Digestion News and Research

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Digestion is the mechanical and chemical breaking down of food into smaller components, to a form that can be absorbed, for instance, into a blood stream. Digestion is a form of catabolism; a break-down of macro food molecules to smaller ones.

Discovery could lead to new therapies for people with celiac disease

Researchers at McMaster University have discovered a key molecule that could lead to new therapies for people with celiac disease, an often painful and currently untreatable autoimmune disorder.

1 Apr 2014

New research shows obesity is linked to our ability to digest carbohydrates

New research indicates that obesity in the general population may be genetically linked to how our bodies digest carbohydrates.

1 Apr 2014

Carb breakdown gene linked to obesity, researchers find

Researchers at King's College London and Imperial College London have discovered that people with fewer copies of a gene coding for a carb-digesting enzyme may be at higher risk of obesity. The findings, published in Nature Genetics, suggest that dietary advice may need to be more tailored to an individual's digestive system, based on whether they have the genetic predisposition and necessary enzymes to digest different foods.

31 Mar 2014

New strain of rice may help combat obesity and other diseases

In recent years, Okinawa has recorded the dubious distinction of having the highest obesity rate in Japan. Preventing obesity-related diseases is an urgent issue.

27 Mar 2014

New pilot study shows little difference in digestibility between raw milk and pasteurized milk

Some sour news for lactose-intolerant people who hoped that raw milk might prove easier to stomach than pasteurized milk: A pilot study from the Stanford University School of Medicine shows little difference in digestibility between the two.

11 Mar 2014

Researchers validate new method for calculating physical activity, sedentary behavior in obese people

Researchers at the University of South Carolina's Arnold School of Public Health have validated a new method for calculating physical activity, sedentary behavior, and the food energy requirements of Americans. The results suggest that as a nation, we spend more than 15 hours per day sleeping and sitting, and that obese men and women spend less than one minute per day in vigorous activity.

13 Feb 2014

$Sage Science releases new SageELF technology for DNA and protein fractionation$

Sage Science releases new SageELF technology for DNA and protein fractionation

Sage Science, a developer of products for improving sample preparation processes in life science applications, today announced the release of its new SageELF technology for DNA and protein fractionation. This sample prep instrument will be especially useful for preserving precious samples and has applications in next-generation sequencing as well as bottom-up or top-down proteomics experiments.

12 Feb 2014

Researchers share findings on relations between gut flora and obesity

Cutting-edge European research presented at the 2014 AAAS meeting in Chicago. Three leading European researchers on the gut microbiome will be present at the 2014 AAAS meeting, on Saturday 15 February, to share their recent findings on the relations between gut flora and obesity, diabetes, and cardio-metabolic diseases in general.

11 Feb 2014

Covaris introduces truXTRAC High Throughput FFPE DNA Extraction & Purification Kit at 2014 AGBT

Covaris, Inc. introduced the truXTRAC™ High Throughput FFPE DNA Extraction & Purification Kit at the 2014 Advances in Genome Biology and Technology (AGBT) meeting held in Marco Island, Florida.

11 Feb 2014

New insight into how gut bacteria digest fibre

New insight into how gut bacteria digest fibre could lead to advances in areas as diverse as health and environmentally-friendly biofuels.

31 Jan 2014

Researchers gain better understanding of HIV infection through electron microscopy

The human intestinal tract, or gut, is best known for its role in digestion. But this collection of organs also plays a prominent role in the immune system. In fact, it is one of the first parts of the body that is attacked in the early stages of an HIV infection. Knowing how the virus infects cells and accumulates in this area is critical to developing new therapies for the over 33 million people worldwide living with HIV. Researchers at the California Institute of Technology are the first to have utilized high-resolution electron microscopy to look at HIV infection within the actual tissue of an infected organism, providing perhaps the most detailed characterization yet of HIV infection in the gut.

30 Jan 2014

Erosive GERD treatments: an interview with Professor Joaquim Moraes-Filho, University of São Paulo Medical School

Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) is a condition that develops when the reflux of stomach contents causes troublesome symptoms and/or complications.

20 Jan 2014

Scientist receives grant to study biochemical fate of nanoemulsion-based food delivery systems in GI tract

Food scientist Hang Xiao of the University of Massachusetts Amherst recently received a four-year, $491,220 grant to study the biochemical fate of nanoemulsion-based food delivery systems in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, hoping to re-shape them and enhance the absorption of beneficial food components encapsulated in delivery systems.

20 Jan 2014

Study shows high-fiber diet reduces risk of colon problems

Scientists have more reasons for you to eat fiber and not abuse antibiotics.

17 Jan 2014

Researchers develop a class of compounds that may help eradicate Chagas disease

A team of researchers from Canada has developed a class of compounds which may help eradicate a neglected tropical disease that is currently hard to kill in its chronic form. The research was published ahead of print in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.

27 Dec 2013

Synergy Pharmaceuticals closes patient enrollment in plecanatide phase 2b clinical trial in IBS-C

Synergy Pharmaceuticals Inc. today announced it has closed patient enrollment in its plecanatide phase 2b clinical trial in irritable bowel syndrome with constipation.

24 Dec 2013

Marker for inflammatory bowel disease linked to bipolar disorder

Researchers have found evidence that the gastrointestinal tract plays a role in the inflammatory pathology of bipolar disorder, suggesting the need to consider dietary modification and anti-inflammatory treatment for some patients.

12 Dec 2013

NYU Langone Medical Center researchers find link between gut bacteria and colorectal cancer

In one of the largest epidemiological studies of human gut bacteria and colorectal cancer ever conducted, a team of researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center has found a clear association between gut bacteria and colorectal cancer. The study, published today in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, discovered that colorectal cancer patients had fewer beneficial bacteria and more harmful bacteria than people without the disease.

6 Dec 2013

Neuroscientists discover new role played by common but mysterious class of brain cells

Stanford University School of Medicine neuroscientists have discovered a new role played by a common but mysterious class of brain cells.

26 Nov 2013

Study: Oatmeal breakfast shows greater increase in appetite control than ready-to-eat cereal

While obesity is a complex and multifaceted problem, much of the strategy behind combating it boils down to healthy eating habits. Taking into account the primary role of subjective appetite sensations in said habits, a group of researchers recently compared the satiety impact of two popular breakfast choices: oatmeal and ready-to-eat breakfast cereal (RTEC).

25 Nov 2013