Category: 8. Health

Parkinson’s disease is a “brain disorder that causes unintended or uncontrollable movements, such as shaking, stiffness, and difficulty with balance and coordination,” according to the National Institute on Aging. Symptoms worsen over time, and people may eventually have trouble walking or talking. People with the disorder may also notice “mental and behavioral changes, sleep problems, depression, memory issues, and fatigue.”

Researchers at Lawson Research Institute (Lawson), the research arm of St. Joseph’s Health Care London, are investigating whether Ambroxol — a cough medicine used safely for decades in Europe — can slow dementia in people with Parkinson’s disease.

Published on June 30 in the prestigious JAMA Neurology, this 12-month clinical trial involving 55 participants with Parkinson’s disease dementia (PDD) monitored memory, psychiatric symptoms and GFAP, a blood marker linked to brain damage. Parkinson’s disease dementia causes memory loss, confusion, hallucinations and mood changes. About half of those diagnosed with Parkinson’s develop dementia within 10 years, profoundly affecting patients, families and the health care system.

Led by Cognitive Neurologist Dr. Stephen Pasternak, the study gave one group daily Ambroxol while the other group received a placebo. “Our goal was to change the course of Parkinson’s dementia,” says Pasternak. “This early trial offers hope and provides a strong foundation for larger studies.”

Key findings from the clinical trial include:

• Ambroxol was safe, well-tolerated and reached therapeutic levels in the brain
• Psychiatric symptoms worsened in the placebo group but remained stable in those taking Ambroxol.
• Participants with high-risk GBA1 gene variants showed improved cognitive performance on Ambroxol
• A marker of brain cell damage (GFAP) increased in the placebo group but stayed stable with Ambroxol, suggesting potential brain protection.

Although Ambroxol is approved in Europe for treating respiratory conditions and has a long-standing safety record — including use at high doses and during pregnancy — it is not approved for any use in Canada or the U.S.

“Current therapies for Parkinson’s disease and dementia address symptoms but do not stop the underlying disease,” explains Pasternak. “These findings suggest Ambroxol may protect brain function, especially in those genetically at risk. It offers a promising new treatment avenue where few currently exist.”

Ambroxol supports a key enzyme called glucocerebrosidase (GCase), which is produced by the GBA1 gene. In people with Parkinson’s disease, GCase levels are often low. When this enzyme doesn’t work properly, waste builds up in brain cells, leading to damage. Pasternak learned about Ambroxol during a fellowship at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto, where it was identified as a treatment for Gaucher disease — a rare genetic disorder in children caused by a deficiency of GCase.

He is now applying that research to explore whether boosting GCase with Ambroxol could help protect the brain in Parkinson’s-related diseases. “This research is vital because Parkinson’s dementia profoundly affects patients and families,” says Pasternak. “If a drug like Ambroxol can help, it could offer real hope and improve lives.”

Funded by the Weston Foundation, this study is an important step toward developing new treatments for Parkinson’s disease and other cognitive disorders, including dementia with Lewy bodies. Pasternak and his team plan to start a follow-up clinical trial focused specifically on cognition later this year.

Tokyo [Japan], July 6 (ANI): Gut bacteria are considered to be a key factor in many health-related issues. However, the number and variety of them are vast, as are the ways in which they interact with the body’s chemistry and each other.

For the first time, researchers from the University of Tokyo used a special kind of artificial intelligence called a Bayesian neural network to probe a dataset on gut bacteria in order to find relationships that current analytical tools could not reliably identify.

The human body comprises about 30 trillion to 40 trillion cells, but your intestines contain about 100 trillion gut bacteria. Technically, you’re carrying around more cells that aren’t you than are. Food for thought. And speaking of food, these gut bacteria are, of course, responsible for some aspects of digestion, though what’s surprising to some is how they can relate to many other aspects of human health as well.

The bacteria are incredibly varied and also produce and modify a bewildering number of different chemicals called metabolites. These act like molecular messengers, permeating your body, affecting everything from your immune system and metabolism to your brain function and mood. Needless to say, there’s much to gain by understanding gut bacteria.

