Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
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Category: health – Page 29

Salt, or more precisely the sodium it contains, is very much a “Goldilocks” nutrient. Low sodium levels cause a drop in blood volume, which can have serious, sometimes deadly, health consequences. Conversely, too much salt can lead to high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease.

In modern America, where most people consume a , almost no one is in danger of having too little salt. However, given the critical importance of sodium for body and brain functions, evolution has developed a powerful drive to consume salt in situations where there is a deficiency.

Understanding the brain circuitry that controls salt appetite has proved elusive, but now a new study by University of Iowa researchers has identified the first and, thus far, only neurons necessary for salt appetite.

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As the global population ages, more of us face frightening cognitive decline, personally or in our loved ones. There are over 10 million new cases of dementia globally each year.

But a study published this year suggests up to 13 percent of people diagnosed with dementia in the US may have a misdiagnosis and are instead left struggling with a condition that can be treated.

“Health care providers [must be] made aware of this potential overlap between dementia and hepatic encephalopathy, which is treatable,” said Virginia Commonwealth University hepatologist Jasmohan Bajaj in July.

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Considering what’s known about their brain structures, sensory systems and learning capacity, it appears that cephalopods as a group may be similar in intelligence to vertebrates as a group. Since many societies have animal welfare standards for mice, rats, chickens and other vertebrates, logic would suggest that there’s an equal case for regulations enforcing humane treatment of cephalopods.

Such rules generally specify that when a species is held in captivity, its housing conditions should support the animal’s welfare and natural behavior. This view has led some U.S. states to outlaw confined cages for egg-laying hens and crates too narrow for pregnant sows to turn around.

Animal welfare regulations say little about invertebrates, but guidelines for the care and use of captive cephalopods have started to appear over the past decade. In 2010, the European Union required considering ethical issues when using cephalopods for research. And in 2015, AAALAC International, an international accreditation organization for ethical animal research, and the Federation of European Laboratory Animal Science Associations promoted guidelines for the care and use of cephalopods in research. The U.S. National Institutes of Health is currently considering similar guidelines.

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There are various studies that have explored the role of the body’s circadian rhythm in regulating immune activity. Disruptions in the circadian rhythms exacerbate inflammation. Researchers from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) University of Medicine and Health Sciences have previously studied how the immune cells called macrophages are affected without an internal body clock. Now, new research by RCSI describes how macrophages work differently at various times of day and could pave the way for time-targeted treatments for inflammatory diseases. The research also illuminates a key role for mitochondria in driving daily changes in immune activity.

The findings are published in The FASEB Journal in an article titled, “Time-of-day control of mitochondria regulates NLRP3 inflammasome activation in macrophages.”

Macrophages release interleukin-1 (IL-1) cytokines in response to inflammatory stimuli, and the NLRP3 inflammasome mediates IL-1-family cytokine release via pyroptosis. Mitochondria play a multifaceted role regulating NLRP3 inflammasome activity. However, whether the macrophage clock regulates the NLRP3 inflammasome via mitochondrial control remains unclear.

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Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly useful for the prediction of emergency events such as heart attacks, natural disasters, and pipeline failures. This requires state-of-the-art technologies that can rapidly process data. In this regard, reservoir computing, specially designed for time-series data processing with low power consumption, is a promising option.

It can be implemented in various frameworks, among which physical reservoir computing (PRC) is the most popular. PRC with optoelectronic artificial synapses that mimic human synaptic elements are expected to have unparalleled recognition and real-time processing capabilities akin to the human visual system.

However, PRC based on existing self-powered optoelectronic synaptic devices cannot handle time-series data across multiple timescales, present in signals for monitoring infrastructure, natural environment, and health conditions.

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A UCLA study found that a diet low in omega-6 and high in omega-3 fatty acids, along with fish oil supplements, can significantly slow the growth of prostate cancer cells in men opting for active surveillance, potentially reducing the need for future aggressive treatments.

Researchers from UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have found new evidence that dietary changes may slow cancer cell growth in men with prostate cancer undergoing active surveillance—a treatment approach that involves closely monitoring the cancer without immediate medical intervention.

Prostate Cancer and Dietary Intervention.

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As astronauts venture further into space, their exposure to harmful radiation rises. Researchers from Columbia University are simulating the effects of space radiation here on Earth to determine its impact on human physiology using multi-organ tissue chips. Their work documents the differential effects seen in tissues after acute and prolonged radiation exposure and identifies multiple genes of interest that could help inform the development of future radioprotective agents.

Their study appears in Advanced Science.

“As deep space exploration continues to unfold, it is vital to understand the physiological damage caused by space radiation to better mitigate its effects. By exposing multi-organ models to simulated cosmic radiation, this study has laid the groundwork to aid in this effort,” commented Jermont Chen, Ph.D., a program director in the Division of Discovery Science and Technology at NIBIB.

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The Russian Ministry of Health has announced that it has developed a vaccine against cancer that will be distributed to Russian patients for free from early 2025.

According to TASS, the Russian state-owned news agency, Andrey Kaprin—the General Director of the Radiology Medical Research Center of the Russian Ministry of Health—recently announcement the development on Russian radio.

The vaccine will apparently be used to treat cancer patients, rather than given to the general public to prevent cancer—and it will be personalized to each patient.

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People with breathing problems during sleep may have a larger hippocampus, the area of the brain responsible for memory and thinking, according to a study published in the December 18, 2024, online issue of Neurology.

The study, which included mostly Latino people, also found that those with lower during sleep had changes in the deep parts of the brain, the , a common finding of decreased that develops with age.

Sleep disordered breathing is a range of conditions that cause abnormal breathing during sleep, including snoring and . Obstructive sleep apnea is when a person stops breathing five or more times per hour. When breathing stops, it can lower oxygen levels, affecting the brain.

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A NASA-led study reveals that the pattern of rainfall throughout the year—specifically the frequency and intensity of rain events—is nearly as significant to global vegetation health as the total amount of annual rainfall.

The research indicates that less frequent but heavier rainfalls can benefit plants in arid regions like the U.S. Southwest, while potentially harming those in wetter ecosystems such as the Central American rainforests due to longer intervals of dryness.

Impact of rainfall patterns on global vegetation.

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