Comment

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 29, 2021 at 6:30am

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 29, 2021 at 6:24am

Sneeze Cam Reveals Best Types of Masks

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 29, 2021 at 6:14am

Study identifies heart block cause in athletes
An international team of scientists has identified why some endurance athletes experience a heart rhythm disturbance called ‘heart block’.

The study found that long-term exercise in retired racehorses – the best available model of the athlete’s heart - and in mice, triggered molecular changes in a part of the heart known as the atrioventricular (or AV) node.

The work is the latest in a series of studies conducted by the team, showing that endurance exercise directly impacts the electrical wiring system of the heart.

Despite well-recognised cardiovascular benefits, sustained endurance exercise in athletes, footballers and other sportspeople can lead to the development of abnormal heart rhythms - known as cardiac arrhythmias, including heart block.

While benign for many people, heart block - also known as AV block - can be a precursor to more serious heart problems.
The heart’s AV node is part of its electrical conduction system controlled by the autonomic nervous system and electrically connects the atria and ventricles.

It’s well known that athletes are predisposed to heart block which in itself is often benign. But clinical research suggests that this may be ‘a canary in a coalmine’: it can flag up the risk of abnormal heart rhythms which may for example necessitate the implantation of a pacemaker in some individuals.For the first time this research highlights the fundamental adaptations taking place.

The study, published in the leading journal Circulation Research, found that long-term training in both horses and mice caused a reduction in key proteins, known as ion channels, that control AV node conduction.
Training-induced heart block and underlying ion channel changes were reversible when the exercise was stopped or when mice were given a compound known as an anti-microRNA.
It must be stressed that exercise is good for you – and its benefits far outweigh the risks.
Understanding the physiology of the athlete’s heart is incredibly helpful: it could help us develop new interventions for heart block as well as help doctors more effectively monitor heart rhythm disturbances in top-flight professional athletes
https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.119.316386
https://researchnews.cc/news/7491/Study-identifies-heart-block-caus...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 28, 2021 at 11:02am

Muscle's smallest building blocks disappear after stroke

After suffering a stroke, patients often are unable to use the arm on their affected side. Sometimes, they end up holding it close to their body, with the elbow flexed.

In a new study, Northwestern University and Shirley Ryan AbilityLab researchers have discovered that, in an attempt to adapt to this impairment, muscles actually lose sarcomeres—their smallest, most basic building blocks.

Stacked end to end (in series) and side to side (in parallel), sarcomeres make up the length and width of muscle fibers. By imaging biceps muscles with three noninvasive methods, the researchers found that stroke patients had fewer sarcomeres along the length of the muscle fiber, resulting in a shorter overall muscle structure.

The research was published today (June 25) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Arts and Sciences.

This finding is consistent with the common patient experience of abnormally tight, stiff muscles that resist stretching, and it suggests that changes in the muscle potentially amplify existing issues caused by stroke, which is a brain injury. The team hopes this discovery can help improve rehabilitation techniques to rebuild sarcomeres, ultimately helping to ease muscle tightening and shortening.

Amy N. Adkins et al, Serial sarcomere number is substantially decreased within the paretic biceps brachii in individuals with chronic hemiparetic stroke, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2021). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2008597118

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-06-muscle-smallest-blocks.html?...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 28, 2021 at 9:19am

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 27, 2021 at 11:56am

Muon g-2 experiment finds strong evidence for new physics

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 26, 2021 at 10:19am

 

Can you actually boost your immune system? Here's the truth

Take vitamin C supplements when you feel a cold coming on? The problem is, you can't actually "strengthen" your immune system, says Dr. Jen Gunter. Diving into the elegant network of cells, tissues and organs that protect us every day, she introduces two kinds of immunity that specialize in recognizing and fighting off bad bacteria, viruses, fungi and toxins -- and shares what you can do to keep your immune system healthy. Think you know how your body works? Think again! Dr. Jen Gunter is here to shake up everything you thought you knew -- from how much water you need to drink to how often you need to poop and everything in between.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 26, 2021 at 8:37am

A sweet solution to plastic pollution

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 26, 2021 at 8:32am

SARS-CoV-2 virus can find alternate route to infect cells

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists identified how SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, gets inside cells to cause infection. All current COVID-19 vaccines and antibody-based therapeutics were designed to disrupt this route into cells, which requires a receptor called ACE2.

Now researchers have found that a single mutation gives SARS-CoV-2 the ability to enter cells through another route—one that does not require ACE2. The ability to use an alternative entry pathway opens up the possibility of evading COVID-19 antibodies or vaccines, but the researchers did not find evidence of such evasion. However, the discovery does show that the virus can change in unexpected ways and find new ways to cause infection. The study is published June 23 in Cell Reports.

This mutation occurred at one of the spots that changes a lot as the virus circulates in the human population. Most of the time, alternative receptors and attachment factors simply enhance ACE2-dependent entry. But in this case, it was discovered an alternative way to infect a key cell type—a human lung cell—and that the virus acquired this ability via a mutation that  arises in the population. 

Maritza Puray-Chavez et al, Systematic analysis of SARS-CoV-2 infection of an ACE2-negative human airway cell, Cell Reports (2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2021.109364

https://phys.org/news/2021-06-sars-cov-virus-alternate-route-infect...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on June 26, 2021 at 8:10am

Study shows potential dangers of sweeteners

New research has discovered that common artificial sweeteners can cause previously healthy gut bacteria to become diseased and invade the gut wall, potentially leading to serious health issues.

The study, published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences, is the first to show the pathogenic effects of some of the most widely used artificial sweeteners—saccharin, sucralose, and aspartame—on two types of gut bacteria, E. coli (Escherichia coli) and E. faecalis (Enterococcus faecalis).

Previous studies have shown that artificial sweeteners can change the number and type of bacteria in the gut, but this new molecular research, led by academics from Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), has demonstrated that sweeteners can also make the bacteria pathogenic. It found that these pathogenic bacteria can attach themselves to, invade, and kill Caco-2 cells, which are epithelial cells that line the wall of the intestine.

It is known that bacteria such as E. faecalis which cross the intestinal wall can enter the blood stream and congregate in the lymph nodes, liver, and spleen, causing a number of infections including septicaemia.

This new study discovered that at a concentration equivalent to two cans of diet soft drink, all three artificial sweeteners significantly increased the adhesion of both E. coli and E. faecalis to intestinal Caco-2 cells, and differentially increased the formation of biofilms.

Bacteria growing in biofilms are less sensitive to antimicrobial resistance treatment and are more likely to secrete toxins and express virulence factors, which are molecules that can cause disease.

Additionally, all three sweeteners caused the pathogenic gut bacteria to invade Caco-2 cells found in the wall of the intestine, with the exception of saccharin which had no significant effect on E. coli invasion.

Aparna Shil et al, Artificial Sweeteners Negatively Regulate Pathogenic Characteristics of Two Model Gut Bacteria, E. coli and E. faecalis, International Journal of Molecular Sciences (2021). DOI: 10.3390/ijms22105228

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-06-potential-dangers-sweeteners...

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• …
• 382
• 383
• 384
• 385
• 386
• …
• 852
• Next ›
• Page