Research advances from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Intramural Research Program (IRP) often make headlines. Read the news releases that describe our most recent findings:
The act of cooking offers the chance to unwind and create something special, whether you’re planning to feed a crowd or just yourself. And while you may have noticed feeling good after whipping up that perfect pie or braise, there’s actually a lot of scientific data to suggest that cooking can have a positive impact on mental health.
One meta-analysis (a report of pre-existing research) from the National Institutes of Health looked at 11 studies and found that “cooking interventions” — encouraging people to follow certain recipes or giving people cooking classes — can improve a person’s mental well-being. It specifically found that people who participated in cooking interventions reported having better self-esteem and quality of life, as well as a more positive emotional state after the fact. Another study even discovered that baking can help raise a person’s confidence level.
NIH scientists develop technique that provides new insight into stroke.
In a study of stroke patients, investigators confirmed through MRI brain scans that there was an association between the extent of disruption to the brain’s protective blood-brain barrier and the severity of bleeding following invasive stroke therapy. The results of the National Institutes of Health-funded study were published in Neurology.
Mouse study advances knowledge of habitual behavior pathophysiology.
Daily activities involve frequent transitions between habitual behaviors, such as driving home, and goal-directed behaviors, such as driving to a new destination on unfamiliar roads. An inability to shift between habitual and non-habitual behaviors has been implicated in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), addiction, and other disorders characterized by impaired decision-making. In a new study conducted with mice, scientists report that endocannabinoids, natural messengers in the body that are chemically similar to the active compound in marijuana, play an important role in how the brain controls this fundamental process. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health, funded the study.
NIH-funded study shows less diabetic retinopathy progression among those who underwent intensive glycemic control.
People with type 2 diabetes who intensively controlled their blood sugar level during the landmark Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) Trial Eye Study were found to have cut their risk of diabetic retinopathy in half in a follow-up analysis conducted four years after stopping intensive therapy. Investigators who led the ACCORD Follow-on Eye Study (ACCORDION) announced the results today in New Orleans at the American Diabetes Association annual meeting. The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health’s National Eye Institute (NEI).
Cryo-EM methods can determine structures of small proteins bound to potential drug candidates.
Scientists using a technology called cryo-EM (cryo-electron microscopy) have broken through a technological barrier in visualizing proteins with an approach that may have an impact on drug discovery and development. They were able to capture images of glutamate dehydrogenase, an enzyme found in cells, at a resolution of 1.8 angstroms, a level of detail at which the structure of the central parts of the enzyme could be visualized in atomic detail. The scientists from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, and their colleagues also reported achieving another major milestone, by showing that the shapes of cancer target proteins too small to be considered within the reach of current cryo-EM capabilities can now be determined at high resolution.
A new study of the relationship between physical activity and cancer has shown that greater levels of leisure-time physical activity were associated with a lower risk of developing 13 different types of cancer. The risk of developing seven cancer types was 20 percent (or more) lower among the most active participants (90th percentile of activity) as compared with the least active participants (10th percentile of activity). These findings, from researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, and the American Cancer Society, confirm and extend the evidence for a benefit of physical activity on cancer risk and support its role as a key component of population-wide cancer prevention and control efforts. The study, by Steven C. Moore, Ph.D., NCI, and colleagues, appeared May 16, 2016, in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Rare tumors called pheochromocytomas and paragangliomas may cause the same symptoms as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children, leading to inappropriate treatment that could worsen their symptoms and potentially endanger their health. That’s the conclusion of a new study by National Institutes of Health researchers who evaluated a group of pediatric patients diagnosed with the tumors.
PfSPZ Vaccine is first to show durable, sterile protection in people with no prior infection.
An experimental malaria vaccine protected a small number of healthy, malaria-naïve adults in the United States from infection for more than one year after immunization, according to results from a Phase 1 trial described in the May 9th issue of Nature Medicine. The vaccine, known as the PfSPZ Vaccine, was developed and produced by Sanaria Inc., of Rockville, Maryland, with support from several Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) awards from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. NIAID researchers and collaborators at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, conducted the clinical evaluation of the vaccine, which involved immunization and exposing willing healthy adults to the malaria-causing parasite Plasmodium falciparum (P. falciparum) in a controlled setting.
Through the use of powerful genomic techniques, researchers at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) have found that the development of immune cells, called innate lymphoid cells (ILCs), gradually prepares these cells for rapid response to infection. This work, which appeared online today in Cell, sheds light on the development and function of a cell type that is increasingly recognized as having an important role in the body’s immune defense. NIAMS is part of the National Institutes of Health.
Researchers at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) have discovered that innate lymphoid cells, early responders of the immune system, are primed at the DNA level for rapid action.
NIH-funded team finds rapid-acting, non-addicting agent in mouse study.
A chemical byproduct, or metabolite, created as the body breaks down ketamine likely holds the secret to its rapid antidepressant action, National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientists and grantees have discovered. This metabolite singularly reversed depression-like behaviors in mice without triggering any of the anesthetic, dissociative, or addictive side effects associated with ketamine.
A new study has found that drinking water from private wells, particularly dug wells established during the first half of the 20th century, may have contributed to the elevated risk of bladder cancer that has been observed in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont for over 50 years. Other risk factors for bladder cancer, such as smoking and occupational exposures, did not explain the excess risk in this region. The study, by researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, and colleagues at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire; the departments of health for Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont; and the U.S. Geological Survey, appeared May 2, 2016, in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Bladder cancer mortality rates have been elevated in northern New England for over half a century. The incidence of bladder cancer in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont has been about 20 percent higher than that in the United States overall. Rates are elevated among both men and women. A unique feature of this region is the high proportion of the population using private wells for their drinking water, which are not maintained by municipalities and are not subject to federal regulations. These wells may contain arsenic, generally at low to moderate levels. Previous studies have shown that consumption of water containing high concentrations of arsenic increases the risk of bladder cancer.
