Nearly 25% of US adults report concurrently taking a prescription medication with a dietary supplement. Some supplements, such as St. John’s wort and goldenseal, are known to cause clinically important drug interactions and should be avoided by most patients receiving any pharmacologic therapy. Some other supplements are predicted to cause interactions based on in vitro […]
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of mortality in Europe (47% of total mortality) and one of the main causes of death worldwide (31% of all worldwide deaths). The influence of modifiable risk factors, such as smoking, high blood pressure, dyslipidemia, or poor diet, has been the object of investigation since the 1950s, and […]
Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multipotent cells showing potential for use in regenerative medicine. Culture techniques that are more stable and methods for the more efficient production of MSCs with therapeutic efficacy are needed. A study by Koichi Fujisawa, et al, evaluated the effects of growing bone marrow (Bm)-derived MSCs in the presence of L-carnitine, […]
Two doctoral students from the Department of Food Science and Technology at the NUS Faculty of Science in Singapore have created probiotic coffee and tea drinks that are packaged with live probiotics. Traditional probiotic carriers like yoghurts and cultured milks are dairy-based products. The rise in veganism, along with common health issues like lactose intolerance, […]
In two separate studies analyzing different measures of healthy plant food consumption, researchers found that both young adults and postmenopausal women had fewer heart attacks and were less likely to develop cardiovascular disease when they ate more healthy plant foods. Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States. Suboptimal diet is […]
Worldwide, the number of patients with diabetes is increasing in both developed and developing countries. Diabetic patients are at increased risk for classical micro- and macrovascular diseases as well as nonclassical diseases, such as dementia, malignancy and fragility fracture, which affect both quality of life and life expectancy. Recent advances in therapeutics (such as sodium-glucose […]
Since its initial use in China over 4000 years ago tea has become one of the most commonly consumed beverages worldwide, second only to water. The leaves of the evergreen species Camellia sinensis are used to make the most prevalent caffeinated teas. Since they are produced from the same plant, the differences between tea varieties […]
Fibromyalgia is a disorder characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain accompanied by fatigue, sleep, memory and mood issues. Researchers believe that fibromyalgia amplifies painful sensations by affecting the way your brain and spinal cord process painful and non-painful signals. Symptoms often begin after an event, such as physical trauma, surgery, infection or significant psychological stress. In […]
Coconut oil has gained considerable popularity in recent years with coconut oil in food and beverages accounting for 26% of food and drink new product launches in 2012, this is an increase from 15% in 2008. This is not surprising given the numerous ways that coconut oil has been identified by the media to potentially […]
Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is one of the leading causes of death in the world. The number of patients with this disease has dramatically increased, especially in developing countries. The International Diabetes Federation estimated that the diabetes population will reach 380 million globally by 2025. Perhaps as a result of increased bad diet habits […]