“The problem is that we’re only beginning to understand which bacteria produce which human metabolites and how these relationships change in different diseases,” said Project Researcher Tung Dang from the Tsunoda lab in the Department of Biological Sciences, adding, “By accurately mapping these bacteria-chemical relationships, we could potentially develop personalized treatments. Imagine being able to grow a specific bacterium to produce beneficial human metabolites or designing targeted therapies that modify these metabolites to treat diseases.”

There are uncountably many and varied bacteria and metabolites, and therefore far more relationships between these things. Gathering data on this alone is a monumental undertaking, but unpicking that data to find interesting patterns that might betray some useful function is even more so. To do this, Dang and his team decided to explore the use of state-of-the art artificial intelligence (AI) tools.

“Our system, VBayesMM, automatically distinguishes the key players that significantly influence metabolites from the vast background of less relevant microbes, while also acknowledging uncertainty about the predicted relationships, rather than providing overconfident but potentially wrong answers,” said Dang. “When tested on real data from sleep disorder, obesity and cancer studies, our approach consistently outperformed existing methods and identified specific bacterial families that align with known biological processes, giving confidence that it discovers real biological relationships rather than meaningless statistical patterns.”

As VBayesMM can handle and communicate issues of uncertainty, it gives researchers more confidence than a tool which does not. Even though the system is optimized to cope with heavy analytical workloads, mining such huge datasets still comes with high computational cost; however, as time goes on, this will become less and less of a barrier to those wishing to use it. Other limitations at present include that the system benefits from having more data about the gut bacteria than the metabolites they produce; when there’s insufficient bacteria data, the accuracy drops. Also, VBayesMM assumes the microbes act independently, but in reality, gut bacteria interact in an incredibly complex number of ways.

“We plan to work with more comprehensive chemical datasets that capture the complete range of bacterial products, though this creates new challenges in determining whether chemicals come from bacteria, the human body or external sources like diet,” said Dang. “We also aim to make VBayesMM more robust when analyzing diverse patient populations, incorporating bacterial ‘family tree’ relationships to make better predictions, and further reducing the computational time needed for analysis. For clinical applications, the ultimate goal is identifying specific bacterial targets for treatments or dietary interventions that could actually help patients, moving from basic research toward practical medical applications.” (ANI)

(This content is sourced from a syndicated feed and is published as received. The Tribune assumes no responsibility or liability for its accuracy, completeness, or content.)

People who breeze through multiplication often chalk it up to good teachers or hard study. New evidence shows that some brains start the race to learn math with stronger internal wiring.

Researchers also found that a tiny dose of brain stimulation, an electrical buzz, can narrow the gap for those born with weaker brain wiring.

For the study, a five‑day experiment was led by Roi Cohen Kadosh at the University of Surrey, working with colleagues in Oxford, Toronto, and Stanford.

The research centered on 72 right‑handed adults who trained on calculation or memorization tasks while researchers watched activity in the frontoparietal network and applied gentle current to specific sites.

Brain stimulation may boost math skills

Long before electrodes enter the picture, studies show that robust traffic between the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) and posterior parietal cortex (PPC) predicts sharper arithmetic gains in school‑age children and adults.

These front and back hubs share data with the hippocampus to shift a learner to quick fact retrieval.

People whose signals are faint across this route often stall at the procedural stage, echoing the classic Matthew effect in education, where early advantages snowball over time.

Testing brain stimulation for math education

Participants sat for baseline scans that gauged connectivity strength and local levels of the messenger chemicals GABA and glutamate, a well‑known marker pair for plasticity.

They then solved novel two‑operand problems either by learning an algorithm or by rote rehearsal. During practice, half received sham stimulation, a third received current over the left and right dlPFC, and the remainder over the PPC.

The team used transcranial random noise stimulation, a method introduced in 2008 that sprinkles high‑frequency currents over the scalp and temporarily boosts cortical excitability.

Random noise is thought to raise the signal‑to‑noise ratio for neurons that hover just below firing threshold, giving sluggish circuits a clearer pulse without overshooting in healthy tissue.

