[toc position='left'] Introduction Cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide. Successful treatment hinges on early detection, but conventional screening and diagnostic approaches, often relying on tissue biopsies, come with limitations that hinder their effectiveness. One promising solution is liquid biopsy, a groundbreaking technique that analyzes bodily fluids, such as blood, urine, lymph, and cerebrospinal fluid, for signs of cancer. When these fluids circulate near a tumor, they can acquire shed tumor cells and their components, such as DNA and RNA. Liquid biopsies are innova... cancer biomarkers technology blood test diagnostics
Read moreSauna use offsets the increased risk of premature death associated with low socioeconomic status. A person's socioeconomic status – a measure of their income, education, and occupation – is a robust predictor of their overall health and longevity. For example, people of low socioeconomic status typically have less access to financial, educational, social, and health resources than those with a higher socioeconomic status and are at greater risk of developing cardiovascular disease (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1757024/). Findings from a recent study suggest that sauna use nega... mortality sauna
Read moreParental abstention from alcohol reduces an infant's risk of being born with congenital heart disease. Congenital heart disease is an umbrella term for a range of heart conditions that are present at birth. Approximately 1 percent of all children worldwide (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7306355/) are born with the conditions. Findings from a 2019 meta-analysis suggest that parental abstention from alcohol reduces an infant's risk of being born with congenital heart disease. Alcohol elicits an array of harmful effects on the human body and is widely considered a toxin. Consuming... alcohol pregnancy
Read morePeople with Alzheimer's disease or mild cognitive impairment have low glutathione levels. Oxidative stress is a biological phenomenon that manifests when highly reactive molecules produced during metabolism accumulate in the body, damaging DNA and cells and driving a wide of range of chronic diseases, including Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment. The body produces antioxidant molecules to counter the effects of oxidative stress, but its capacity to produce the molecules varies based on a person's lifestyle and overall health (https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphys.2... alzheimer's glutathione
Read moreSince the 1980’s, clinicians and researchers have been puzzled by the “French paradox”: the observation that residents of France have a surprisingly low incidence (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1768013/) of cardiovascular disease given their high rates of smoking, intakes of saturated fat, and hypercholesterolemia (https://journals.lww.com/md-journal/fulltext/2020/12110/prevalence_and_management_of_hypercholesterolemia.57.aspx) (i.e. abnormally high serum levels of harmful low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol). A recent study now offers evidence that the negative health imp... brain cholesterol inflammation alcohol
Read moreAging involves a progressive decline in the body’s ability to heal from damage (a property known as resilience) and a gradual increase in the risk of age-related diseases like cancers, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. Aging research aims to increase lifespan and healthspan through pharmacological and lifestyle interventions that enhance cellular repair and reduce exposure to harmful substances. Findings of a recent report propose a possible maximum age for humans. As the field of aging research grows, several aging "clocks" have been proposed as ways to measure biological age. These cloc... aging
Read moreLong-chain omega-3 fatty acids, such as docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), increase serum testosterone levels in mice, although the mechanisms that drive these benefits are unclear. While omega-3 fatty acids improve cellular function, omega-6 fatty acids serve as precursors to pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as arachidonic acid, which damage cells. Findings from a recent report detail the effects of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids and omega-6 fatty acids on serum testosterone levels in adults with overweight and obesity. Omega-3 fatty acids are essential nutrients foun... omega-3 testosterone
Read moreLarge, population-based studies have identified robust links between shift work and increased cancer risk. Much of this risk is associated with disruptions in the body's circadian rhythms, the 24-hour cycles of biological, hormonal, and behavioral patterns. A recent study suggests that circadian dysregulation of DNA repair mechanisms drives the increased cancer risk associated with shift work. Circadian rhythms influence many physiological pathways associated with cancer, such as regulation of the cell cycle, cell proliferation, and inflammation. These rhythms also influence mechanisms that r... cancer circadian rhythm
Read moreExposure to air pollutants is associated with an increased risk of developing many health disorders, including heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, and acute respiratory infections. Some evidence suggests that exposure to air pollution can impair neurological development in children (https://www.who.int/airpollution/ambient/health-impacts/en/). A 2014 study showed that reducing exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was associated with improved cognitive development and increased BDNF levels in children. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are p... brain development pollution bdnf
Read moreVisceral fat – body fat that is stored in the abdominal cavity in close proximity to important internal organs such as the liver, pancreas, and intestines – plays a central role in the interrelationship between obesity and systemic inflammation. Excess visceral fat, often referred to as central or abdominal obesity, is a strong predictor of age-related cognitive decline. A new study in mice demonstrates that having excess visceral fat may impair cognition by activating the NLRP3 inflammasome and promoting the release of interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β). Inflammasomes are large, intracellular comple... brain obesity depression neurons protein metabolic syndrome nlrp3 visceral fat
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