Researchers identify good bacteria that protects against HIV

Researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston by growing vaginal skin cells outside the body and studying the way they interact with "good and bad" bacteria, think they may be able to better identify the good bacteria that protect women from HIV infection and other sexually transmitted infections.

Deleting a Single Gene Reduces Fat Mass and Extends Lifespan of Mice by 20%

March 26, 2014.

Researchers discover that mice without the FAT10 gene have an elevated metabolic rate, burn fat as fuel, exhibit reduced glucose and insulin levels, and age more slowly than normal mice.

By deleting a single gene, researchers at Yale University were able to

Nasal spray delivers new type of depression treatment

March 24 2014. A nasal spray that delivers a peptide to treat depression holds promise as a potential alternative therapeutic approach, research from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) shows.

CAMH's Fang Liu developed a protein peptide that provided a highly targeted approach to treating depression that she hopes will have minimal side effects.

Love Harmone could provide treatment for anorexia

3 March 2014.  Oxytocin, also known as the ‘love hormone’, could provide a new treatment for anorexia nervosa, according to new research by a team of British and Korean scientists.

The study, found that oxytocin alters anorexic patients’ tendencies to fixate on images of high calorie foods, and larger body shape. The findings follow an earlier study by the same group showing that oxytocin changed patients’ responses to angry and disgusted faces.

'Higher levels of omega-3 in diet associated with better sleep'

A randomised placebo-controlled study by the University of Oxford suggests that higher levels of omega-3 DHA, the group of long-chain fatty acids found in algae and seafood, are associated with better sleep.

The researchers explored whether 16 weeks of daily 600mg supplements of algal sources would improve the sleep of 362 children. The children who took part in the study were not selected for sleep problems, but were all struggling readers at a mainstream primary school.