The device delivered less than a milliamp, about the tingle you feel from a nine‑volt battery on your tongue, and participants were blind to the condition.

Stimulation aids weak brain connections

Learners who started with feeble dlPFC‑PPC links but received frontal stimulation shaved reaction times on calculation problems by roughly six percent over five sessions, an edge the sham group never matched.

Those with naturally strong links showed no extra benefit and, in rare cases, slight interference when current was added.

The boost also hinged on neurochemistry. Improvement tracked with a drop in local GABA, hinting that the brain shifted into a plastic phase where change beats stability, but only when connectivity stayed modest rather than surging.

Efforts to improve math education

Drill trials, where answers were simply rehearsed, showed little or no gain from stimulation.

The authors suggest that memorization leans less on executive control and more on localized storage, so frontoparietal tuning adds limited value once the answer is locked in.

“So far, most efforts to improve education have focused on changing the environment, training teachers, redesigning curricula, while largely overlooking the learner’s neurobiology,” said Cohen Kadosh.

He added that addressing brain constraints directly could broaden access to diverse career pathways and reduce long‑term inequalities in income, health and well-being.

Brain stimulation may help math struggles

The results revive the idea that brief, well‑timed stimulation could pair with instruction to help stragglers close arithmetic gaps rather than languish under cumulative deficits.

Importantly, the benefit was selective, underscoring the need for screening tools that flag students with weak network strength before any device is applied.

Safety remains favourable at these intensities, but researchers warn against DIY use; stimulating the wrong region or at the wrong time could impair other skills or harden circuits prematurely.

Regulators are still drafting guidelines for non‑medical cognitive devices, and large‑scale school trials have yet to clear ethics boards. 

Broader implications of the research

Past work links higher math fluency in children to elevated parietal GABA, but the relation flips in adulthood, showing that the plasticity window moves with age.

This developmental switch reminds educators that interventions may need age‑specific dosing and targeting.

Animal studies and computational models further suggest that random noise can stabilize synapses once learning consolidates, offering a route to lock in gains without chronic stimulation.

Future projects will watch how long the boost lasts and whether repeated cycles can replace expensive tutoring for some learners.

The future of math education

While electrodes will never replace good teaching, they may act as scaffolds, lifting under‑connected brains so that practice sticks.

If larger trials replicate these findings and prove durable benefits, policy makers could consider targeted neuro-support alongside curriculum reform to help close the widening achievement gap that still defines math education.

The study is published in the journal PLOS Biology.

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• A new study linked daily coffee consumption to a potentially longer life.
• We asked experts to explain how the morning delicacy can have such an impact.
• There are a few catches.

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The ritual of brewing and sipping fresh coffee each morning is one many of us look forward to, and a new study’s findings may give you the push to pour another cup. Researchers connected coffee consumption to mortality among a large population of participants and found that coffee may actually help you live longer, with a few caveats.

Meet the Experts: David Perlmutter, M.D., a neurologist and fellow of the American College of Nutrition and Michelle Routhenstein, M.S., R.D., a cardiology dietitian at Entirely Nourished.

Keep reading to learn more about how your daily cup of joe may offer you more than a jolt of energy and happiness.

What did the study find?

Researchers tracked the self-reported coffee drinking habits of over 46,000 U.S. adults for nearly a decade. Participants disclosed how they drank their java. Regular or decaf? With sugar and milk or without? If with, how much? They then compared that information to National Death Index data to deduce how coffee consumption could have impacted mortality from all causes, including cancer and heart disease.

After examining the data, researchers found that drinking one to three cups of coffee per day was linked to a reduced risk of death from all causes, “especially when the coffee is black or has minimal added sugar and saturated fat,” explains David Perlmutter, M.D., a neurologist and fellow of the American College of Nutrition. Specifically, they found that drinking black coffee or coffee with less than 2.5 grams (or a little more than a half-teaspoon) of sugar and less than a gram of saturated fat from milk or cream per 8-ounce cup was associated with a 14% lower risk of dying from any cause compared to not drinking coffee at all, Dr. Perlmutter adds.

