A long-studied metabolic hormone, FGF21, also acts as a stress hormone—a discovery that helps explain how psychological stress causes metabolic dysregulation and drive physical disease, according to a new study from researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, and the Butler Columbia Aging Center. 

The same chemical reaction that makes a piece of freshly toasted bread delicious also happens in our bodies, with far less appetizing consequences. We’re talking about the Maillard reaction, where sugars react with protein to form brown, sticky compounds in a process called glycation. Glycation is increasingly suspected to be a hidden driver of obesity, diabetes and accelerated aging. Researchers in the Kapahi lab have found a way to tame it in mice by feeding them a combination of glycation-lowering compounds.

About 75% of older adults in the ICU develop delirium, a state of confusion with serious short and long-term health consequences including an increased risk of post-ICU dementia. A multi-center randomized controlled trial of critically ill adults aged 50 and older admitted to ICUs suggests the need for further study of music therapy in critically ill older adults. Results of the The Decreasing Delirium through Music in Critically Ill Older Adults Trial are reported in JAMA Internal Medicine.