Health News

Scientists found that prolonged fasting triggers major changes throughout the body, but many of the most interesting effects only appeared after about three days without food. The results suggest fasting may influence health in ways that go beyond weight loss and could eventually inspire treatments that mimic its effects.

Stimulating the vagus nerve after practice helped mice develop stronger long-term motor learning, revealing a potentially important window when the brain is still locking in a new skill. The effect was linked to rhythmic changes in brain blood vessels, hinting that body-to-brain signals may help prepare the brain for lasting change.

A new nanoparticle therapy reduced lung tumors in mice while also targeting cachexia, the severe muscle wasting that can accompany cancer. By delivering follistatin mRNA directly to tumors, the approach could eventually offer a way to fight both the disease and one of its most dangerous complications.

Scientists have discovered a human gene with a remarkable double life: it appears to play an important role in brain cells while still retaining the ability to jump around the genome. Called BC200, the gene evolved millions of years ago from a mobile piece of DNA known as a transposon, but unlike most genes that arose this way, it never lost its mobility. Researchers even found BC200 embedded inside a human poxvirus, suggesting it may have jumped from infected skin cells into the virus.

Cancer immunotherapy can lose its punch when tumor-fighting T cells become exhausted, but researchers may have found a way to keep them going longer. Scientists at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center identified a signaling molecule called MEK that can push T cells to burn through their energy while producing cancer-killing proteins. In animal and laboratory studies, blocking MEK helped the cells conserve energy, survive longer, and remain active even in the harsh environment around tumors.

Scientists have discovered that E-cadherin, a protein best known as the “glue” holding cells and tissues together, has a surprising second job: helping epithelial cells swallow nearby dead cells. Using live zebrafish and mouse embryos, researchers found that cells can dramatically reshape their lower surfaces to engulf cellular debris while keeping their upper surfaces stable, allowing protective barriers to remain sealed.

Researchers found that just 20 minutes of comfortable walking can rapidly stimulate the gut. Within one to two minutes after exercise, bowel sounds became stronger, more frequent, and lasted longer, suggesting increased intestinal movement. The boost was brief, fading within a few minutes, but it may help explain why walking can provide relief from constipation.

A UCLA study links faster brain aging to specific gut bacteria and chemical byproducts, with older-looking brains also associated with poorer memory, focus, and mood. The findings suggest that biological signs of brain aging may appear decades before obvious symptoms and could eventually make the gut a target for prevention.

High-dose vitamin B3 is showing intriguing early promise as an addition to standard glioblastoma treatment, with 82% of patients in a small trial remaining progression-free after six months. Researchers believe niacin may help revive immune cells suppressed by the cancer, but larger studies are still needed to confirm the benefit and safety.

A vitamin D analog may help break down pancreatic cancer’s protective defenses, potentially making tumors more vulnerable to chemotherapy and immune attack. A small clinical trial found encouraging responses, especially in patients whose tumors had high levels of the vitamin D receptor.