morph multiple times in a preprogrammed or on-demand manner in response to external trigger signals.

Tissue engineering has long-depended on geometrically static scaffolds seeded with cells in the lab to create new tissues and even organs. The scaffolding material — usually a biodegradable polymer structure — is supplied with cells and the cells, if supplied with the right nutrients, then develop into tissue as the underlying scaffold biodegrades...

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