http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Four years ago, Janelly Martinez-Amador was confined to a bed, unable to move even an arm or lift her head. At age 3, the fragile toddler had the gross motor skills of a newborn and a ventilator kept her alive. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-therapy-regenerate-child-undeveloped-bones.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 24 Apr 2013 08:28:38 EST news286010877 Researchers in the Life Sciences Institute at the University of Michigan have challenged a long-held belief that whitening of skeletal muscle in diabetes is harmful. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-weights-blood-sugar-white-muscle.html Medical research Sun, 07 Apr 2013 13:00:24 EST news284555009 Inflammation is the body's normal response to injury. While it may be a natural defense system, it can lead to disease development if it becomes chronic. A University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) expert says one way to fight inflammation is with food. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-foods-inflammation.html Inflammatory disorders Tue, 26 Mar 2013 08:30:05 EST news283505397 Transplants of blood-forming stem cells from umbilical cord blood may be an effective alternative to transplants of matched donor bone marrow stem cells to treat children with a rare, debilitating disease known as Hurler's syndrome (HS), according to results of a study published online today in Blood, the Journal of the American Society of Hematology (ASH). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-cord-blood-effective-alternative-donor.html Medical research Thu, 14 Mar 2013 11:03:12 EST news282477785 Here's another reason why a healthy diet during pregnancy is critical to the future health of your children: New research published in the March 2013 issue of The FASEB Journal, suggests that pregnant mothers who consume junk food actually cause changes in the development of the opioid signaling pathway in the brains of their unborn children. This change results in the babies being less sensitive to opioids, which are released upon consumption of foods that are high in fat and sugar. In turn, these children, born with a higher "tolerance" to junk food need to eat more of it to achieve a "feel good" response. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-junk-food-pregnant-child-addict.html Health Thu, 28 Feb 2013 11:34:55 EST news281273656 Obesity might be a very modern problem, but a team of scientists from Taiwan and China is turning to the age-old principles of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) to help fight it.  Breaking research published in the Journal of Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics indicates a possible new direction for the treatment of metabolic syndrome. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-traditional-chinese-medicine-obesity-problem.html Medical research Thu, 31 Jan 2013 07:13:51 EST news278838824 After you eat, your liver switches from producing glucose to storing it. At the same time, a cellular signaling pathway known as the unfolded protein response (UPR) is transiently activated, but it is not clear how this pathway contributes to the liver's metabolic switch. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-factor-liver-metabolism.html Medical research Fri, 21 Dec 2012 12:00:08 EST news275306928 (Medical Xpress)—The holidays are a time to consume—food, gifts, and spirits. Here are a few alcohol-related story ideas from The Methodist Hospital. Because alcohol's effects on human physiology are complex, advice about is often contradictory. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-toasting-health-alcohol-consumption.html Health Thu, 20 Dec 2012 08:30:03 EST news275213041 For more than half a century, researchers have known that the bacteria that colonize the gastrointestinal tract of mammals influence their host's cholesterol metabolism. Now, Jens Walter and colleagues of the University of Nebraska show that changes in cholesterol metabolism induced by diet can alter the gut flora. The research was published online ahead of print in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-host-cholesterol-secretion-gut-microbiota.html Medical research Tue, 18 Dec 2012 14:27:26 EST news275063222 (HealthDay)—Adults with cerebral palsy may be able to reduce declines in muscle strength, improve function, and reduce cardiovascular and metabolic disease by avoiding sedentary behavior and engaging in physical activity, according to a study published online Oct. 23 in Obesity Reviews. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-sedentary-behavior-worsens-decline-cerebral.html Overweight and Obesity Fri, 02 Nov 2012 15:40:01 EST news271078438 (HealthDay)—The increase in total body fat and abdominal fat seen at menopause is due to the hormonal changes taking place, which can be improved by estrogen treatment, according to a study published in the October issue of Climacteric. