All posts tagged: inflammatory

A healthy diet doesn’t cancel out the inflammatory effects of alcohol, study finds

A healthy diet doesn’t cancel out the inflammatory effects of alcohol, study finds

Published by José Betancourt

New research published in the journal Alcohol and Alcoholism suggests that moderate to heavy drinking tends to be associated with increased bodily inflammation, even for individuals who maintain a highly nutritious diet. The study provides evidence that eating well might not be enough to counter the harmful physical effects of frequent alcohol consumption. Scientists Kailyn Lowder and Jimikaye Beck Courtney wanted to better understand how two common lifestyle factors, diet and alcohol consumption, interact to influence systemic chronic inflammation. Jimikaye Beck Courtney is an assistant professor and an A. Donald and Billie J. Stallings fellow at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “I studied nutritional sciences during my undergraduate degree and began researching alcohol use during my postdoctoral fellowship,” Courtney said. “Across those experiences, I’ve been interested in the complexity of how both nutrition and alcohol use impact health outcomes.” “For instance, past research indicated that moderate alcohol use may be protective against cardiovascular disease, but the U.S. Surgeon General more recently advised that any alcohol use increases cancer risk.” Systemic chronic inflammation …

Arab, Muslim nations slam ‘inflammatory’ remarks by US ambassador to Israel

Arab, Muslim nations slam ‘inflammatory’ remarks by US ambassador to Israel

Published by Sam Flores

Arab and Islamic countries issued a joint condemnation on Sunday of remarks by US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who suggested Israel had a biblical right to a vast swath of the Middle East. Huckabee, a former Baptist minister and a fervent Israel supporter, was speaking on the podcast of far-right commentator and Israel critic Tucker Carlson.  In an episode released Friday, Carlson pushed Huckabee on the meaning of a biblical verse sometimes interpreted as saying that Israel is entitled to the land between the river Nile in Egypt and the Euphrates in Syria and Iraq. In response, Huckabee said: “It would be fine if they took it all.” When pressed, however, he continued that Israel was “not asking to take all of that”, adding: “It was somewhat of a hyperbolic statement.” The backlash widened sharply on Sunday as more than a dozen Arab and Islamic governments – alongside three major regional organisations – issued a joint statement denouncing the US diplomat’s comments as “dangerous and inflammatory”. The statement, released by the United Arab Emirates’ foreign ministry, …

Hungary PM Orbán gives inflammatory speech before April elections

Hungary PM Orbán gives inflammatory speech before April elections

Published by Sam Flores

Following his appearance in Munich, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is travelling to Budapest, a visit that comes just two months ahead of elections in Hungary that could see longtime leader and Trump ally Viktor Orbán lose power after 16 years, after Orbán used his annual state of the nation address on Saturday to argue that the country’s main threat is not Russia but the European Union, while opposition leader Péter Magyar is set to deliver a rival address on Sunday, as Charlotte Lam reports. Keywords for this article Source link

Barnacle gloop could improve inflammatory bowel disease treatments

Barnacle gloop could improve inflammatory bowel disease treatments

Published by skeptic

Inflammatory bowel disease can cause wounds that bleed SPRINGER MEDIZIN/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY Scientists looking to provide relief for people with inflammatory bowel disease have turned to an unusual source for inspiration: barnacles. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, seems to occur when someone’s immune system attacks their bowel, leaving it inflamed. Its main symptoms are diarrhoea, severe abdominal pain, weight loss and bleeding from the gut into faeces. Anti-inflammatory drugs, such as steroids, can ease symptoms. But if bleeding persists, doctors may use small metal clips, passed into the gut via the anus, to close wounds caused by the inflammation. However, this carries the risk of infections and can even worsen the wounds. Searching for a gentler approach, scientists previously genetically engineered bacteria to produce substances that help heal wounds. However, such microbes are typically cleared from the gut within a couple of days, and must be manually activated using drugs, says Bolin An at the Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology in China. Now, An and his colleagues have genetically …

Neuroscientists link a common inflammatory molecule to the dopaminergic mechanisms of addiction

Neuroscientists link a common inflammatory molecule to the dopaminergic mechanisms of addiction

Published by José Betancourt

A new study published in the journal Science Signaling has found that an immune system protein plays a central role in the addictive mechanisms of methamphetamine. The findings suggest that tumor necrosis factor-alpha, or TNF-α, works in tandem with dopamine transporters to amplify the drug’s effects on neural activity in the brain’s reward centers. Methamphetamine use disorder presents a persistent and severe public health challenge. Unlike opioid or alcohol addiction, there are currently no FDA-approved pharmaceutical treatments available to help individuals stop using methamphetamine. This lack of therapeutic options makes the search for biological targets a high priority for medical science. Scientists have understood for some time that methamphetamine use leads to severe inflammation throughout the body. This is visibly manifested in conditions such as severe dental decay, often called “meth mouth,” and systemic wound-healing issues. However, the specific relationship between this inflammation and the drug’s addictive properties in the brain has remained unclear. The authors of this study sought to determine if the immune system directly influences the release of dopamine, the chemical messenger …

Common type of inflammatory bowel disease linked to toxic bacteria

Common type of inflammatory bowel disease linked to toxic bacteria

Published by skeptic

Ulcerative colitis is characterised by inflammation of the lining of the colon and rectum BSIP SA/Alamy A toxin produced by bacteria found in dirty water kills off immune cells in the lining of the colon, meaning people whose guts are colonised by these bacteria are much more likely to develop a condition known as ulcerative colitis. That is the conclusion of a series of studies in people and animals conducted by Xuena Zhang at Nanjing University in China and her colleagues. If this finding is confirmed, it could lead to new treatments for the condition. Ulcerative colitis is one of the two main kinds of inflammatory bowel disease, or IBD. It is characterised by inflammation of the lining of the colon and rectum. People typically have periods of no symptoms that alternate with flare-ups. The most serious cases can require the removal of the colon. The causes of ulcerative colitis have been uncertain, but it is usually regarded as an autoimmune disease with complex environmental and genetic causes. Zhang and her team suspected that immune …

MPs visit mosque under investigation for “inflammatory” sermon

MPs visit mosque under investigation for “inflammatory” sermon

Published by Sam Flores

A group of MPs have visited a mosque in Liverpool which is currently under investigation for publishing a “divisive and inflammatory” sermon. Members of the Women and Equalities Committee (WEC) held a private meeting at registered charity Abdullah Quilliam Mosque last month as part of their work on “community cohesion and gendered Islamophobia” and to “better support communities and tackle anti-Muslim hatred”. The visit took place despite the Charity Commission launching a statutory inquiry into the mosque for its claim that named senior members of the Government had received donations from the “Israeli lobby”. The video, which was uploaded to the mosque’s social media, also accused the commission of being unduly influenced to ‘silence’ trustees. The charity has already been officially warned by the Commission after the National Secular Society raised concerns about another sermon urging Muslims to “wage war for Allah”. The sermon was broadcast live on the charity’s Facebook page less than two weeks after Hamas attacked Israel in 2023. Another sermon apparently hosted at the mosque describes homosexuality as “the most evil …