Cottonseed oil for cholesterol control
Cottonseed can drastically improve cholesterol profiles in young adult men, a recent study suggests. The researchers conducted a five-day outpatient feeding trial of 15 healthy, normal weight men to test the effects of diets enriched with cottonseed oil and olive oil on lipid profiles. The researchers found that a high-fat diet enriched with cottonseed oil drastically improved cholesterol profiles in young adult men. Participants showed significant reductions in cholesterol and triglycerides in the cottonseed oil trial compared to minimal changes on the olive oil-enriched diet. The results appear in the journal, Nutrition Research. Jamie Cooper, the corresponding author of the study said, “One of the reasons these results were so surprising is because of the magnitude of change observed with the cottonseed oil diet. To see this amount of change in such a short period of time is exciting.” The subjects, all healthy men between the ages of 18 and 45, were provided high-fat meals for five days.
Sleep disorder because of inflammation?
Inflammation, which is the root cause of autoimmune disorders including arthritis, Type 1 diabetes, irritable bowel syndrome and Crohn’s disease, has unexpected effects on body clock function and can lead to sleep and shiftwork-type disorders, a new Northwestern Medicine study in mice found. It used a new technology — a genetic switch — to turn inflammation on and off in genetically modified mouse models. When researchers deactivated inflammation, the mouse was unable to tell what time it was and was unable to keep an intact rest-activity cycle. In addition to this new technology, the study was novel because, for the first time, scientists saw a link between what causes inflammation and what controls the body’s clock.
Biomarker for diagnosing heart failure
In a latest study, scientists have discovered a biomarker which can aid doctors in diagnosing at-risk patients before heart attack symptoms appear. The Cedars-Sinai Medical Center study has been published in JAMA Cardiology. Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) affects many people each year. And now, thanks to the discovery of the first-ever biomarker for HFpEF, a simple blood test can reveal whether a patient’s heart is not making enough of an important protein. If the protein levels are decreased, the biomarker signal increases and physicians will be able to diagnose heart failure sooner. “By the time heart failure symptoms develop, the critical window for corrective therapy has typically closed,” said Robin Shaw, principal investigator on the study. “Our discovery allows us to not only diagnose the disease sooner, but also to treat patients before that critical period of early intervention for lifesaving care has closed,” he added.