Experiences shape learning, new research from the University of California, Davis, shows that experience also changes the way neurons become plastic and form new memories. Researchers uses laboratory mice to understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying learning and memory in a brain structure called the hippocampus.

Research with laboratory rodents has shown that a protein- NMDA receptor, found at the connection between nerve cells, is essential for forming new memories. Training mice on a simple task, you can prevent them from learning by giving them a drug that blocks the NMDA receptor. Mice were placed in a novel environment where they had never been before and after a few minutes received a mild foot shock through electrified grids on the floor.

The sensation is about the same as placing tongue on a battery. The shock startled the mice and, as a result, they learned to be scared of the new context. They found that if NMDA receptors were blocked, animals showed no memory for the experience the following day. To see if experienced animals learned the same way, the researchers trained mice who had previously undergone fear conditioning but in a different environment.

When these animals were trained in a new context they could develop a response even when NMDA receptors were blocked. This shows that experienced animals form memories using different plasticity mechanisms than naive subjects even if they are learning about the exact same thing. Neurons form new connections on their prior history- metaplasticity.

Animals form memories by creating and strengthening connections between networks of neurons. Previously activated neurons were more excitable than inactivated ones, they fired many more action potentials when stimulated. Researchers trained experienced mice on the contextual fear conditioning task, they found that GFP cells were preferentially activated, suggesting that they formed the new memory. Instead of using NMDA receptors, these neurons appeared to use a different molecule, the metabotropic glutamate receptor.

Learning new things activates animal’s NMDA receptors which strengthen synapses and forms a new memory network. The activated cells become more excitable, which allows them to encode additional information using a different receptor.
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New research has shown that exercise prevents chronic diseases in adults. Researchers at the Westmead Institute for Medical Research interviewed more than adults aged over 50 and followed them over a period of 10 years. Those who engaged in the highest levels of physical activity were twice as likely to avoid stroke, heart disease, angina, cancer and diabetes, and be in optimal physical and mental shape.

According to Lead Researcher Associate, Professor Bamini Gopinath from the University of Sydney, data showed that adults who did more than 5000 metabolic equivalent minutes MET minutes each week saw the experienced reduction in the risk of chronic disease. Adult who engaged in exercise were twice as likely to be disease-free.

High levels of physical activity increase the likelihood of surviving an extra 10 years free from chronic diseases, mental impairment and disability. World Health Organization WHO recommends at least 600 MET minutes of physical activity each week. That is equivalent to 150 minutes of brisk walking or 75 minutes of running.

Physical activity levels need to be higher than what the World Health Organization recommends to significantly reduce the risk of chronic disease. Some adults may not be able to engage in vigorous activity or high levels of physical activity. Inactive adults should go for more vigorous activity to remain healthy.
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Scientists have exposed a molecule known as Yin Yang1, it may fuel tumour growth in breast cancer. The research was led by Imperial College London. The findings reveal how tumours can change their appearance to evade cancer treatments, using epigenetics. Yin Yang1 is a type of molecule, called a transcription factor, which activate genes. Although each cell contains around 25,000 genes, only a certain number are switched on at a time, depending on what functions the cell needs to perform.

Cells of the body need Yin Yang1, to check whether it is useful or not, the team completed in-depth genetic profiling of breast tumours from different patients, using a variety of different techniques, including the gene editing technique CRISPR. They discovered that cancer cells are much more reliant on Yin Yang 1 than normal cells, and that it may drive breast cancer growth. The results also showed tumours change which genes they switch on as they become aggressive which may affect how they respond to treatment.

Tumours switch different genes on and off as they progress, and can fundamentally change their appearance, if a tumour becomes more aggressive, and spreads around the body, biopsy will be recommended. Researchers analysed 34 breast tumours from patients whose cancer had not spread around the body, and 13 tumours from another group of patients with more advanced breast tumours whose cancer had spread. Epigenetics enables cancer tumours to adapt to their environment, evade treatment and ultimately survive longer.

To help the scientists track epigenetics the researchers monitored chemical modifications on DNA regions called enhancers, types of ciphers that tell the cell to switch on certain genes when they are activated. The results revealed that two particular enhancers, regulating SLC9A3R1 and Yin Yang1 genes are activated at specific stages when they might help cancer cells grow and evade treatment. Yin Yang1 was found to switch on SLC9A3R1, which helped tumours grow.
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Cell phones transmit information using low frequency radio signals, which may expose the user to unhealthy radiation when streaming or downloading large files. Smartphone radiation could be destroying the memory performance, cumulative exposure to mobile devices over the course of a year negatively affects the figural memory.

Figural memory is located in the right hemisphere of the brain and refers to human ability to make sense of objects including images, patterns and shapes. Researchers from the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) studied different smartphones users, they looked at the link between their daily exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) and their memory performance.

The effects of RF-EMF were more pronounced regular users of smartphone on the right side of their head. This may suggest that indeed RF-EMF absorbed by the brain is responsible for the observed associations’, said Martin Röösli, Head of Environmental Exposures and Health at Swiss TPH. Other aspects of wireless communication use, such as sending texts, playing games or browsing the Internet will also cause marginal RF-EMF exposure.

Participants completed questionnaire that assessed their mobile phone and media usage, as well as their psychological and physical health. Immediately afterwards they did computerised cognitive tests, participants carried a portable measurement device- exposimeter with an integrated GPS for three consecutive days.

Changes in figural memory score were negatively correlated with cordless phone calls and, in tendency, with the duration of mobile phone calls and the cumulative RF-EMF brain dose’, researchers found. The potential effect of RF-EMF exposure to the brain is a relatively new field of scientific inquiry, potential risks to the brain can be minimized by using headphones or the loud speaker while calling, in particular when network quality is low and the mobile phone is functioning at maximum power.

The research, published in the journal PLOS ONE, found that in rats with an amputation-like injury the animals showed clear evidence of pain in the presence of the signals. Dr Mario Romero-Ortega, senior author of the study and an associate professor at the University of Texas at Dallas, said: ‘Our study provides evidence, for the first time, that subjects exposed to cellphone towers at low, regular levels can actually perceive pain.

The rats were exposed to EMF signals equivalent to standing near a mobile phone tower almost 131ft (40 metres) away. Animals received exposure for ten minutes, once a week for eight weeks. They found that after four weeks, 88 per cent of rats with the nerve injury showed a definite pain response to the signal. Electromagnetic fields evoked pain that is perceived before neuroma formation.
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Parkinson’s disease is one of the most common disorders affecting movement and the nervous system. Medical researchers at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) reported a possible cause of the disease. Common symptoms of the disease are slowness of movement, rigidity, frequent shaking and an increasingly stooped posture. The major cause is the continuous death of dopamine-producing nerve cells in the brain.

