News by Subject Medicine & Health

A new study led by Belgian and Spanish researchers adds evidence about the potential benefits of green tea extracts in Down syndrome. The researchers observed that the intake of those extracts can reduce facial dysmorphology in children with Down syndrome when taken during the first three years of life. Additional experimental research in mice confirmed the positive effects at low doses. However, they also found that high doses can disrupt facial and bone development.

Mass comms researchers from the University of Kansas conducted a study to see what makes people susceptible to fake health news. They found the credentials of the author and how the info is written make little difference in how people assess health news, but that social media efficacy and labeling of potentially false info makes people think more critically about what they're reading.

Researchers from the University of California, Irvine and the University of Minnesota have found that an enriched diet and companionship can reduce pain in mice with sickle cell disease by increasing serotonin. They also discovered that duloxetine, an antidepressant that boosts serotonin levels, could be an alternative to opioids in treating chronic pain.

Researchers with the Fatty Acid Research Institute (FARI) and collaborators at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and in Orange County, CA, have published the first direct evidence that higher omega-3 blood levels may reduce risk for death from COVID-19 infection. The report was published in the journal Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes and Essential Fatty Acids on January 20, 2021.

Researchers led by the University of Tsukuba found that healthy volunteers who consumed oolong tea every day had much higher levels of fat breakdown compared with the placebo group, and that the effects were most noticeable during sleep. Importantly, the volunteers developed a tolerance to caffeine over the 2-week study period, with their sleep patterns remaining unaffected by tea or caffeine consumption, indicating that oolong tea may have clinical relevance for weight control.

The main bioactive compound of ginger root lowers autoantibody production and helps halt disease progression in mice with antiphospholipid syndrome and lupus.