Health

Obesity is associated with many health problems, but in some specific cases it seems to be protective in the short term against cardiovascular disease. Now scientists may have uncovered one possible mechanism behind this mysterious “obesity paradox."

A landmark new study offers some of the first insights into how our metabolism changes with age, revealing the rate at which we burn calories peaks in infancy and is remarkably constant between the ages of 20 and 60.

An artificial pancreas has been trialed in patients with type 2 diabetes for the first time. The device monitors a person’s blood glucose levels and automatically administers insulin when needed – and the results so far are promising.

Researchers have discovered a population of natural barometers that monitor and maintain our blood pressure. The cellular sensors have for decades been presumed to be located in a certain type of cell in the kidney, but have only now been detected.

A research review published in the journal Frontiers in Nutrition argues popular low-carbohydrate ketogenic diets are unhealthy for most people. The review rekindles a long-standing debate over the dangers of high-fat/low-carb dietary strategies.

Investigating the relationship between diet, gut bacteria and systemic inflammation, Stanford University researchers found just a few weeks of following a diet rich in fermented foods can improve microbiome diversity and reduce inflammatory biomarkers.

New research is estimating around 740,000 newly diagnosed cases of cancer last year can be attributed to alcohol consumption. The research calls for greater public health strategies to raise awareness of the link between alcohol and cancer.

Researchers from the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology have developed a wearable health-monitoring system that's attached to a user's wrist, and can stretch by as much as 30 percent without affecting display or monitoring performance.

A study is offering insights into the nutritional, cardiovascular and growth differences between vegan, vegetarian and meat-eating children. It found vegans have healthier cardiovascular profiles but are shorter and display bone mineral deficiencies.

A study has found it may be possible to predict a person’s risk of dying more than a decade in advance by analyzing their gut bacteria. The research points to a microbial signature associated with an increased risk of mortality across a 15-year follow up.

Researchers at Indiana University have linked a protein secreted by the stomach to obesity. In tests in mice, the team switched off the protein and found that it reduced the animals’ body fat levels, even when fed a high-fat diet.

A number of countries are reporting increasing rates of viral gastroenteritis over recent months, and experts suggest greater use of hand sanitizers, known to have little effect on pathogens such as norovirus, may be partly responsible.