Author: Healthcare Propulsion Staff

Adding foods like blueberries, plums, blackberries, broad beans, and cherries to your daily diet, especially when paired with green tea, could be a simple way to support heart health, according to new research. A large international study led by scientists from the University of Reading, Harvard Medical School, the University of California Davis, and Mars, Inc., found that most people are not consuming enough flavanols, natural compounds linked to a lower risk of heart disease. The researchers discovered that fewer than 20% of people reached the flavanol intake level associated with heart health benefits. Even many individuals who regularly ate…

Researchers in Spain and Switzerland have identified an experimental molecule that may help restore the brain’s natural defenses against Alzheimer’s disease. The compound, known as OLE, appears to “reprogram” microglia, the brain’s immune cells, allowing them to regain some of their protective abilities. The research was led by José Vicente Sánchez Mut of the Institute for Neurosciences (IN), a joint center of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and Miguel Hernández University of Elche (UMH), together with Johannes Gräff of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). Their findings were published in the journal Cell Death and Disease. According to…

Researchers in Brazil have created a new biomaterial made from jackfruit latex, pomegranate peel extract, and simvastatin (a statin-based medication) that could offer a more effective way to treat periodontitis, a serious form of gum disease. The team, from the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences (FCMS) at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (PUC-SP) in Sorocaba, developed the material as part of an effort to improve treatment options for a condition that affects the tissues supporting the teeth. Periodontitis is a chronic inflammatory disease caused by infection. Over time, it can destroy the structures that hold teeth in…

Researchers at the University of California, Riverside have proposed a new explanation for how Alzheimer’s disease may begin. Instead of being driven primarily by plaque buildup in the brain, the disease could start when one protein interferes with the normal function of another inside nerve cells. For years, Alzheimer’s research has largely centered on amyloid beta (a-beta), a protein that forms clumps in the brains of people with the disease. The idea gained support because inherited mutations that increase a-beta levels can cause early onset Alzheimer’s. However, despite thousands of clinical trials designed to remove a-beta, those treatments have largely…