Presently, more than 4 million people suffer from Parkinson’s disease across the globe. Researchers are investigating to gain insights into the mechanisms that lead to the loss of nerve cells that produce dopamine. The stem cell researchers Dr. Annika Sommer, Dr. Iryna Prots and Prof. Dr. Beate Winner from FAU and their team have made a major breakthrough in research into this aspect of the disease.

The scientists from Erlangen were able to prove that in Parkinson’s disease, T cells attack and kill nerve cells that produce dopamine in the mid-brain. They found an unusually high number of T cells in the midbrain of Parkinson’s patients. These cells are commonly found in the brains of patients suffering from diseases in which the immune system attacks the brain.

During tests carried out in collaboration with the movement disorders clinic (molecular neurology) at Universitätsklinikum Erlangen (Prof. Jürgen Winkler), researchers discovered an increased number of certain T cells, specifically Th17 cells, in Parkinson’s patients, similar to patients with autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.

In view of these results, the researchers developed a very unusual cell culture from human cells. A small skin sample was taken from affected patients and healthy test subjects. These skin cells were converted into stem cells, which can develop into any type of cell. The research team then further differentiated these cells into midbrain nerve cells specific to the patient. These midbrain nerve cells were then brought into contact with fresh T cells from the same patients.

The immune cells of Parkinson’s patients killed a large number of their nerve cells, but this did not appear to be the case with healthy test skin cells. Antibodies that block the effect of Th17 cells, including one antibody which is in common use to treat psoriasis, largely prevented the death of the nerve cells. The results showed that T cells contributed to Parkinson’s disease.

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Past global analysis of figures showed the link between HIV infection and cardiovascular disease. The impact is great in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia Pacific regions, with Swaziland, Botswana and Lesotho. An international team of experts, led by the University of Edinburgh, reviewed studies from more than 100 countries to determine the rate of heart disease in people living with HIV.

More than two-thirds of the burden of HIV-associated heart disease was found in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia Pacific regions. In some parts of the world, HIV infection, diet and lifestyle are major causes of heart disease. There are more than 35 million people infected with HIV across the globe and still increasing daily. Those infected may die cancer or cardiovascular disease.

HIV virus may cause inflammation of blood vessels, which puts pressure on the cardiovascular system. It can also raise fat levels in the blood and affect the body’s ability to regulate sugar levels, which may also contribute to heart disease. It is clear that the risk of heart and circulatory disease is doubled if one is living with HIV. The effects of one disease on another are difficult to understand, follow your doctor’s advice if you are living with HIV.
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Inability to resist food is linked to how the brain responds to food rewards, this may leads to overeating. In a study with children, researchers discovered that when certain regions of the brain reacted more strongly to being rewarded with food than being rewarded with money, children were more likely to overeat, even when they are not hungry.

People who are willing to work harder for food than other types of rewards, like money, are more likely to overeat and gain weight. Having greater brain responses to food compared to money rewards may leads to overeat when appealing foods are available.

For the study, researchers studied children between the ages of 7 and 11 years. The children were given meals designed to measure how they eat in a variety of different situations, such as a typical meal when they’re hungry versus snacks when they’re not hungry. How much the children ate at each meal was determined by weighing the plates before and after the meals.

The children had fMRI scans as they played several rounds of a game in which they guessed if a computer-generated number would be higher or lower than five. They were then told that if they were right, they would win either money, candy or a book, before it was revealed if they were correct or not. The researchers found that when various regions of the brain reacted more to anticipating or winning food compared to money, those children were more likely to overeat.

The brain’s response to food compared to money was related to overeating regardless of how much the child weighed, increased brain responses in areas of the brain related to cognitive control and self control when the children received food compared to money were associated with overeating. Children who had an increased response to food relative to money would overeat because they are highly sensitive to food rewards. Correcting the brain influences on eating could prevent obesity and other poor eating habits.
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Consumption of fish and long-chain omega-3 fatty acids was associated with lower risks of premature death. In the study of 240,729 men and 180,580 women who were followed for 16 years, 54,230 men and 30,882 women died. Higher fish and long-chain omega-3 fatty acid intakes were significantly associated with lower total mortality.

Comparing the highest with lowest quintiles of fish intake, men had 9% lower total mortality, 10% lower cardiovascular disease mortality, 6% lower cancer mortality, 20% lower respiratory disease mortality, and 37% lower chronic liver disease mortality, while women had 8% lower total mortality, 10% lower cardiovascular disease mortality, and 38% lower Alzheimer’s disease mortality.

Fried fish consumption was not related to mortality in men, but it was associated with increased risks of mortality from all causes, cardiovascular disease, and respiratory disease in women. Long-chain omega-3 fatty acid intake was associated with 15% and 18% lower cardiovascular disease mortality in men and women, respectively, when comparing the highest and lowest quintiles.
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Pancreas is an organ in the abdomen that is located in front of the spine above the level of the belly button. It makes insulin, a hormone that regulates blood sugar levels, secretes into the intestine digestive enzymes which break down dietary proteins, fats and carbohydrates.

Pancreatic cancer does not cause symptoms until it has grown, so it is most frequently diagnosed in advanced stages rather than early in the course of the disease. Common symptoms at advanced stage are: nausea, vomiting, weight loss, itching skin, decreased appetite, back pain, abdominal pain, dark urine and abdominal bloating.

Breath analyses may detect pancreatic cancer earlier, when curative treatments may be possible. Pancreatic cancer carries a very poor prognosis as most patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage with low chance of survival. Researchers examined volatile organic compounds in breath samples from patients with localized and metastatic pancreatic cancers, compared with patients with benign pancreatic disease and some with a normal pancreas.

Tests identified 12 compounds that were indicative of pancreatic cancer. These compounds were from three main chemical groups- aldehydes, alkanes and alcohols. The final application of breath testing in the patient care pathway will depend on test sensitivity and specificity in large multicentre clinical trials, and its performance in early pancreatic cancer and high-risk groups.
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According to Epidemiologist Dr. Holly Harris of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, endometriosis is linked to childhood physical and sexual abuse. It is a common condition that affects women in their 20s and 30s. The condition starts when tissue from the endometrium, which normally lines a woman’s uterus, starts growing outside of the uterus, attaching itself to the ovaries, fallopian tubes, bowel, bladder or other parts of the body.

The endometrium outside the uterus bleed with every menstrual cycle, the extra tissue within the pelvic region creates cysts, scar tissue and adhesions that can lead to chronic pain, excessive bleeding, pain with sexual intercourse, pain with urination or elimination, and in some cases infertility.

Childhood abuse has previously been linked with chronic pelvic pain and uterine fibroids. Research has also found links between adverse childhood abuse and autoimmune disease, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, frequent headaches, heart disease and many other physical and mental health issues.

