Eat whole grains for better heart health
Researchers from Tabriz University of Medical Sciences in Iran, and Imperial College, London, found that a higher intake of whole grains was associated with a lower risk of cardiometabolic diseases (metabolic and cardiovascular diseases). The study, published in the European Heart Journal recently, recommended eating six or eight servings daily of whole-grains like brown rice, buckwheat, jowar, bajra, ragi, whole wheat, unpolished red or black rice, rajgira and jau. The study included data from 87 clinical trials and over 6,500 people from across Asia, Europe, the US, Canada, Australia and Brazil. The results showed that people eating 60 to 100 gm whole grains per day had reductions in body weight, waist circumference and blood pressure, lower levels of total cholesterol, LDL/bad cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose and interleukin-6 (a marker of inflammation) in the blood. They also had a 10 to 15 per cent lower risk of coronary heart disease and cardiovascular disease.
Strength training shrinks fat cells in one week
A new study by researchers at the State University of Campinas, Brazil, found just seven days of resistance exercise reduced fat cell size and increased fat-burning activity in obese mice. The study, published in Life Sciences, found that a week of strength training activated changes at the cellular and molecular level leading to fat breakdown, reduced harmful visceral fat surrounding the intestines and shrank fat-storing cells, despite no change in overall body weight. Just seven resistance-training sessions were enough to reduce fat cell size in mesenteric adipose tissue (layer of fat surrounding the intestines) in obese mice. In humans, this tissue is considered a major representative of visceral fat, which accumulates deep within the abdomen around internal organs and is associated with increased risks of metabolic disease. That finding is important because enlarged fat cells are linked to chronic inflammation which can lead to health issues.
New blood test detects early-stage pancreatic cancer
A new blood test, combining three biological markers, is able to detect early-stage pancreatic cancer with over 85 per cent success rate, say researchers from the US, China, Korea and Japan. The study was published in the journal Nature Medicine. Pancreatic cancer is deadly and difficult to detect early as patients often don't have symptoms and diagnosis happens often when the cancer has advanced and spread to other organs, making treatment difficult with surgery and chemotherapy. The new test, called PANXEON, screens a patient for three markers: circulating microRNAs, exosomal microRNAs and carbohydrate antigen 19-9 — these are signals in the blood associated with pancreatic cancer. In trials, the test correctly identified patients with stage 1 and 2 of the cancer in 87 per cent of cases out of almost 1,800 people across US, Europe and Asia. It also detected high-grade dysplasia, an advanced precancerous lesion, in about 64 per cent of cases.
Congenital TORCH infections linked to autism
Researchers from Sweden have found that babies born with congenital TORCH infections were three times more likely to later be diagnosed with autism than those not infected. TORCH is a group of infections transmitted from a pregnant woman to her developing foetus. The group includes infections such as cytomegalovirus, rubella, toxoplasmosis and herpes viruses. Researchers examined data on 3.7 million people born in Sweden between 1987 and 2021. Among them, 975 were diagnosed with a congenital TORCH infection at birth. The team tracked participants for up to 30 years. The study, published in JAMA Pediatrics, found that children born with a congenital TORCH infection had three times the risk of autism and over seven times the risk of intellectual disability compared with uninfected children. The risk of severe-to-profound intellectual disability was even higher, reaching up to 30 times that of children without these infections. A vaccination before pregnancy remains one of the most effective ways to prevent congenital rubella, experts said.
