‘Skinny fat’ linked to silent artery damage, McMaster study reveals
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 26-Dec-2025 15:11 ET (26-Dec-2025 20:11 GMT/UTC)
Apples owe much of their health value to polyphenols—natural antioxidants that fight oxidative stress and chronic diseases. Yet centuries of domestication have quietly diminished these compounds in today’s sweeter, larger fruits. A research team has now traced this nutritional loss to a specific genetic mechanism. By integrating genome-wide association analysis with molecular experiments, they uncovered a powerful regulatory pair—MdDof2.4 and MdPAT10—that triggers the accumulation of procyanidins, the most abundant polyphenols in apples. The discovery reveals how a tiny promoter insertion reawakens a dormant metabolic pathway, opening a path toward breeding apples that are both delicious and rich in health-promoting compounds.
Kyoto, Japan -- For people with medical conditions, stigma is a real problem they must worry about on top of their health. Stereotypes about health conditions often cause discrimination even by healthcare providers, as many may assume those affected don't take care of their health, when in reality they likely have no control over their condition.
Diabetes affects nearly ten percent of the global adult population and causes almost two million deaths per year, yet the persistent stigma surrounding people with the disease is a global concern. Physicians may act as inadvertent perpetrators, but their level of awareness is still poorly understood.
To address this, it is essential to gauge the level of awareness of a diabetes stigma among future physicians and identify the need for strategic interventions in medical education. This approach motivated a team of researchers at Kyoto University to first assess awareness of stigma and advocacy among medical students in Japan.
A landmark international study led by the University of Zurich has shown that artificial intelligence can assess patient risk for the most common type of heart attack more accurately than existing methods. This could enable doctors to guide more personalized treatment decisions for patients.
A Simon Fraser University study has confirmed what female runners already know – women’s running shoes do not meet the needs of female runners.
Despite a huge growth in female sports over recent years, running shoes are still typically designed on molds of male feet.
The designs are then made smaller and more effeminate in colour – an approach known as “shrink it and pink it” – for female runners.
Researchers suggest that if women’s running shoes were actually based on the female foot anatomy, then they could boost comfort, enhance injury prevention and improve performance.