The researchers evaluated data from the study’s original cohort of 116,429 women and found 60,595 premenopausal participants who’d answered questions regarding childhood abuse. Of those, 12,699 (around 21 percent) reported having experienced some level of both child/adolescent physical and sexual abuse.

The team then began looking for an overlap between those who’d reported childhood physical and/or sexual abuse and the 3,394 women (from the same pool of 60,595) who’d received a diagnosis of endometriosis via a laparoscopically-confirmed examination or surgery, which provides the most definitive diagnosis. They discovered a 79 percent higher risk of endometriosis for women reporting severe-chronic abuse of multiple types compared to those reporting no physical or sexual abuse.

About one-third of women with endometriosis are diagnosed when they are unable to have child, some women have painful endometriosis and some women don’t. The pain is a physiologic response that’s driven by the stress and trauma of abuse either sexual or physical, the stress response activates other systems and causes sensitivity to pain.
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Cholesterol, a waxy, fat-like substance found in all the cells. Liver makes cholesterol, and it is also found in some foods like meat and dairy products. Human body needs cholesterol to work properly, excess cholesterol in the blood raises the risk of many diseases.

According to a new study from the University of Bergen in Norway, excess ‘bad’ fat in the blood – either LDL cholesterol or triglycerides lowers the chance of conception in women, this could leads to struggling to conceive.

Researchers examined the blood of different women that had not conceived and followed them up for the next decade. They found that an ‘unhealthy’ blood fat profile of high LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, and low levels of ‘good’ HDL cholesterol, raised the risk of only getting pregnant once.

Researchers concluded that cholesterol and other fat creates ‘oxidative stress’ in the body, which reduces fertility. Bad fats could trigger polycystic ovary syndrome.
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A new study led by UCL, the KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital and National University Health System in Singapore discovered that a fatal neurodegenerative condition known as Gaucher disease can be prevented in mice following fetal gene therapy. The study shows that the potential of fetal gene therapy to prevent and cure neonatal lethal neurodegenerative diseases in humans in utero.

Gaucher disease is an irreversible, inherited genetic metabolic disorder that results from not having enough glucocerebrosidase (GCase)-an enzyme that breaks fatty chemicals called glucocerebrosides (GBA). Because the body cannot break down this chemical, the fat-laden Gaucher cells build up in the spleen, liver, bone marrow, and nervous system, causing bone disease, anaemia, fatigue, eye problems, seizures, and brain damage.

Mutations in the GBA gene, which encodes the GCase enzyme that is deficient in Gaucher disease, are also a risk factor for Parkinson’s disease. Scientists used a viral vector to deliver genetic material into the brains of fetal mice carrying neuropathic Gaucher disease, caused by mutations in GBA. Mice who received the gene therapy exhibited less brain degeneration and survived considerably longer than untreated mice.

They discovered that mice who received an injection of adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector were more able to break down fatty chemicals and re-express the gene encoding an enzyme that is deficient in Gaucher disease. The mice who received the injection in utero, lived for up to 18 weeks after birth compared to 15 days in untreated mice and had no signs of neurodegeneration and were fertile and fully mobile.

Given the promising results shown in mice, the team from Singapore performed the test in non-human primates (NHP) at the early stages of pregnancy. This is the gestation when a clinical diagnosis of genetic conditions can be made, and when the immune system is more responsive to gene therapy. The research involved the use of NHPs due to their similarity to humans in the development of the central nervous system, and other organs, allowing for an accurate model to be achieved in fetal gene transfer.

The team showed that the delivery of viral vectors to the developing brain is feasible using an established clinical approach that resulted in the distribution of the transgene to the developing brain. Macaques and humans share a very similar neurological, immunological and physiological developmental time-line in the womb, making them accurate models for pre-clinical investigations before clinical trials can proceed. This can correct Gaucher disease and for other inborn errors of metabolism that can potentially be treated using fetal gene therapy.

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The more you smoke, the greater your risk of a heart rhythm disorder, smoking ten cigarettes per day increases the risk by 14%. Compared to non smokers, current smokers had a 32% increased risk of atrial fibrillation, while ever smokers (current and former smokers combined) had a 21% increased risk, and former smokers had a 9% increased risk.

‘If you smoke, stop smoking and if you don’t smoke, don’t start’, said study author Dr Dagfinn Aune, postdoctoral researcher at Imperial College London, UK, and associate professor at Bjørknes University College in Oslo, Norway. Smoking is a lethal addictive disorder. A lifetime smoker has short lifespan due to smoking, and on average will lose ten years of life.

Atrial fibrillation is the most common heart rhythm disorder-arrhythmia. It causes 20-30% of all strokes and increases the risk of premature death. Compared to zero cigarettes per day, smoking 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 29 cigarettes per day was associated with a 9%, 17%, 25%, 32%, 39%, and 45% increased risk of atrial fibrillation, respectively.

Every ten pack-years of smoking was associated with a 16% increased risk of developing atrial fibrillation. Pack-years are calculated by multiplying the number of packs of cigarettes smoked per day by the number of years the person has smoked.

European guidelines on the prevention of cardiovascular disease recommend avoiding tobacco in any form.2 All types of smoked tobacco, including low-tar (“mild” or “light”) cigarettes, filtered cigarettes, cigars, pipes, and water pipes are harmful.
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Mycoplasma genitalium is a sexually transmitted, small and pathogenic bacterium that lives on the ciliated epithelial cells of the urinary and genital tracts. MG causes urethritis infection of the urethra in men, the urinary canal leading from the bladder to exit at the tip of the penis. In women, MG causes infection of the cervix.

Symptoms may include: abnormal discharge from the vagina, painful urination, and bleeding between periods, often after sex. It may cause pelvic inflammatory disease in women if not treated.

According to the The British Association of Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH), MG has the potential to become a superbug within a decade because of its resistant to standard antibiotics. The greatest consequence of this is pelvic inflammatory disease caused by MG, which would be very hard to treat and increased risk of infertility.

Most people who carry the MG infection have no symptoms but are still able to pass it on to others. Bad cases can cause painful inflammation for men, but can be more serious for women, causing womb scarring that makes women infertile.
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According to new research from the University of East Anglia, eating Mediterranean diet – diet rich in fruits, vegetables, nuts, unrefined cereals, olive oil, and fish can reduce hip bone loss within a year. Adults between age 65 and 79 took part in the trial, volunteers were divided into two groups; those that followed a Mediterranean diet and a control group that did not. Bone density was measured at the beginning and after a year. The diet had no discernible impact on participants with normal bone density, but it did have an effect on those with osteoporosis.

Participants in the control group continued to see the usual age-related decrease in bone density, but those following the diet saw an equivalent increase in bone density in one part of the body-the femoral neck. This is the area which connects the shaft of the thigh bone to its rounded head, which fits in the hip joint. Loss of bone in the femoral neck is often the cause of hip fracture, which is common in elderly people with osteoporosis. Bone takes a long time to form; difficult to form and easy to loose.