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-hormonal-menopause-abdominal-obesity.html Overweight and Obesity Wed, 24 Oct 2012 16:20:12 EST news270313510 A research team led by Anna Floegel of the German Institute of Human Nutrition (DIfE) and Tobias Pischon of the Max Delbrueck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) has identified 14 novel biomarkers for type 2 diabetes. They can serve as basis for developing new methods of treatment and prevention of this metabolic disease. The biomarkers can also be used to determine diabetes risk at a very early point in time. At the same time the markers enable insight into the complex mechanisms of this disease, which still have not been completely elucidated. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-team-biomarkers-diabetes.html Diabetes Thu, 04 Oct 2012 13:00:01 EST news268571259 (Medical Xpress)—New research has found that a type of anti-tumour immune cell protects against obesity and the metabolic syndrome that leads to diabetes. Results showing that immune cells known to be protective against malignancy called invariant natural killer T-cells (iNKT), that are lost when humans become obese, but can be restored through weight loss, have been published online this week in the journal Immunity. Marie Curie Fellow, Lydia Lynch at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland made the discovery and as first author in collaboration with colleagues at Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre, and St Vincent's University Hospital have shown that therapies that activate iNKT cells could help manage obesity, diabetes, and metabolic disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-scientists-immune-cells-obesity.html Immunology Mon, 01 Oct 2012 18:59:42 EST news268336763 Invariant natural killer T-cells (iNKT) are a unique subset of immune cells that are known to influence inflammatory responses. Now, a scientific team led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) has found that iNKT cells play a protective role in guarding against obesity and the metabolic syndrome, a major consequence of obesity. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-natural-killer-t-cells-fat-tissue.html Immunology Thu, 13 Sep 2012 12:58:07 EST news266759879 (Medical Xpress)—An EPFL research team has used a novel method to identify a gene involved in bone building. Their results appear today in the advance online edition of the scientific journal Cell. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-genetic-reveals-bone-weakening-mechanism.html Medical research Fri, 31 Aug 2012 09:10:01 EST news265622056 Working with a national team of researchers, a scientist from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute has shown for the first time a link between low levels of a specific hormone and increased risk of metabolic disease in humans. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-team-uncovers-link-hormone-metabolic.html Overweight and Obesity Wed, 15 Aug 2012 14:30:01 EST news264258073 The composition of microbes in the gut changes dramatically during pregnancy, according to a study published by Cell Press in the August 3rd issue of the journal Cell. Although these changes are associated with metabolic disease under most circumstances, they could be beneficial in pregnant women. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-unhealthy-gut-microbes-benefit-pregnant.html Medical research Thu, 02 Aug 2012 12:05:16 EST news263127910 The FDA says baby bottles and sippy cups can no longer contain Bisphenol-A (BPA), an endocrine disruptor that mimics estrogen. But what about the hundreds of other plastic items, from water bottles to dental sealants, containing BPA? http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-health-expert-david-dausey-bpa.html Health Mon, 23 Jul 2012 16:16:53 EST news262279008 Humans are built to hunger for fat, packing it on during times of feast and burning it during periods of famine. But when deluged by foods rich in fat and sugar, the modern waistline often far exceeds the need to store energy for lean times, and the result has been an epidemic of diabetes, heart disease and other obesity-related problems. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-feast-famine-metabolic-diabetes-treatment.html Medical research Wed, 25 Apr 2012 09:19:06 EST news254564308 (PhysOrg.com) -- The 24-hour internal clock controls many aspects of human behavior and physiology, including sleep, blood pressure, and metabolism. Disruption in circadian rhythms leads to increased incidence of many diseases, including metabolic disease and cancer. Each cell of the body has its own internal timing mechanism, which is controlled by proteins that keep one another in check. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-circadian-clock-molecular-pair-time-keeping.html Genetics Wed, 04 Apr 2012 18:06:37 EST news252781586 (Medical Xpress) -- Exercise is the key to overcoming the adverse metabolic effects passed on to offspring by their overweight mothers, with research showing for the first time these effects can be almost completely reversed through physical activity. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-reverse-negative-effects-maternal-obesity.html Health Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:30:15 EST news247998537 Sequencing a patient's entire genome to discover the source of his or her disease is not routine – yet. But geneticists are getting close. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-exome-sequencing-metabolic-disease.html Genetics Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:02:06 EST news247510887 Broad, population-based investigations known as genome-wide association studies (GWAS) are now a standard tool for helping scientists to pinpoint genetic variations that can contribute to disease risk or pathology. However, most of the studies performed to date have focused predominantly on populations of European ancestry, and therefore ignore or overlook risk markers that specifically predominate among other ethnic groups. A recent GWAS from a large team of scientists based in Korea and Japan, including Yukinori Okada of the RIKEN Center for Genomic Medicine in Yokohama, has addressed this inequity by specifically seeking out factors that might contribute to metabolic disease in East Asians (Fig. 1). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-large-scale-east-asian-individuals-reveals.html Genetics Fri, 27 Jan 2012 10:00:02 EST news246879047 Using a mouse model, Heidelberg University Hospital researchers have for the first time successfully treated a severe congenital disorder in which sugar metabolism is disturbed. The team headed by Prof. Christian Korner, group leader at the Center for Child and Adolescent Medicine, demonstrated that if female mice are given mannose with their drinking water prior to mating and during pregnancy, their offspring will develop normally even if they carry the genetic mutation for the congenital disorder. The team's outstanding work will contribute to better understanding of the molecular processes of this metabolic disease, along with the key stages in embryonic development, and may offer a therapeutic approach for the first time. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-severe-congenital-disorder-successfully-mouse.html Genetics Thu, 22 Dec 2011 09:31:21 EST news243768665 A low-calorie diet eliminates insulin dependence and leads to improved heart function in obese patients with type 2 diabetes, according to a study presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-restricted-calorie-diet-heart-function.html Cardiology Mon, 28 Nov 2011 01:04:21 EST news241664402 Scientists have developed a rapid method that can be used to simultaneously screen patients for a range of genetic and acquired clinical conditions from a single dried blood spot. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-screening-method-range-clinical-conditions.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 16 Nov 2011 10:40:53 EST news240662446 It is widely suspected that the current wave of obesity among children will result in greater rates of cardiovascular disease and diabetes over the next few decades. But a second systematic review of research into childhood obesity and metabolic disease in adult life has shown there is little evidence of a direct link and suggests that treating obesity during childhood will remove any risk of lasting harm. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-childhood-obesity-health.html Health Wed, 16 Nov 2011 09:44:58 EST news240659091 Findings from a recent University of Cincinnati (UC) and Cincinnati Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center study show that multiple episodes of acute kidney injury during hospital stays for patients with diabetes are associated with a risk for developing chronic kidney disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-acute-kidney-injury-hospitalized-diabetic.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 01 Nov 2011 11:19:42 EST news239365174 The largest-ever analysis of genetic data related to type 1 diabetes has uncovered new genes associated with the common metabolic disease, which affects 200 million people worldwide. The findings add to knowledge of gene networks involved in the origin of this complex disorder, in which patients depend on frequent insulin injections to control their blood sugar levels. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-large-meta-analysis-genes-diabetes.html Genetics Thu, 29 Sep 2011 18:19:52 EST news236539177 Research led by Dr. Melinda Sothern, Professor of Public Health and Jim Finks Endowed Chair in Health Promotion at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, has found that obese 7-9-year-old children had nearly three times the liver fat and almost double the belly fat of their nonobese counterparts and that insulin resistance was more than double and insulin sensitivity less than half respectively. The study is the first to use a combination of advanced measurements in healthy obese and nonobese children in this age group prior to entering puberty. The findings are detailed in the journal, Obesity, online August 25, 2011. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-differences-metabolic-disease-markers-healthy.html Health Thu, 25 Aug 2011 10:36:27 EST news233487374