The catch here is, the study also found that most Americans add around 3.2 grams of sugar and a half-gram of saturated fat to each mug, which means the majority of coffee drinkers are less likely to get its life-extending benefits. “This is the problem with so many coffee specialty drinks that seem to be so popular,” Dr. Perlmutter says.

Benefits of coffee

There is plenty of existing research that purports coffee’s health boost. Without added sugar or fat, it’s a naturally good source of antioxidants like polyphenols and chlorogenic acid, explains Dr. Purlmutter. “These components and others help fight inflammation and oxidative stress,” he adds, both of which are contributors to chronic disease. That’s how coffee may help reduce risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and congnitive decline, “all of which influence lifespan,” he concludes.

Side effects of coffee

Coffee’s caffeine content can even exhibit perks by improving alertness, metabolism, and brain health, Dr. Pelrmutter says. However, there is such a thing as overdoing it and reaping negative side-effects such as anxiety, increased blood pressure, heart palpitations, digestive issues, and insomnia, says Michelle Routhenstein, M.S., R.D., a cardiology dietitian at Entirely Nourished.

She adds that a “very high coffee intake may also slightly reduce calcium absorption, potentially affecting bone health.”

How to drink coffee for good health

The study supports drinking one to three cups of black or minimally altered coffee per day. Dr. Perlmutter recommends keeping sugars below 2.5 grams and saturated fats below 1 gram per cup by using low-fat milk or plant-based creamer alternatives. Routhenstein adds that if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, or have otherwise been prescribed a specific caffeine intake, follow your doctor’s recommendations.

Lastly, to avoid over-caffeination, Dr. Perlmutter suggests enforcing a “coffee curfew” that marks the time of day after which you turn off the pot. “I generally recommend 2 p.m. to minimize coffee’s impact on sleep,” he concludes.

For the project, a high-quality 360° VR video was produced in Europe’s largest Douglas fir forest, the Sonnenberg nature reserve near Parchim – complete with original sounds and the scent of essential oils from the Douglas fir. The participants experienced the virtual forest scenery either as a full sensory experience (with images, sound and scent) or in a reduced form whereby forest stimuli appealing to just a single sense – visual, auditory or olfactory – were used. In variants where only hearing or scent was activated, participants were placed in a neutral virtual environment to minimize visual stimuli and the influence of VR technology.

Significantly better effect with sensory combination

More than 130 participants were first put into an acute stress situation using stress-inducing images. Then, equipped with VR glasses, they experienced one of the four forest stimulation/ bathing variants. The results show that the combination of all three sensory stimuli led to a significantly greater improvement in mood and a stronger feeling of connection with nature compared to when individual sensory stimuli were presented. In addition to positive effects on mood, there were also limited improvements in working memory – the cognitive function that enables us to store, process and retrieve information in the short term.

However, the researchers point out that the effects are area-specific and cannot yet be considered universally valid. Further studies with larger samples are needed to confirm the results and provide a better understanding of the mechanisms behind the restorative effects of virtual nature experiences.

“We can already say that digital nature experiences can absolutely produce an emotional effect – even if they don’t replace actual nature,” reports Leonie Ascone, lead author of the study and researcher in the Neuronal Plasticity working group at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE).

Potential for clinics, waiting rooms and urban spaces

Simone Kühn, head of the study and Director of the Center for Environmental Neuroscience at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, adds: “Especially in places with limited access to nature – such as clinics, waiting areas or urban interiors – multisensory VR applications or targeted nature staging could support mental well-being. The images, sounds and scents of nature offer previously underestimated potential for improving mood and mental performance in everyday situations.” Kühn conducts intensive research into the effects of the environment on the human brain and, together with colleagues from universities in Vienna, Exeter and Birmingham, was recently able to prove that just from watching nature videos, patients perceive physical pain as less intense (Steininger et al., 2025).