University of Bologna researchers recruited 1142 participants and divided them into two groups. Those following the Mediterranean diet increased their intake of fruits, vegetables, nuts, unrefined cereals, olive oil, and fish, consumed small quantities of dairy products and meat and had a moderate alcohol intake. Participants in the intervention group were provided with foods such as olive oil and wholemeal pasta.

Blood samples were taken to check for circulating biomarkers at the beginning and the end of the researcher. Bone density was measured in over 600 participants across both groups at the lumbar spine and femoral neck. Of these participants, just under 10% were found to have osteoporosis at the beginning of the study. Those with osteoporosis are losing bone at a faster rate than others.

Other benefits of Mediterranean diet are; reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and cancer. A Mediterranean-like dietary pattern with vitamin D3 (10 μg/day) supplements reduced rate of bone loss in older Europeans with osteoporosis at baseline.
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EPFL scientists have discovered two small-molecule compound series that can effectively block a central pathway of the innate immune system. The innate immune system is the first line of defense, with cells that identify “foreign” motifs from viruses and bacteria and mount up a counterattack to kill them.

The cells of the innate immune system use receptors to detect pathogens, identify microbial DNA and activate a protein- STING (STimulator of Interferon Genes). Once activated, STING turns on genes that help cells fight off the infecting pathogen.

Nonetheless, the innate immune system can turn against the body itself, causing a number of diseases, which are referred to as autoinflammatory. The lab of Andrea Ablasser at EPFL has discovered first-in-class compounds that specifically bind STING and effectively block its activity.

The team used a screening assay to find molecules that can suppress STING-mediated cellular activation. From these they extracted two separate compound series that can block STING, both in human and in mouse cells.
Researchers mutated several of the amino acids that make up STING in order to find out which ones are targeted by the compounds.

They identified a conserved transmembrane cysteine, which binds to the compounds irreversibly. As a consequence of this interaction, this particular cysteine residue can no longer undergo palmitoylation-a post-translational modification that attaches a fatty acid (palmitic acid) to STING. When STING was activated during the experiments, it assembled into multimeric clusters – a well-known effect of palmitoylation.

Scientists used the compounds to treat mice with mutations that constitutively activate STING, thereby producing autoinflammatory disease similar human’s. Treatment with either compound class significantly reduced key pathogenic features in mice. An in vitro test on cultured human cells with these small-molecules also showed efficacy to block the human version of STING further supporting therapeutical potential of these compounds in humans.
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According to a Swedish study, infertile men may develop aggressive early-onset prostate cancer, those who are unable to have children naturally or via IVF are 47 per cent more likely to develop the cancer, men under 50 have higher risk. Undiagnosed prostate tumours may cause infertility, while low testosterone levels could lead to the development of both conditions.

Researchers, from Lund University, analysed men and their first born children in Sweden between 1994 and 2014. Information was taken from birth, cancer and assisted reproduction registers. Men who underwent intracytoplasmic sperm injections (ICSI) were compared against those who became parents naturally or via IVF. ICSI involves injecting a single sperm into an egg, mixes sperm with eggs and allows them to fertilise.

Men seeking fertility treatment should be screened for cancer, men who have ICSI are at a significantly higher risk of early-onset prostate cancer. The fertility treatment could be used as a screening tool for prostate cancer diagnoses. Among infertile women undergoing IVF after two unsuccessful attempts, 54.3 per cent become pregnant and 51.4 per cent go on to have a live birth after receiving the growth hormones estradiol and progesterone, a study found. Estradiol and progesterone are thought to improve blood flow to the lining of the uterus, preparing it for egg implantation.
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According to University of Exeter researchers, human aspect of medical practice was “potentially life-saving” but had been neglected. Continuity of care is beneficial for patients with chronic conditions, long-term mental health issues and complex needs.

The researchers said continuity of care was important and should be given a higher priority in healthcare planning. Continuity of care happens when a patient and a doctor see each other repeatedly and get to know each other, this leads to better communication, patient satisfaction, adherence to medical advice and lower use of hospital services.

