Calcium News and Research

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Calcium, the most abundant mineral in the body, is found in some foods, added to others, available as a dietary supplement, and present in some medicines (such as antacids). Calcium is required for muscle contraction, blood vessel expansion and contraction, secretion of hormones and enzymes, and transmitting impulses throughout the nervous system. The body strives to maintain constant concentrations of calcium in blood, muscle, and intercellular fluids, though less than <1% of total body calcium is needed to support these functions.

The remaining 99% of the body's calcium supply is stored in the bones and teeth where it supports their structure. Bone itself undergoes continuous remodeling, with constant resorption and deposition of calcium into new bone. The balance between bone resorption and deposition changes with age. Bone formation exceeds resorption in growing children, whereas in early and middle adulthood both processes are relatively equal. In aging adults, particularly among postmenopausal women, bone breakdown exceeds formation, resulting in bone loss that increases the risk of osteoporosis over time.

First-of-its-kind vehicle for lung screening brings health care directly to patients

A mobile platform for lung cancer screening with low-dose computed tomography (CT) can be developed with limited financial risk and take powerful screening tests directly to patients, including underserved rural areas where rates of new lung cancer cases tend to be higher, according to study published today in The Annals of Thoracic Surgery.

14 Jul 2020

Scientists identify a new role for covalent linker in transmembrane ion channels

In the molecular-level world of ion channels - passageways through membranes that carry signals in a cell's environment and allow it to respond - researchers have debated about the role of a small piece of the channel called a linker, says computational biophysicist Jianhan Chen at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

10 Jul 2020

New research shows promise for treating neuropsychiatric diseases

When trying to complete a task we are constantly bombarded by distracting stimuli. How does the brain filter out these distractions and enable us to focus on the task at hand?

9 Jul 2020

New discovery helps explain heart defects in Barth syndrome

The heart needs energy to pump blood. So, energy production defects in heart muscles result in a variety of cardiac diseases.

7 Jul 2020

Coronary calcium scoring can help doctors make the right recommendation about statin therapy

Your doctor tells you that you need a statin to lower your cholesterol and reduce your heart attack risk. You don't like taking medicine and your friend tells you that he had achy muscles after he started a statin. You wonder if you should listen to your doctor or go without the medicine.

6 Jul 2020

Study identifies a promising way to delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease

Currently we are facing a dementia epidemic, estimations showing that by 2050 approximately 131 million people will be affected. Every 7 seconds a patient is diagnosed worldwide.

2 Jul 2020

Study uncovers algorithms and neural circuit mechanisms of escape responses

Ordered and variable animal behaviours emerge to explore and adapt to the environment. They are generally considered as the combination of a series of stereotyped motor primitives. However, how the nervous system shapes the dynamics of motor sequences remains to be solved.

29 Jun 2020

Scientists discover osmotic stress as stimulator of cellular waste disposal

Cellular waste disposal, where autophagy and lysosomes interact, performs elementary functions, such as degrading damaged protein molecules, which impair cellular function, and reintroducing the resulting building blocks such as amino acids into the metabolic system.

29 Jun 2020

MIT engineers create a focused approach to imaging neural activity

When neurons fire an electrical impulse, they also experience a surge of calcium ions. By measuring those surges, researchers can indirectly monitor neuron activity, helping them to study the role of individual neurons in many different brain functions.

26 Jun 2020

PrecisionLife scientists identify 68 genes linked to severe COVID-19 risk

PrecisionLife’s unique AI platform has found 68 genes associated with risk of developing severe COVID-19 after analysis of the genomes of 929 patients from the UK Biobank who had a severe response to SARS-CoV-2.

26 Jun 2020

Genes associated with SARS-CoV-2 human lung cell infection

Now, a new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv in June 2020 attempts to make sense of this data to identify viral genes that are explicitly expressed in the cells infected by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). This could help reveal new therapeutic targets.

26 Jun 2020

New, five-minute urine test measures the health of a person's diet

Scientists have completed large-scale tests on a new type of five-minute urine test that measures the health of a person's diet, and produces an individual's unique urine 'fingerprint'.

22 Jun 2020

Study: Vitamin D can reduce side effects associated with chemotherapy

As many cancer patients will confirm, the chemotherapy prescribed to kill the disease is often more debilitating than the cancer itself, with a range of horrendous side effects.

18 Jun 2020

Scientists develop peptides that restore balance in gut bacteria and reverse atherosclerosis

Now, a team of scientists at Scripps Research has developed new molecules that can restore the balance in gut bacteria in the intestines and as a result, lowers cholesterol levels and reverses the narrowing of the arteries, also known as atherosclerosis.

18 Jun 2020

Antibiotic X-206 effective against SARS-CoV-2 in vitro

The current study published on the preprint server bioRxiv aims to understand how these compounds affect SARS-CoV-2 in vitro. The researchers from Aarhus University in Denmark examined 11 natural PEIs, with a single synthetic analog, screening them for inhibitory activity against the CPE of SARS-CoV-2 infecting cultured cells with overexpression of TMPRSS2, a serine protease that is instrumental in cleaving the spike protein of the virus.

16 Jun 2020

Study reports structure of enzyme activator for high pathogenic avian influenza

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), causing the current pandemic of COVID-19, is the focus of many investigators seeking to find an effective vaccine or therapeutic. Among the potential targets are various protease enzymes suspected of allowing the virus to gain entry to host cells and establish a successful infection.

16 Jun 2020

Vitamin K may offer protective health benefits as we age, study suggests

A new, multi-ethnic study found older adults with low vitamin K levels were more likely to die within 13 years compared to those whose vitamin K levels were adequate.

15 Jun 2020

Study shows how a nervous system coordinates distinct behavioral outputs

For a nematode worm, a big lawn of the bacteria that it eats is a great place for it to disperse its eggs so that each hatchling can emerge into a nutritive environment.

11 Jun 2020

Material scientists develop self-healing bone cement

Material scientists at the University of Jena have developed a bone replacement based on calcium phosphate cement and reinforced with carbon fibers. The fibers increase damage tolerance and ensure that cracks in the material repair themselves.

10 Jun 2020

Research highlights nutritional risks among female athletes

Two decades of research among female athletes over the age of 13 years shows that a lack of nutrition knowledge about what they need to eat to stay healthy and compete may contribute to poor performance, low energy and nutrient intake, and potential health risks, according to a Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School study.

9 Jun 2020