Good aerobic fitness doesn’t protect children against type 2 diabetes, staying active does

It is a generally accepted idea that good aerobic fitness reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes, and it has also been thought to protect against other obesity-induced adverse changes in the glucose metabolism. However, this idea is based on studies whose methodology does not allow a distinction between the roles of aerobic fitness and body fat percentage as risk […]

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Protect your heart through the holiday season

(HealthDay)—It’s never too soon to take steps to safeguard your heart health, and that includes being aware of seasonal heart attack triggers. Researchers are trying to understand why, but studies done around the world have noted spikes in deaths from heart-related events during the holiday season. Unlike deaths from the flu, they don’t seem related to cold weather. As one […]

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Tiny blood cells could protect against cerebral palsy

Platelets—tiny cells critical for blood clotting—could be the key to protecting against brain damage occurring during pregnancy or around the time of birth. Information gained from the pre-clinical study led by Dr. Alison Farley and Dr. Samir Taoudi from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute could enable doctors to intervene at the right time to prevent brain bleeds—a significant risk […]

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Engineering B cells to express pathogen-specific antibodies to protect against infection

Antibodies are currently in use to treat diseases that range from cancer to autoimmunity and are usually administered to patients in multiple doses, much like medical drugs. However, the production and storage of antibodies are comparatively more expensive, with considerable interest on finding alternative strategies to deliver them. In a recent study, Howell F. Moffett and an interdisciplinary research team […]

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Inhaled hydrogen could protect the brain during heart-lung bypass

Newborns with life-threatening congenital heart disease often need open-heart surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass, which carries a risk of damaging the brain. Critically ill newborns who are placed on ECMO are at even higher risk for brain injury. Hypothermia, or cooling the body, can improve neurologic outcomes, but has limitations. A new study in a large animal model, published April 29th […]

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Microglia protect sensory cells needed for vision after retinal detachment

A research team at Massachusetts Eye and Ear has shown that microglia, the primary immune cells of the brain and retina, play a protective role in response to retinal detachment. Retinal detachment and subsequent degeneration of the retina can lead to progressive visual decline due to photoreceptor cell death, the major light-sensing cell in the eye. In a report published […]

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Five ways to protect your eye health

(HealthDay)—Your risk of vision problems increases with age, but there are things you can do to protect your sight, eye doctors say. By age 65, one in three Americans will have a vision-impairing eye disease. But early treatment of many of these conditions can slow or halt vision loss, or even restore normal vision, according to the American Academy of […]

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