People who meet the same doctor (relational and longitudinal continuity) have fewer and shorter hospitalisations, decreased use and utilisation of emergency departments, fewer operations, fewer duplicate diagnostic tests and decreased use of open access clinics.
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THE REDEEMED CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF GOD
DIRECTORATE OF PRAYER
JULY 2018 21 DAYS FASTING AND PRAYER GUIDE
PREAMBLE: Joel 2:23-25
“Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for He hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil. And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm,”
We bless the Lord for the blessings of the Songs of Victory and the grace to b e a partaker of the just concluded 50days fast. We are highly encouraged by the outcome of the testimonies.
The second phase of the fasting and prayer promises greater dimension of divine intervention. It is necessary due to the fact that the enemy of our soul is never tired. (I Peter 5:. One of the promises of the Lord for us in Isaiah 60:20 is that the victory we have received this season shall be sustained in Jesus’ Name.
In our engagement in this spiritual warfare, this prayer guide is provided to lead you through the 21 days in the month of July. May the Lord revive us all in the midst of this year in RCCG world over in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
The following are some topical guidelines and prayer points that you will find helpful
during this 21days of divine involvement. May you be victorious as you ASK in the Mighty
Name of Jesus.
DAY ONE: INTENSIVE PRAISE, WORSHIP AND THANKSGIVING TEXT: PSALM 124
If God had not been on our side for the past six months in this year ; we could have been thirsty with no water to drink. We could have desired to get warmed with no coverings available. We could have entered into trouble and found no one to help. We could have lifted our hands and found them withered. Opened our eyes and be totally blanked. Our mouths could have been opened with inability to voice a sentence. We could have traveled and landed in the Mortuary. Perhaps, we could have joined the congregation of the dead walking aimlessly on the streets of our towns and cities naked. We could have prepared the most delicious meal but lost appetite not because we don’t feel like eating but finding it difficult to eat. We could have been dead in our sins and landed in hell! Let’s appreciate God therefore with all seriousness.
 Thank God for being on our side in RCCG throughout 2017 and for the past six months in this year 2018.
 Worship God who has been keeping you since your exodus into this year 2018. Exo 12:14-21  Let us thank God for His mercy he has made available in sustaining us. Lam. 3:22-23  Thank God for not allowing the enemy to succeed over you.
 Let us thank God for not allowing perpetual civil war to exist in the Nation where you are.
 Thank God for what He has done for you and every individual in RCCG. Globally. Ps 138
 Let us bless the name of our Lord Jesus Christ for the growth of Christianity in the Nations where Christianity had not been allowed before.
 Let us bless the name of the Lord for the Church of God that is marching forward despite the threat of the insurgents across the globe.
 Thank God for Daddy and Mummy G.O and for His mercy over them Exod. 33:19.
 .Thank God for calling and backing up Daddy and Mummy G.O in this Great Commission.  .Let us thank God for His mercy on the family of Daddy G.O.
 Let us thank God for divine health in the family of Daddy G.O
 Let us bless the name of the Lord for His Hands of supports for Daddy G.O in the Mission generally.
 Appreciate God for all the souls won to the Kingdom through the Holy Spirit in all the outreaches where Daddy G.O had ministered this year.
 Thank God for providing for you and all yours.
 Thank God for you are still alive to praise His Holy name in 2018
 Bless the name of the Lord for His mercies over the life of every member RCCG globally.
 Thank God for fulfilling His covenants made with our founder in our lives and in all our churches.
 Thank God for making us part of a covenant to prepare a people for Himself that will propagate the gospel of Christ at this time.
DAY 2 PRAYER OF FORGIVENESS: Text: Jere. 31:34; LUKE 23:34, 1kings 13:1-6; Act 7:54-60, John 3:16 Example of complete forgiveness in the Bible: JOSEPH, Gen. 45:5-15; Gen 50:19-20, DAVID 1 Samuel 24:1-22, 2 Samuel 9:1-13.
 Father!!! Please have mercy on me for not forgiving others and give me the heart of flesh to forgive in Jesus name.
 Father!!! By your grace, I forgive totally all that have offended me; I released them from captivity of bitterness in my heart.
 Father!!! By your Holy Spirit, touch the heart of those that I have offended to forgive and forget my offenses in Jesus name.
 Father!!! I release all that have offended me now, please release every benefit and blessing that unforgiveness has delayed in my life, in Jesus name.
 Fire of the Holy Ghost purge my heart of every unforgiveness in Jesus name.
 Lord Jesus, by Your blood, released me from every family captivities resulting from inherited offenses.
 Father!!! Everyone I need to forgive for my life to break through, please lead me to them now in Jesus name.
 Father!!! Let every seed of unforgiveness in my life be consumed by fire in Jesus name.  Father!!! Please eradicate every form of bitterness from my heart in Jesus name.
DAY 3 PRAYER OF VICTORY FOR THE CHURCH: TEXT: JOHN 16:16-18, I JOHN 2:15-16; JAMES 4:4
 LET US PRAY
 Oh Lord!!! Cause Your Church to walk in victory every day of her life.
 Lord, deliver your Church from worldliness in any form of its manifestation.
 Holy Spirit, deliver your Church from anything that is diminishing her love for Christ.
 Dear Lord, a worldly Church/Christian cannot shine for you, let worldliness become a stranger to your Church so that we can keep on shining for you all the days of our life.
 LET’S JOIN OUR HANDS! Say Father! You are the owner of the Church, arise and defend Your Chuch world over.
 Lord, break every link and cord between your Church and the world; help us to live a life of total separation from anything sinful.
 Father, help us and deliver us from whatever would make us to love what is repulsive to You and hate what You love.
 Father!!! Please double the grace upon RCCG in passion for souls, in soul winning (Evangelism), in prayers and living the life of holiness. I Timo. 5:17; Psa. 102:13
 Father, please, because silver and gold belong to you, let the new auditorium (3kmx3km) in Nigeria and all the infrastructures being embarked upon in RCCG globally be completed by your own divine provision. And please Lord, use me also. Haggai.2:8
 Lord, create in us the hunger and thirst to please God in all aspects.
 Enlarge the coast of your Church, Release your victory upon your Church and let your Church manifest your Shekinah Glory.
DAY 4 PRAYER OF VICTORY FOR DADDY AND MUMMY G. O. Text: - Exodus 17:11-16, 1 Sam. 3:19, Deut. 34:7, Pro. 16:31, Ps. 91:16, James 1:12.
 Pray for more physical strength for Daddy and Mummy G.O. even as their both ageing graciously. Let us pray that God will favour the family of Daddy GO with divine health and wisdom.
 Let us pray that the hand of the Lord will be upon Daddy & Mummy G.O. in a greater, deeper, higher and wider dimensions in the fulfillment of the great commission.
 Let us pray that every cloud of darkness that may be gathering around the ministerial assignment of Daddy and Mummy G.O be dispelled by the Sun of Righteousness.
 Let us pray that the secrets of the enemies of Light pretending to be a friend be exposed without any further delay in Jesus Name. Amen.
 Let us pray that God will surround Daddy G O’s family as mountains surround Jerusalem. Ps.125
 Say Father!! Grant our Father-in-the-Lord & our Mother-in-Israel the required victories over internal and external enemies waging war against them and their families.
 Pray that our spiritual parents will finish well and strong.
DAY 5: PRAYER OF VICTORY FOR RCCG LEADERS
Daniel 2:23, “I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king's matter.”
 Thank God for the lives of all our leaders in RCCG at all levels in all Nations.
 Let us thank God for the wisdom the Lord has granted our leaders in the running of the Church worldwide.
 Ask God to be merciful unto us and our leaders in any area that we have sinned (Proverbs 28:13)
 Father, let our Church Leaders always be examples of wisdom, victory and power of God. Grant them victory and power to speak God’s word with boldness.
 The counsel of God concerning our leaders shall be established in Jesus name.
 Lord, make our leaders useful vessels and let them walk in fear and reverence of the Lord.
 Be their refuge, strength and deliverer in Jesus name.
 We counter every attempt by the enemy to shut the doors that the Lord has opened unto our leaders and RCCG worldwide.
 God of Victory! Let every form of lukewarmness, coldness, spiritual apathy, spiritual dryness, be separated from our leaders in Jesus Name.
 Father, give us both the utterance and audience anytime we approach your presence. Help us to pray and praise you fervently in the Spirit in Jesus name.
DAY 6 TOTAL VICTORY OVER FEAR: Text: Isaiah 41:10
Fear is the opposite of faith. It has been described as “false evidence appearing real”. Fear (of torment) is also distressing emotion arouse by threat of impending danger, pain or evil 1 John 4:18.
 Father!!! we thanked you for the past and present victories over anxiety.
 Father!!! Deliver every member in all RCCG Parishes globally body from the spirit of fear in Jesus Name.  Father!!! Wipe away every agent of fear from your Church in Jesus name.
 Father!!! Increase our faith in you in Jesus Name.
 Father!!! Restore back whatever we have lost to the devil through fear and anxiety in Jesus Name.
 Father!!! Help us to start each day with you, and order my steps aright through fear in Jesus name.  As the Lord lives I shall not fall into bondage of fear again in the Name of Jesus.
DAY 7 VICTORY OVER SATANIC COVENANT; Text Isaiah 49:24-26, Isa 59:21; Jere31, 33, 34; Gal 3:15-18; Zech 9:11; Deut 29:1 and 14-15;
Any covenant made in the physical is as strong as the one made in the spiritual. An evil covenant is an agreement with Satan consciously and unconsciously made to get certain thing done on conditional terms.
 Father!!! By the blood of Jesus, please recover for me all grounds given to Satan by my ancestors, in the name of Jesus.
 Father!!! Arrest every spirit enforcing evil covenants in my life by Holy Ghost fire in Jesus name.
 Father!!! Let everything that has been demonically transferred into me, either by words or through laying of hands, loose its hold right now in Jesus Name,
 Father!!! Let every serpentine poison that has been passed into my life, get out now in Jesus name.
 Lord of Host! Please, establish my victory over every form of satanic covenant that I subscribed to knowingly and unknowingly.
 Father!!! Let your fire fall on every spirit of death and hell fashioned against my life in the name of Jesus.
 Father!!! Let every serpentine spirit working against my destiny be consumed by Holy Ghost fire in the name of Jesus.
 Father!!! Arise in your power and let the blood of Jesus break every evil covenant upon my life in the name of Jesus.
DAY 8 PRAYERS OF COMPREHENSIVE VICTORY/ RESTORATION; Text Joel 2:25-26
Restoration can be immediate, gradual or progressive.
 Father!!! Thank you for being the great restorer.
 Holy Spirit, please, reminds me of everything I need to restitute so as to trigger the release of my complete restoration this year in Jesus Name.
 Father, destroy every destructive agent out of my life in Jesus Name.
 Father!!! Replace our sorrow with joy, our ashes with beauty. Give us total restoration.
 Lord of Hosts, arise and give us victory over every power causing destruction in our lives and in our Nations in Jesus Name.
 Father, let every Failure at the edge of our breakthroughs and restoration be destroyed in Jesus name
 Every saboteur of my victory and restoration, be disgraced, displaced and be destroyed in Jesus name
 GOD OF VICTORY! By fire by force, grant me unlimited victories over illegal occupants in my promise land
DAY 9 PRAYER OF VICTORY FOR OUR NATIONS: II Chro. 7:14, Psalm 122:6
 Let us plead for mercy on behalf of our NATIONS (Please, Mention the name of your own Nation) for atrocities and wickedness that had been committed and being committed.
 Pray that the blood of Jesus will speak healing to our Nations. Exo. 12:13
 Holy Spirit! Destroy every blood sucking demons who are hell bent and that are assigned to destroy our Nations in Jesus name.
 Let us speak destruction against every evil altar raised and serviced constantly anywhere in our Nation to perpetuate human trafficking, rituals, suicide bombing, and all other forms of killings.
 Let God arise in our Nations and let His entire enemy be scattered. Ps. 68:1-2
 Oh Lord! Arise and recovered our Nations from spiritual and physical recession and from all forms of famine.
 Lord, heal our land of all forms of hatred and wickedness and let the rain of love and righteousness begin to fall. 2 Kings 7:1-8
 Oh Lord, in all our Nations, put an end to terrorism, kidnapping, hired killing, corruption, militancy, communal clashes, farmers and herdsmen clashes in the land. (Pray as it applies to your own Nation).
DAY 10 VICTORIES OVER GENERATIONAL SINS AND CURSES: Text: Rom. 5:15; Exo. 20, 34:5-7, Eze 18:19.
 Father!!! Let every unknown soul tie influencing my life negatively, be consumed in Jesus name.
 Father!!! I stand in the finished work of the cross to deliver my life from every effect of generational sin of my household in Jesus name.
 Father!!! Deliver me from every evil pronouncement that is causing affliction in my family in Jesus name.
 Father!!! By the fire of the Holy Ghost, every strongman perpetrating evil occurrence in my life and ministry let them be consumed in Jesus name.
 Father!!! I stand in the blood of Jesus and revoke every legal ground that the enemies have possessed in Jesus name.
 Holy Ghost fire!!! Release your demolishing bullets and dynamites on every curse and soul ties affliction in my life.
 My Father, my Father! Let the blood of Jesus Christ displace and destroy every link between me and generational afflictions in Jesus Mighty name.

