Category Health/Medical

Intensive Exercise with Intervals ‘more Effective’

Short bursts of Intensive Exercise provide a more “time-efficient” and realistic way of preventing, delaying and managing Type 2 diabetes and also losing weight. Obesity and Type 2 diabetes are linked, with >80% of people with the condition classed as overweight or obese – diet and physical activity interventions are the cornerstones for management of both conditions.

The effects of exercise on Type 2 diabetes and improving the body’s ability to use insulin to absorb blood sugar are well established, but its impact on weight regulation is more controversial...

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Protein ‘Handbrake’ halts Leukemia in its Tracks

Researchers from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Melbourne, Australia, have shown they can stop leukemia in its tracks by targeting a protein that puts the handbrake on cancer cell growth. The researchers discovered that targeting a protein called Hhex could cure acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in preclinical disease models, and could be a key target for new therapies for human leukemia. Credit: Walter and Eliza Hall Institute

Researchers from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Melbourne, Australia, have shown they can stop leukemia in its tracks by targeting a protein that puts the handbrake on cancer cell growth. The researchers discovered that targeting a protein called Hhex could cure acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in preclinical disease models, and could be a key target for new therapies for human leukemia. Credit: Walter and Eliza Hall Institute

Melbourne researchers have showed that they can stop leukemia in its tracks by targeting a protein that puts the handbrake on cancer cell growth.They discovered targeting protein Hhex could cure acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in preclinical disease models, and could be a key target for new therapies for human leukemia...

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Weekend Catch-Up Sleep can Reduce Diabetes Risk associated with Sleep Loss

Weekend catch-up sleep can reduce diabetes risk associated with sleep loss

A sleep study in process is shown. Credit: The University of Chicago Medicine

2 consecutive nights of extended sleep, a typical weekend occurrence, appears to counteract the increased risk of diabetes associated with short-term sleep restriction during the work week, at least in lean, healthy, young men eating a controlled diet. The finding, based on a study performed at the University of Chicago sleep lab could affect large numbers of people who work long hours.

Even short-term sleep restriction, with 4 or 5 hours of sleep per night, can increase the risk of developing diabetes by about 16%—comparable to the increase in risk caused by obesity.

The researchers recruited 19 volunteers, all healthy young men. On one occasion, they were allowed to sleep normally, spending 8...

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Brothers-in-arms: How p53 and Telomeres work together to stave off Cancer

Binding of p53 to non‐canonical response elements in human subtelomeres confers enhancer‐like activities and correlates with increased telomere stability. Non‐canonical p53 binding sites were identified in the subtelomeres of both human and mouse. Subtelomeric p53 response elements confer transcription activation in vitro and p53‐dependent induction of TERRA, eRNA‐like transcripts, and more distal subtelomeric genes. p53 status correlates with enhanced telomere stability and survival in response to etoposide‐induced DNA damage. Stress‐induced p53 binding to the subtelomere correlates with increased histone acetylation and decreased γH2AX. CRISPR deletion of the p53 response element ameliorates these effects.

Binding of p53 to non‐canonical response elements in human subtelomeres confers enhancer‐like activities and correlates with increased telomere stability. Non‐canonical p53 binding sites were identified in the subtelomeres of both human and mouse. Subtelomeric p53 response elements confer transcription activation in vitro and p53‐dependent induction of TERRA, eRNA‐like transcripts, and more distal subtelomeric genes. p53 status correlates with enhanced telomere stability and survival in response to etoposide‐induced DNA damage. Stress‐induced p53 binding to the subtelomere correlates with increased histone acetylation and decreased γH2AX. CRISPR deletion of the p53 response element ameliorates these effects.

New research shows p53 is able to suppress accumulated DNA damage a...

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