Science and Health News

Study finds that people subconsciously and continuously fine-tune their movements to minimize energy use By Diane Mar-Nicolle Do you feel lazy? Most of us do when we choose to drive somewhere when we could have walked, or skip daily exercise to binge watch “Game of Thrones.” New research from Simon Fraser University professor Max Donelan and his team demonstrates that this inherent laziness extends to our subconscious nervous system. Published in the Sept. 10 issue of Current Biology, their research shows that even within a well-rehearsed movement like walking, the nervous system subconsciously monitors energy use, and continuously re-optimizes movement patterns in a constant quest to move as cheaply as possible.

University of Iowa scientists discover cause of and potential treatment for muscle weakness and loss due to aging

A study of species-specific regulation of gene expression in chimps and humans has identified regions important in human facial development and variation. The face of a chimpanzee is decidedly different from that of a human, despite the fact that the apes are our nearest relative in the primate tree. Now researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have begun to pinpoint how those structural differences could arise in two species with nearly identical genetic backgrounds.

Gut bacteria influence essential factors in the prevention of heart disease. B acteria in the gut play a role in changes in people’s weight, body fat and the amount of good cholesterol in their bodies. These are the results of research by a group of UMCG researchers led by geneticists Jingyuan Fu and Alexandra Zhernakova. They publish their findings in Circulation Research today. For the first time t he association between gut bacteria and blood lopids levels is shown; this represents an important step in the prevention of heart disease.

More intensive management of high blood pressure, below a commonly recommended blood pressure target, significantly reduces rates of cardiovascular disease, and lowers risk of death in a group of adults 50 years and older with high blood pressure. This is according to the initial results of a landmark clinical trial sponsored by the National Institutes of Health called the Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT). The intervention in this trial, which carefully adjusts the amount or type of blood pressure medication to achieve a target systolic pressure of 120 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg), reduced rates of cardiovascular events, such as heart attack and heart failure, as well as stroke, by almost a third and the risk of death by almost a quarter, as compared to the target systolic pressure of 140 mm Hg.

Stanford scientists produced a common cancer drug – previously only available from an endangered plant – in a common laboratory plant. This work could lead to a more stable supply of the drug and allow scientists to manipulate that drug to make it even safer and more effective.

HARBIN, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- Two leading transplant scientists, an Italian physician and his Chinese counterpart, plan to work together to conduct the world's first human head transplant, they told Xinhua in an interview last week. Sergio Canavero, a controversial physician who previously announced he will attempt to transplant a human head to a new body, said he'll partner with Ren Xiaoping, a Chinese surgeon with the second affiliated hospital of Harbin Medical University, on this ultimate medical challenge.

"A small sponge-like implant that can mop up cancer cells as they move through the body has been developed," BBC News reports. The implant has only been used in mice, but it could be used in humans to detect and warn about spreading cancer cells.