All posts by : Felistas

Marked variation in the prevalence of depression was found in a multisite sample of community-dwelling older adults in the United States, reports a study by Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Until now, few studies have examined the frequency of depression in community-dwelling older adults in the U.S. The study is published in the Journal of American Geriatrics Society.

Getting a good night’s sleep is a critical part of our daily biological cycle and is associated with improved brain function, a stronger immune system, and a healthier heart. Conversely, sleep disorders like insomnia and sleep apnea can significantly impact health and quality of life. Poor sleep often precedes the onset of neurodegenerative diseases and is a predictor of early dementia.

Most mutations which cause disease by swapping one amino acid out for another do so by making the protein less stable, according to a massive study of human protein variants published in the journal Nature. Unstable proteins are more likely to misfold and degrade, causing them to stop working or accumulate in harmful amounts inside cells.

Imagine leaving a stable career to pursue a new one, moving across the world to start afresh, or making the heartbreaking decision to end a marriage. These are not everyday choices; they are transformative life decisions that define who we are and who we might become.

Pioneering research from the Ateneo de Manila University could turn bangus fish skin—a common byproduct of the Philippine fishing industry, often discarded as waste—into an invaluable medical resource.

Chronic physical pain can be debilitating, but feelings of stress, fear, and hunger can sometimes suppress painful sensations. Diverse neurons across different brain regions play a role in carefully orchestrating the pain response in animals.

Fighting off infections when one has a chronic disease is a common problem, and during the COVID-19 pandemic that scenario often turned out to be dangerous and deadly. A new study led by Stony Brook Medicine demonstrates that advanced kidney disease compromises the survival of B cells, a type of infection-fighting white blood cell that produces antibodies to kill microbes, and thus significantly reduces the immune response to the influenza virus. The findings are published in Nature Communications.

Shaped by fads and one-size-fits-all approaches, current dietary practices rely on the idea that everyone needs the same food to achieve similar results, an idea challenged by new research from the University of Virginia.

Researchers at University College Dublin (UCD) have discovered that a mutation in a gene called emc1 causes major vision problems in zebrafish. Zebrafish with this mutation had poorly developed eye cells, weaker responses to light, and changes in the normal structure of their retinas. These tiny, tropical fish are used as a tool to find novel genes that cause inherited blindness and help find better treatments for inherited retinal blindness.

Declining blood levels of two molecules that occur naturally in the body track closely with worsening Alzheimer’s disease, particularly in women. Levels were found to drop gradually, from women with no signs of memory, disorientation, and slowed thinking to those with early signs of mild cognitive impairment. Decreases were more prominent in women with moderate or severe stages of the disease. Declines in men were evident in only one molecule, revealing a disease-specific difference between the sexes.