Health & Fitness

For decades, scientists believed Alzheimer’s was driven mainly by sticky protein plaques and tangles in the brain. Now Purdue researchers have revealed a hidden culprit: fat. They found that brain immune cells can become clogged with fat, leaving them too weak to fight off disease. By clearing out this fat and restoring the cells’ defenses, researchers may have uncovered an entirely new way to combat Alzheimer’s — shifting the focus from plaques alone to how the brain handles fat.

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A massive international study has shown that the experimental oral obesity drug orforglipron can help patients shed over 10% of their body weight, with nearly one in five losing 20% or more. Unlike most GLP-1 agonists that require injections, orforglipron comes as a once-daily pill, potentially making weight-loss treatment more accessible.

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Researchers found that magic mushrooms and fiber caps independently evolved different biochemical pathways to create psilocybin. This convergence shows nature’s ingenuity, but the reason why remains unknown—possibly predator deterrence. Beyond evolutionary mystery, the discovery provides new enzyme tools for biotech, with promising applications for producing psilocybin-based medicines.

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Researchers reviewing 46 studies found evidence linking prenatal acetaminophen (Tylenol) exposure with higher risks of autism and ADHD. The FDA has since urged caution, echoing scientists’ advice that the drug be used only at the lowest effective dose and shortest duration. While important for managing fever and pain in pregnancy, prolonged use may pose risks to fetal development. Experts stress careful medical oversight and further investigation.

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Gifted dogs can categorize toys by function, not just appearance. In playful at-home tests, they linked labels like “fetch” and “pull” to toys—even ones they’d never seen before. The findings hint that dogs form mental concepts of objects, much like humans, pointing to deeper cognitive abilities.

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A new study has revealed that TSPO, a protein linked to brain inflammation, rises long before Alzheimer’s symptoms appear. Researchers tracked the protein in genetically engineered mice and confirmed the results in human brain tissue from Colombian families with a known Alzheimer’s mutation. They found unusually high levels of TSPO in microglia clustered around plaques, particularly in women. This discovery not only deepens our understanding of the disease but also sparks the possibility of using TSPO to detect and treat Alzheimer’s far earlier than ever before.

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Alcohol doesn’t just damage the liver — it locks its cells in a strange “in-between” state that prevents them from healing. Even after someone quits drinking, liver cells often get stuck, unable to function normally or regenerate. Scientists have now traced this problem to runaway inflammation, which scrambles the cell’s instructions and silences a key helper protein. By blocking these inflammatory signals in lab tests, they were able to restore the liver’s healing ability — a finding that could point to new treatments beyond transplants.

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