In brief:

• Forest bathing in Virtual Reality improves emotional well-being and increases connectedness to nature, particularly when several senses (sight, hearing, smell) are simultaneously engaged
• The study used a 360° VR forest video complete with original sounds and the scent of Douglas fir essential oils
• There is potential for application especially in clinical, urban and other environments with limited access to nature

The herbicide ingredient used to replace glyphosate in Roundup and other weedkiller products can kill gut bacteria and damage organs in multiple ways, new research shows.

The ingredient, diquat, is widely employed in the US as a weedkiller in vineyards and orchards, and is increasingly sprayed elsewhere as the use of controversial herbicide substances such as glyphosate and paraquat drops in the US.

But the new piece of data suggests diquat is more toxic than glyphosate, and the substance is banned over its risks in the UK, EU, China and many other countries. Still, the EPA has resisted calls for a ban, and Roundup formulas with the ingredient hit the shelves last year.

“From a human health perspective, this stuff is quite a bit nastier than glyphosate so we’re seeing a regrettable substitution, and the ineffective regulatory structure is allowing it,” said Nathan Donley, science director with the Center For Biological Diversity, which advocates for stricter pesticide regulations but was not involved in the new research. “Regrettable substitution” is a scientific term used to describe the replacement of a toxic substance in a consumer product with an ingredient that is also toxic.

Diquat is also thought to be a neurotoxin, carcinogen and linked to Parkinson’s disease. An October analysis of EPA data by the Friends of the Earth non-profit found it is about 200 times more toxic than glyphosate in terms of chronic exposure.

Bayer, which makes Roundup, faced nearly 175,000 lawsuits alleging that the product’s users were harmed by the product. Bayer, which bought Monsanto in 2018, reformulated Roundup after the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified glyphosate as a possible carcinogen.

The new review of scientific literature in part focuses on the multiple ways in which diquat damages organs and gut bacteria, including by reducing the level of proteins that are key pieces of the gut lining. The weakening can allow toxins and pathogens to move from the stomach into the bloodstream, and trigger inflammation in the intestines and throughout the body. Meanwhile, diquat can inhibit the production of beneficial bacteria that maintain the gut lining.

Damage to the lining also inhibits the absorption of nutrients and energy metabolism, the authors said.

The research further scrutinizes how the substance harms the kidneys, lungs and liver. Diquat “causes irreversible structural and functional damage to the kidneys” because it can destroy kidney cells’ membranes and interfere with cell signals. The effects on the liver are similar, and the ingredient causes the production of proteins that inflame the organ.

Meanwhile, it seems to attack the lungs by triggering inflammation that damages the organ’s tissue. More broadly, the inflammation caused by diquat may cause multiple organ dysfunction syndrome, a scenario in which organ systems begin to fail.

The authors note that many of the studies are on rodents and more research on low, long-term exposure is needed. Bayer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Despite the risks amid a rise in diquat’s use, the EPA is not reviewing the chemical, and even non-profits that push for tighter pesticide regulations have largely focused their attention elsewhere.

Donley said that was in part because US pesticide regulations are so weak that advocates are tied up with battles over ingredients like glyphosate, paraquat and chlorpyrifos – substances that are banned elsewhere but still widely used here. Diquat is “overshadowed” by those ingredients.

“Other countries have banned diquat, but in the US we’re still fighting the fights that Europe won 20 years ago,” Donley said. “It hasn’t gotten to the radar of most groups and that really says a lot about the sad and sorry state of pesticides in the US.”

Some advocates have accused the EPA of being captured by industry, and Donley said US pesticide laws were so weak that it was difficult for the agency to ban ingredients, even if the will exists. For example, the agency banned chlorpyrifos in 2022, but a court overturned the decision after industry sued.

Moreover, the EPA’s pesticides office seems to have a philosophy that states that toxic pesticides are a “necessary evil”, Donley said.

“When you approach an issue from that lens there’s only so much you will do,” he said.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has launched a nationwide mobilization to prevent the spread of the SAT-1 strain of foot-and-mouth disease recently detected in Türkiye, completing the initial production of 4.5 million vaccine doses.