DNA in mitochondria, the powerhouses of the cell, is passed down from mother to child. But there are many mitochondria in each cell, and these mitochondria may have different genetic features. If a mother carries a mixture of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) types, this can make it hard to say which features their children will inherit. For mothers carrying a disease-causing mtDNA mutation, this makes family planning and clinical therapies challenging.

Researchers used cutting-edge technology to reveal the mixtures of mtDNA in the egg cells of mother mice at a wide range of ages, and in the litters of offspring the mothers produced. In concert, they developed a mathematical model describing the changes to, and inheritance of, mtDNA from mother to offspring. In this study, they combined the model and data to learn how different biological processes affect mtDNA through and between generations.

They found that the variability of mtDNA dramatically increased as mothers aged, this means that the probability of inheriting lower and higher levels of a genetic feature increases for older mothers. Older mothers have a higher chance of having some eggs with low levels of a given mtDNA type. This may improve their chance of selecting eggs with low mutation levels in IVF cycles.

Researchers also discovered different mtDNA mixtures that were inherited in different ways-with some mtDNA types favoured for inheritance and some disfavoured. They used their findings to create a way to predict how the risk that offspring would inherit disease-causing mtDNA features changes over time.
[url]haleplushearty.org[/url]

Autism spectrum disorders are a set of hundreds of very rare diseases, caused by mutations in many different genes, but which cluster into a particular constellation of symptoms.

McGill team of scientists led by Dr. Carl Ernst, researcher at the Douglas Hospital Research Centre, revealed a molecular mechanism that may play a role in the development of autism.
By taking skin cells from patients and reprogramming those cells to become brain cells through genetic engineering, Dr. Ernst, graduate student Scott Bell, and Edward A. Fon and Thomas M. Durcan, colleagues at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, tracked how a brain cell with the patient’s own mutation develops improperly.

The team focused on a gene- GRIN2B, a gene known to cause autism when mutated. Almost all genes in humans have two copies. A mutation in one copy of GRIN2B is sufficient to cause moderate intellectual disability and autism. The protein, made from this gene, is usually studied in the context of maturing or mature neurons, mainly in rodents.

Human neural stem cells derived from patients and considered as immature cells produce this protein. It also plays a key role at a much earlier developmental stage than previously thought. Manufacturing these electrically active brain cells allows a real insight into the human nervous system in a dish, even without a blood supply or supporting cell structures.

GRIN2B forms a part of a major receptor-NMDA in the human brain. The study data showed GRIN2B clearly has a function at the neural stem-cell stage. Using genetic engineering technology, researchers were able to repair the patient’s mutation in a dish and reverse the observed effects back to what healthy cells looked like.
[url]haleplushearty.org[/url]

The risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) was increased in children of mothers with the three main types of diabetes that complicate pregnancy, findings that add new information on type 1 diabetes and extend what is already known about type 2 and gestational diabetes.

