Al Jazeera Tour Health… Calorie labels do not make you thin and a new treatment for Parkinson’s

Mark
Written By Mark

Calorie labels do not make you thin, a new treatment for Parkinson’s disease, and a warning against weight gain during pregnancy, some of the results of new medical studies that were recently published.

We at Al Jazeera Seha present a tour of medical research for today, Monday, January 20, 2025:

Calorie labels don’t make you skinny!

It has long been thought that calorie labels on foods and meals prompt people to eat fewer calories, but a new study calls that into question.

The study found that adding calorie information to menus to encourage customers to make healthier food choices reduces food intake by only the equivalent of two almonds per meal, that is, by only 11 calories for each 600-calorie meal.

The study was conducted by researchers from universities including Oxford and Cambridge, and the British newspaper Daily Mail wrote about it.

New treatment for Parkinson’s disease

Researchers have achieved the use of nanoparticle injections into the brain to treat the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, and in a way that reduces the side effects of the disease such as anxiety, cognitive decline, and depression.

The study was conducted by Professor Chunying Chen of the Chinese National Center for Nanoscience and Technology and her colleagues, and Newsweek wrote about it.

The researchers injected nanoparticles into the brains of mice and stimulated them with a laser, which led to an improvement in symptoms.

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Parkinson’s – also known as Parkinson’s – is a neurological disease that occurs when brain cells do not secrete a sufficient amount of the chemical dopamine, and leads to movement problems such as tremors and the inability to coordinate movements. It is classified as a movement disorder, and men are more susceptible to it than women.

Stem cell therapy accelerates brain recovery after stroke

Scientists have found that using stem cells can improve brain activity, even when used more than a month after a stroke.

The study was conducted by scientists at the Gladstone Institutes in the United States, and concluded that cellular therapy derived from stem cells can restore normal patterns of brain activity after a stroke.

The study was published in the journal Molecular Therapy, and the EurekAlert website wrote about it.

Researchers say what’s most interesting is the lesson learned from the new study: Even one month after a stroke, treatments have the potential to restore normal function in the brain.

A stroke occurs when blood supply to part of the brain stops or decreases significantly, cutting off its supply of oxygen and nutrients, and within minutes brain cells begin to die. Because brain cells do not regenerate, this may lead to permanent brain damage.

The brains of people with sickle cell disease appear older

People with sickle cell disease — a chronic disease in which misshapen, sticky blood cells clump together, reducing oxygen delivery to organs — have brains that appear older than expected for their age, researchers have found.

The study was conducted by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, and was published in the journal JAMA Network Open, and written about by the Eurek Alert website.

The researchers also found that economically disadvantaged individuals, who struggle to meet basic needs even in the absence of sickle cell disease, have brains that appear older.

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Sickle cell disease is a group of inherited red blood cell disorders, with a problem with hemoglobin in the blood.

Hemoglobin is a protein found in red blood cells that carries oxygen to all parts of the body. In sickle cell anemia, hemoglobin forms in the form of solid rods inside the red blood cells, and this changes the shape of the red blood cells. The cells are supposed to be disc-shaped, but this changes them to a crescent or sickle shape.

Sickle-shaped cells are not flexible and cannot change shape easily, and many of them burst as they move through blood vessels. Sickle cells usually live only 10 to 20 days, instead of the 90 to 120 days that normal red blood cells live.

Excess weight of a pregnant woman harms her fetus

A recent study found that unhealthy weight gain in the first three months of pregnancy is linked to fat accumulation in the fetus.

The study was conducted by researchers at the National Institutes of Health in the United States, and was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, and written about on the Eurek Alert website.

The researchers found that the fetuses of pregnant women who gained excess weight in the first three months of pregnancy showed signs of excess fat distribution in the upper arm and abdomen. These findings may inform efforts to prevent excessive weight gain early in life, a risk factor for adult obesity and associated conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes.

Malnutrition in children may play a role in global measles outbreaks

A recent study found that malnutrition may worsen measles outbreaks in food-insecure areas.

The study was conducted by researchers from McGill University, the School of Public Health at the University of California at Berkeley, and the University of Pretoria, and was published in the journal Vaccine, and written about by the Eurick Alert website.

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The study included more than 600 vaccinated children in South Africa, and found that malnourished children had significantly lower levels of antibodies against measles.

This suggests that addressing child hunger could be a key piece of the puzzle in preventing virus outbreaks.

Measles is a viral disease that affects the respiratory system. It is highly contagious and its symptoms include fever, cough, and skin rash. It may lead to several complications, including ear infection, pneumonia, and encephalitis. The disease may also end in the death of the infected person.