News by Subject Medicine & Health

In a review article published in Frontiers of Endocrinology, Brazilian researchers estimate a reduction of 35% in levels of physical activity and a rise of 28% in sedentary behavior in the initial months of confinement imposed by the pandemic.

Your food intake patterns are partly under genetic control, according to the latest research from researchers at King's College London, published today in the journal Twin Research and Human Genetics.

An innovative new study is set to examine if changing our mealtimes to earlier or later in the day could reduce the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.

In early 2020, upon recommendation by leading endocrinologists, American Diabetes Association lowered the target hemoglobin A1C guidelines for children with type 1 diabetes. Their goal in recommending stricter glucose control was to ensure children with type 1 diabetes have better immediate and long-term health outcomes with fewer health complications and reduced mortality rates. In this "Perspective" article they discuss the evidence and rationale behind this new recommendation.

Use of the diabetes drug metformin -- before a diagnosis of COVID-19 -- is associated with a threefold decrease in mortality in COVID-19 patients with Type 2 diabetes, according to a racially diverse study at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Diabetes is a significant comorbidity for COVID-19. This beneficial effect remained, even after correcting for age, sex, race, obesity, and hypertension or chronic kidney disease and heart failure.

Acute Pancreatitis (AP) is one of the most common diseases around the world. Associated with a considerable risk of morbidity and even death in patients who suffer a severe form of the disease, to date there is no specific treatment for it. Now international AP experts have published a roadmap in the journal Gut (BMJ) pinpointing the two most significant thresholds in the disease that could serve as a starting point for targeting treatment strategies for this extremely painful condition.

Heart damage typically progresses, owing to oxidative stress and toxic lipids that alter heart cell energetics and the heart's ability to function normally. Oxidative stress occurs when harmful oxygen-containing molecules outnumber helpful antioxidants, leading to damaging reactions with proteins, DNA, and other cell components. Temple researchers show that in the heart, Kruppel-like factor-5, fuels both the generation of oxidizing molecules and the accumulation of toxic lipids known as ceramides in the heart, exacerbating heart dysfunction.

A new study confirms that treatment with Bimagrumab, an antibody that blocks activin type II receptors and stimulates skeletal muscle growth, is safe and effective for treating excess adiposity and metabolic disturbances of adult patients with obesity and type 2 diabetes.