According to information obtained by Anadolu Agency (AA) from the ministry, the Foot-and-Mouth Disease Institute of Türkiye has accelerated vaccine production efforts targeting the SAT-1 strain. While vaccine production continues at full capacity, distribution across affected areas is also underway.

The newly developed vaccines are being administered free of charge by veterinarians in the regions where the disease has been detected and in neighboring districts. To prevent further spread, livestock markets that were temporarily closed will gradually reopen based on the course of the outbreak.

First case of SAT-1 reported in Hakkari

Bülent Tunç, president of the Central Union of Turkish Red Meat Producers, stated that the SAT-1 strain emerged in Europe about four months ago. He noted that cross-border livestock movement, particularly in eastern Türkiye, contributed to the disease’s entry into the country, with the first domestic case reported in Hakkari on May 11.

Tunç emphasized that the disease began to spread nationwide due to open livestock markets and continued animal transport.

“This strain has been seen in Türkiye for the first time. Following our recommendation, a decision was made to close livestock markets, effectively stopping animal movements and containing the spread. This was a measure taken entirely in the interest of producers. A second vaccine dose will be administered within 21 days, granting immunity. After that, even if the disease appears, it will not cause harm,” he explained.

Regarding the disease’s impact on the sector, Tunç said, “The closure of markets has not negatively affected the red meat market. Rumors that this would lead to price hikes are baseless. In fact, prices have dropped, and there is no shortage of meat in the market. Producers and consumers should not be concerned.”

He also noted that foot-and-mouth disease causes fever, weight loss and reduced milk production in animals and that efforts are being made to minimize these effects.

Highlighting the importance of domestic production, Tunç added: “The SAT-1 vaccine was produced rapidly within Türkiye. The Foot-and-Mouth Disease Institute is working effectively, producing over 1 million doses per week. These vaccines have been distributed quickly across all provinces. The fact that the vaccine is locally produced offers a significant advantage. It is crucial that our producers cooperate with veterinarians during the vaccination process.”

Kamil Özcan, president of the Central Union of Turkish Cattle Breeders, stressed that breeders are well aware of the importance of combating widespread infectious diseases.

“Foot-and-mouth disease not only causes irreversible drops in meat and milk yield but also leads to fertility losses,” Özcan said.

He expressed concern that the disease, which spreads through the movement of sacrificial animals, could infect breeding cows and heifers, resulting in productivity losses. “We believe in the principle that ‘without healthy mothers, there can be no healthy calves.’ Keeping our breeding animals healthy is a shared priority,” he added.

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Three hundred and seventeen more new dengue cases were reported in the 24 hours leading up to Sunday morning, bringing the total number of cases to 12, 271 this year.

According to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), new cases were reported as follows: 127 in Barishal Division (Out of CC), 70 in Chattogram Division (Out of CC), 13 in Khulna Division (Out of CC), seven in Mymensingh (Out of CC), 52 in Dhaka Division (Out of CC), 26 in Dhaka North City Corporation and 22 in Dhaka South City Corporation.

The number of deaths remained at 45, with no new fatalities reported during this period, the DGHS added.

Currently, 1, 228 dengue patients are receiving treatment in hospitals across the country.

Last year, dengue claimed the lives of 575 people.

According to the DGHS, there were 101,214 dengue cases and 100,040 recoveries in the same year.

Three hundred and seventeen more new dengue cases were reported in the 24 hours leading up to Sunday morning, bringing the total number of cases to 12, 271 this year.

According to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), new cases were reported as follows: 127 in Barishal Division (Out of CC), 70 in Chattogram Division (Out of CC), 13 in Khulna Division (Out of CC), seven in Mymensingh (Out of CC), 52 in Dhaka Division (Out of CC), 26 in Dhaka North City Corporation and 22 in Dhaka South City Corporation.

The number of deaths remained at 45, with no new fatalities reported during this period, the DGHS added.

Currently, 1, 228 dengue patients are receiving treatment in hospitals across the country.

Last year, dengue claimed the lives of 575 people.

According to the DGHS, there were 101,214 dengue cases and 100,040 recoveries in the same year.