Monthly Archives: January 2024

In social media posts on the community network Reddit, users reported reduced cravings for alcohol when taking drugs intended to treat Type 2 diabetes and obesity. An analysis of those posts, together with a remote study of individuals with obesity who reported using semaglutide and tirzepatide, found that the drugs decreased cravings and reduced alcohol […]

In recent years, research has begun to reveal that the lines of communication between the body’s organs are key regulators of aging. When these lines are open, the body’s organs and systems work well together. But with age, communication lines deteriorate, and organs don’t get the molecular and electrical messages they need to function properly. […]

Inflammatory processes are associated with a large range of human diseases, including rheumatic diseases and allergies. Protein biomarkers are measurable molecules that can have a prognostic value in patients, be used to diagnose disease, or indicate severity of disease.  However, the causal relationship between a protein biomarker and inflammatory diseases is generally unknown. The protein […]

Amino acids are the building blocks of life. We obtain them from the food we eat, and the body uses them to make proteins, which in turn are used for growth, development, and a multitude of other functions.  When amino acids are available, a master regulator protein called TORC1 is switched on, causing proteins to […]

A surprising MIT study helped to spur interest in the possibility that light flickering at the frequency of a particular gamma-band brain rhythm could produce meaningful therapeutic effects for people with Alzheimer’s disease.  Brain rhythms (also called brain “waves” or “oscillations”) arise from the synchronized, network activity of brain cells and circuits as they coordinate […]

MIT researchers have discovered a class of compounds that can kill a drug-resistant bacterium that causes more than 10,000 deaths in the United States every year. The researchers showed that these compounds could kill methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) grown in a lab dish and in two mouse models of MRSA infection. The compounds also show […]

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a chronic sleep condition affecting more than one billion people worldwide. Evidence suggests OSA can alter the gut microbiome (GM) and may promote OSA-associated comorbidities, including diabetes, hypertension and cognitive problems.  David Gozal, MD, the Marie M. and Harry L. Smith said the study shows the gut microbiome plays a […]

A small molecule inhibitor that attacks the difficult to target, cancer-causing gene mutation KRAS, found in nearly 30 percent of all human tumors, successfully shrink tumors or stopped cancer growth in preclinical models of pancreatic cancer. Patients with pancreatic cancer have an overall poor prognosis with a five-year survival rate of 11 percent and limited […]