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The main source of sodium in the diet is through salt. Salt (sodium chloride) is 40% sodium, so that for every 2.5g of salt consumed, 1g is sodium. Previous research* has suggested that excessive salt consumption may increase the risk of developing T2D, possibly through a direct effect on insulin resistance, and/or by promoting high blood pressure and weight gain. LADA is a form of type 1 diabetes (T1D) in which the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas are destroyed by the body's own immune system, but unlike typical T1D it develops very slowly, sometimes over a period of years. This, together with it appearing in later in adulthood, can lead to it being mistakenly diagnosed as T2D. This study was conducted by Dr Bahareh Rasouli of The Institute of Environmental Medicine (IMM), Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, and colleagues from institutions in both Sweden and Finland, and aimed to discover whether there is a link between sodium intake and the risk of developing...

In higher organisms, the genetic material is normally confined to the cell nucleus and the membrane-bounded organelles known as mitochondria. Any DNA found in the cytoplasm that surrounds these compartments must therefore originate either from damage to the nucleus or mitochondria , or from invasive bacterial pathogens or DNA viruses. The enzyme cGAS acts as a sensor of such misplaced DNA and "informs" the cell's innate immune system of the presence of an infection. Now a team led by Prof. Karl-Peter Hopfner, in collaboration with his colleague Prof. Veit Hornung at the LMU Gene Center and Prof. Heinrich Leonhardt of the LMU Biomedical Center, has discovered why the length of the cytoplasmic DNA has an impact on the efficiency with which it is detected. The researchers found that the DNA and the enzyme interact to form a ladder-like complex, and went on to demonstrate that this structure must exceed a certain length in order to activate the innate immune system. cGAS ...

My research is about understanding young people's sleeping patterns and what factors are linked to these. I am interested in why so many young people do not get enough sleep and what can be done about it," says Serena Bauducco, linked to the School of Law, Psycholog y and Social Work at Örebro University. She has now presented her thesis showing that for teens who do not get enough sleep, their mental well-being is affected. Their sleep routines are not as good and they are more stressed and worried about school than those who get the sleep they need. These young people also bring their mobile phone or computer to bed to a greater extent than others. In her thesis, Serena Bauducco also shows that problems with sleep are directly linked to a higher degree of absence from school. "Those teens that showed symptoms of difficulties sleeping had three times as much absence than those who did not. That is quite a lot." "We also checked other things that may b...

These are the findings of a representative study recently conducted by the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) on the risk perception of contaminants in food that was published in the public health journal B undesgesundheitsblatt -- Gesundheitsforschung -- Gesundheitsschutz . "People feel most at risk from synthetic substances and heavy metals," says BfR President Professor Dr. Dr. Andreas Hensel. "Appropriate risk communication on contaminants should take this subjective risk perception into account." Contaminants are undesirable substances that unintentionally find their way into food products. They can occur naturally in the environment and in the processing of raw materials into food products or can be released into the environment through human activity and thereby enter the food chain. Contaminants are undesirable because they can impair health under certain circumstances. 1,001 people were asked about contaminants in food in the represent...

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that one in 10 infants born in the United States each year is born preterm, or before 37 weeks' gestation. Because fetuses undergo dramatic growth in the final weeks of pregnancy, readying them for life outside of the womb, tiny preemies often need help in the NICU with such essentials as breathing, eating and regulating their body temperature. Some very sick newborns die. Because their infants' lives hang in the balance, NICU parents are at particular risk for poor emotional function, including mood disorders, anxiety and distress. Children's National Neonatologist Lamia Soghier, M.D., and the study team tried to determine factors closely associated with poor emotional function in order to identify at-risk parents most in need of mental health support. The study team enrolled 300 parents and infants in a randomized controlled clinical trial that explored the impact of providing peer-to-peer support to parents ...

Microneedle patch. Credit score: Zhen Gu, UNC and NC State Researchers have devised a medicated pores and skin patch that may flip energy-storing white fats into energy-burning brown fats regionally whereas elevating the physique's general metabolism . The patch might be used to burn off pockets of undesirable fats reminiscent of "love handles" and deal with metabolic problems like weight problems and diabetes, in accordance with researchers at Columbia College Medical Heart (CUMC) and the College of North Carolina. The findings, from experiments in mice, had been revealed on-line in  ACS Nano . People have two varieties of fats. White fats shops extra vitality in massive triglyceride droplets. Brown fats has smaller droplets and a excessive variety of mitochondria that burn fats to supply warmth. Newborns have a relative abundance of brown fats, which protects in opposition to publicity to chilly temperatures. However by maturity, most brown fats is m...