Maternal preexisting type 2 diabetes (T2D) and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) diagnosed by 26 weeks have been associated with increased risk of ASD in children in prior research. Less is known about ASD risk associated with maternal preexisting type 1 diabetes (T1D).

Risk of ASD was higher in children exposed in utero to maternal preexisting T1D, T2D and gestational diabetes diagnosed by 26 weeks compared with no maternal diabetes exposure.
Results suggest the severity of maternal diabetes and the timing of exposure-early versus late in pregnancy may be associated with the risk of ASD in children of mothers with diabetes.
[url]haleplushearty.org[/url]

Obesity increases the risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women, a large-scale study co-led by a University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center researcher found the opposite is true for premenopausal women: higher body fat was linked to lower breast cancer risk. Heavier women have a lower overall risk of breast cancer before menopause. Breast cancer is most common in older women.

Obesity has been linked to higher risk for breast cancer in women after menopause which occurs on average at age 51. Since breast cancer is less common in younger women, researchers pooled data from 19 different studies to investigate breast cancer risk for a group of 758,592 women who were younger than 55 years. Studies often have smaller numbers of premenopausal breast cancers since breast cancer is less common at younger ages, and the evidence was not as strong as for postmenopausal breast cancer.

Their analysis linked a higher body mass index, or BMI, to lower breast cancer risk for younger women across this age group, even for women within a normal weight range. There was no threshold at which having a higher BMI was linked to lower cancer risk. The largest reductions in risk were for BMI between the ages of 18 and 24, with a 23 percent lower breast cancer risk linked to each five-unit increase in BMI during this time period.

At ages 25 to 34, each five-unit increase in BMI was linked to 15 percent lower risk. There was a 13 percent lower risk for BMI at ages 35 to 44, and a 12 percent lower risk for BMI at ages 45 to 54 years. Researchers saw the risk decreases linked to higher body mass index for estrogen- or progesterone-receptor positive breast cancer, but they did not see a consistent relationship for BMI and triple negative breast cancer, or hormone-receptor negative breast cancer.

Multiple factors could be contributing to the link between higher BMI and lower breast cancer risk in younger women, such as differences in hormones, including estrogen, growth factors, or breast density. Estrogen can be a driver of breast cancer, but there are different levels and sources of estrogen before and after menopause. Before menopause onset, the primary source of estrogen comes from the ovaries, and estrogen produced by fatty tissue may help to downregulate the amount of estrogen produced by the ovaries.

The amount of estrogen produced by ovaries is driven by feedback loops in the body, the small amount of estrogen produced by fat tissue before menopause may help tell the ovaries that they can produce less estrogen and also regulate other hormones or growth factors. After menopause, the ovaries are no longer the primary source of estrogen. Most estrogens come from adipose, or fat, tissue, women who have more adipose tissue after menopause usually have higher levels of estrogen which can contribute to higher breast cancer risk.
[url]haleplushearty.org[/url]

Daily fasting is an effective tool for reducing weight and lowering blood pressure, researchers worked with 23 obese volunteers who had an average age of 45 and average body mass index, BMI, of 35. Between the hours of 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. the dieters could eat any type and quantity of food but for the remaining 16 hours they could only drink water.

The study followed the participants for 12 weeks. When compared to a matched historical control group from a previous weight loss trial on a different type of fasting, the researchers found that those who followed the time-restricted eating diet consumed fewer calories, lost weight and had improvements in blood pressure.

Participants consumed about 350 fewer calories, lost about 3 percent of their body weight and saw their systolic blood pressure decreased by about 7 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg), the standard measure of blood pressure. Daily fasting is an option for weight loss that do not include calorie counting or eliminating certain foods.
[url]haleplushearty.org[/url]

Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) looked at short-term effects of flavoring chemicals used in tobacco products like e-cigarettes on endothelial cells, cells that line the blood vessels. The researchers noticed that when blood vessels were exposed to flavoring additives, normally released chemicals to promote blood flow were decreased and increased inflammation, indicators of short-term toxicity.

There has been a rapid rise in e-cigarette use, partially due to flavoring additives in tobacco products and perception of less harm than traditional combustible cigarettes.The dangers of combustible cigarettes on the cardiovascular system has been known for decades, e-cigarettes are not safe because previous research confirmed that they are dangerous to blood vessels.

Researchers also found that endothelial cells from smokers showed the same toxicity as those treated with flavoring chemicals. Flavoring additives were directly toxic to blood vessels and have adverse effects that may have relevance to cardiovascular toxicity long-term similar to combustible cigarettes.
[url]haleplushearty.org[/url]

A new study in Cardiovascular Research indicates that patients with high blood pressure are at a higher risk of developing dementia. This research also shows that an MRI can be used to detect early signatures of neurological damage in people with high blood pressure, before symptoms of dementia.

High blood pressure is a chronic condition that causes progressive organ damage. The clinical approach to treatment of dementia patients usually starts after symptoms are clearly evident. However, it has becoming increasingly clear that when signs of brain damage are manifest, it may be too late to reverse the neurodegenerative process.

Physicians lack procedures for assessing progression markers that could reveal pre-symptomatic alterations and identify patients at risk of developing dementia. Researchers screened subjects admitted at the Regional Excellence Hypertension Center of the Italian Society of Hypertension in the Department of Angiocardioneurology and Translational Medicine of the I.R.C.C.S, Neuromed, in Italy.

Researchers recruited people aged 40 to 65, compliant to give written informed consent and with the possibility to perform a dedicated 3 Tesla MRI scan. This work was conducted on patients with no sign of structural damage and no diagnosis of dementia. All patients underwent clinical examination to determine their hypertensive status and the related target organ damage.

Patients were subjected to an MRI scan to identify microstructural damage.To gain insights in the neurocognitive profile of patients a specific group of tests was administered. As primary outcome of the study the researchers aimed at finding any specific signature of brain changes in white matter microstructure of hypertensive patients, associated with an impairment of the related cognitive functions.

The result indicated that hypertensive patients showed significant alterations in three specific white matter fiber-tracts. Hypertensive patients also scored significantly worse in the cognitive domains ascribable to brain regions connected through those fiber-tracts, showing decreased performances in executive functions, processing speed, memory and related learning tasks.

Overall, white matter fiber-tracking on MRIs showed an early signature of damage in hypertensive patients when otherwise undetectable by conventional neuroimaging. As these changes can be detected before patients show symptoms, these patients could be targeted with medication earlier to prevent further deterioration in brain function.
[url]haleplushearty.org[/url]

Absence of a specific protein in cells lining the esophagus may cause inflammation and tissue damage in people with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE). People with EoE experience difficult or painful swallowing, vomiting and nutritional problems because an accumulation of immune cells-eosinophils scars the esophagus.

