Fresh Blood Not Always the Best Blood?
Longer storage of red blood cell (RBC) units was associated with longer transplant survival in kidney transplant patients receiving early transfusions, a retrospective study in France found. Among 3,483 kidney recipients who received RBC transfusions within 14 days posttransplant, each additional day of RBC storage was associated with a non-significant 1% reduction in the risk […]
Lorundrostat Stands a Chance Against Obesity-Related Hypertension
Among selected people with uncontrolled hypertension, blood pressure (BP) could be successfully reduced with a highly selective aldosterone synthase inhibitor, a phase II dose-finding trial found. In hypertensive patients with suppressed renin — theoretically the group most likely to benefit from reining in aldosterone production — reductions of automated office systolic BP reached up to […]
Red blood cells exposed to oxygen deficiency protect against myocardial infarction
Red blood cells exposed to oxygen deficiency protect against myocardial infarction, according to a new KI study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. The study also shows that the protective effect is enhanced by a nitrate-rich vegetable diet. Red blood cells carry oxygen from the lungs to all of the body’s cells and carbon […]
Post-COVID Cognitive Deficits Linked With Clotting Proteins
Two distinct blood biomarker profiles predicted cognitive deficits 6 and 12 months after COVID-19, prospective U.K. data showed. Both biomarker profiles featured proteins involved in coagulation, reported Maxime Taquet, PhD, of the University of Oxford in England, and co-authors in Nature Medicine. Among 1,800 patients hospitalized for COVID-19 during the first wave of the pandemic, […]
Antioxidants stimulate blood flow in tumors
Vitamin C and other antioxidants stimulate the formation of new blood vessels in lung cancer tumours, a new study from Karolinska Institutet published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation shows. The discovery corroborates the idea that dietary supplements containing antioxidants can accelerate tumour growth and metastasis. “We’ve found that antioxidants activate a mechanism that causes […]
Kombucha Shows Potential Diabetes Benefit in Small Trial
Drinking kombucha helped improve blood glucose levels in people with type 2 diabetes, according to a randomized, controlled pilot trial. After drinking the fermented tea for a month, participants saw a significant reduction in average fasting blood glucose levels (164 vs 116 mg/dL, P=0.035) not seen in those in the placebo group (162 vs 141 […]
Early Time-Restricted Eating Cut Blood Sugar Fluctuations in Prediabetes
CHICAGO – Just 1 week of early time-restricted feeding (eTRF) cut fluctuations in blood sugar levels, and reduced the time that blood sugar was elevated, in people with prediabetes and a high BMI, according to the TRIO study. The difference in the mean amplitude of glycemic excursion (MAGE) — the standard for assessing short-term within-day […]
FDA Relaxes Blood Donation Rules for Gay and Bisexual Men
After decades of rejecting or discouraging men who have sex with men (MSM) from donating blood for fear of HIV transmission, the FDA issued final guidance on Thursday relaxing donor eligibility rules. Under the new recommendations, the FDA scrapped time-based deferrals and screening questions targeting MSM and instead call for individual risk-based questions to be […]
Polypill Tested for Cognitive, Functional Benefits
Reducing blood pressure and cholesterol in the TIPS-3 trial with a polypill, with or without aspirin, showed no protective effect on cognition in older adults with cardiovascular disease risk factors, a secondary analysis showed. During a 5-year follow-up, about the same number of trial participants in TIPS-3 experienced substantive cognitive decline in both the treatment […]
Alzheimer’s Disease Detected in Blood a Decade Before Clinical Symptoms
Blood concentrations of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), a marker of astrogliosis, were higher about 10 years before symptom onset in an inherited form of Alzheimer’s disease. Three plasma biomarkers — phosphorylated tau (p-tau181), neurofilament light chain (NfL), and GFAP — were higher in mutation carriers than non-carriers in a Swedish cohort of autosomal dominant […]