Researchers found that the protein-SPINK7, was nearly absent in esophageal biopsies taken from adults and children with active EoE but was prevalent in biopsies from healthy people. In a healthy esophagus, SPINK7 tamps down inflammation and preserves tissue structure.

Because food contains enzymes that can damage human tissue, the lining of the esophagus normally protects itself by producing its own enzymes that degrade the offending proteins and protect the lining. Researchers led by Marc E. Rothenberg, M.D., Ph.D., at Cincinnati Children’s found that SPINK7 facilitates this protective process.

They silenced SPINK7, the gene that codes for SPINK7, in cells derived from esophageal tissues, the research team discovered that large gaps formed between the cells lining the esophagus. These cells also lost barrier functions that ordinarily move food along the digestive tract. Tissues that did not express SPINK7 also produced high levels of chemical messengers called cytokines that attract eosinophils and produce the same type of inflammation seen in allergic diseases.

The research team then treated esophageal tissue samples with alpha-1 anti-trypsin, or A1AT, a drug approved to treat an inherited form of emphysema. Like SPINK7, A1AT is a natural inhibitor of specific tissue-damaging proteins. In the lab, A1AT reversed the damaging inflammation seen in tissues that lacked SPINK7, suggesting that further investigation is warranted to determine if this therapeutic may also benefit people with EoE.

Currently, therapies available to people with EoE include taking corticosteroids to relieve inflammatory symptoms, restricting their diets to avoid allergen-containing foods that may exacerbate the condition, or undergoing periodic surgical procedures to expand the esophagus.
[url]haleplushearty.org[/url]

West Africa suffered the most severe outbreak of Ebola ever recorded. In Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, a total of 29,000 patients were diagnosed with the disease. More than 11,000 people didn’t survive. Researchers from the Rega Institute at KU Leuven mapped the spread of the Ebola virus in West-Africa between 2013 and 2016.

Professor Guy Baele and his colleague created a genetic family tree of the epidemic, in time as well as space, with the oldest DNA sample from early 2014 in Guinea.They connected the family tree of the epidemic to other information, like geographical information and transportation.
Long-distance transportation, such as air travel by contaminated people, doesn’t appear to have been important in spreading the virus.

Contrary to what happens during a flu epidemic, the Ebola epidemic spread due to short-distance travelling. The epidemic stepped up its pace once the virus had reached Conakry, Freetown and Monrovia – the capitals of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, respectively. Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia have each closed their international borders at a different moment in time.

These interventions are visible in the phylogenetic tree of the Ebola virus and how the virus continued to evolve afterwards. Closing the borders was an effective way to prevent Ebola from becoming an international epidemic. That’s important to know, as this type of intervention strategy obviously has major economic and social consequences. You can slow down Ebola by cooperating with the health officials, do not spreading the virus if you are infected, use your drugs correctly and stay at the approved isolation centers.
[url]haleplushearty.org[/url]

According to a recent study by researchers at the University of California, Davis and Evolve BioSystems Inc,supplementing breastfed infants with activated Bifidobacterium infantis ( B. infantis ) bacteria had a positive impact on babies’ gut microbes for up to a year.

The presence of B. infantis in the intestines of infants is associated with health benefits and these bacteria are nourished by breast milk. However, these beneficial bacteria are present at significantly lower levels in breastfed infants in developed countries than in developing countries.

Mothers and infants in the study received either a B. infantis preparation and lactation support, or lactation support alone, from seven to 21 days after birth. The bacteria quickly established themselves in the babies, crowding out other gut bacteria that are associated with intestinal problems and immune-related diseases such as asthma, allergy and autoimmune disease.

Supplementation with B. infantis also changed the biochemical composition of infant feces. These beneficial changes lasted for up to a year in babies that were primarily breastfed. These results suggest a possible method to improve gut microbiome health and prevent immune-related diseases in breastfed infants in developed countries.
[url]haleplushearty.org[/url]

Researchers from the University of Mauritius have shown that family size, type of diet and multi-usage of towels impact the growth of pathogens on kitchen towels, potentially causing food poisoning. Family composition and hygienic practices in the kitchen affected the microbial load of kitchen towels. 49% of the kitchen towels collected in the study had bacterial growth which increased in number with extended family, presence on children and increasing family size.

The towels for multipurpose usage (wiping utensils, drying hands, holding hot utensils, wiping/cleaning surfaces) had a higher bacterial count than single-use towels and humid towels showed higher bacterial count than the dry ones. Out of the 49 samples which were positive for bacterial growth, 36.7% grew coliforms, 36.7% Enterococcus spp and 14.3% S. aureus.

A total of 100 kitchen towels were collected after one month of use. The researchers cultured the bacteria and identified them by standard biochemical tests. They also determined the bacterial load on the towels. S. aureus was isolated at a higher rate from families of lower socio-economic status and those with children. The risk of having coliforms (Escherichia coli) was higher from humid towels than the dried ones, from multipurpose towels than single-use ones and from families on non-vegetarian diets.

Coliform and S. aureus were detected at significantly higher prevalence from families with non-vegetarian diets. Escherichia coli is a normal flora of human intestine and it is released in large numbers in human feces. The presence of Escherichia coli indicates possible fecal contamination and lack of hygiene practices.

The data indicated that unhygienic practices while handling non-vegetarian food could be common in the kitchen. The presence of potential pathogens from the kitchen towels indicates that they could be responsible for cross-contamination in the kitchen and could lead to food poisoning. Humid towels and multipurpose usage of kitchen towels should be discouraged.
[url]haleplushearty.org[/url]

The first randomized, controlled trial testing carbon dioxide gas injections (carboxytherapy) to reduce belly fat found the new technique eliminates fat around the stomach. However, the changes were modest and did not result in long-term fat reduction, according to the Northwestern Medicine study.

According to Dr. Murad Alam, vice chair of dermatology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a Northwestern Medicine physician, Carboxytherapy could potentially be a new and effective means of fat reduction.

Current technologies routinely used for non-invasive fat reduction are cryolipolysis, high intensity ultrasound, radiofrequency, chemical adipocytolysis and laser-assisted fat reduction. The Northwestern study consisted of 16 adults who were not overweight (body mass of 22 to 29) and were randomized to get weekly carbon dioxide gas injection to one side of their abdomens and a sham treatment on the other side once a week for five weeks.

A high-resolution ultrasound detected a reduction in superficial fat after five weeks but not at 28 weeks. The patients’ body weight did not change over the course of the study. The difference was not maintained at six months suggests the treatment stimulated a temporary metabolic process that reduced the size of fat cells without inducing cell death.
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