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THURSDAY, Sept. 22, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Every year, hibernating bears are able to feast, pack on a huge amount of weight and then lie around for months -- all without suffering the health consequence of diabetes. Now researchers are closer to understanding their secret.Scientists with the Washington State University Bear Center say they've zeroed in on eight proteins that appear key to keeping hibernating grizzlies diabetes-proof.Those eight proteins also have human counterparts -- which means the findings could eventually lead to a better understanding of diabetes in people, and possibly new medications, experts said.Type 2 diabetes, by far the most common form of the disease, occurs when the body can no longer use the hormone insulin properly. Insulin helps move the sugars from...

THURSDAY, Sept. 22, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Climate change could spell trouble for those with heart failure, a new study suggests.When the temperatures soared in France during the summer of 2019, the heat wave appears to have worsened the conditions of heart failure patients, researchers report."The finding is timely, given the heat waves again this year," said study author Dr. François Roubille, head of the intensive care unit at Montpellier University Hospital in France. The study, published Sept. 22 in ESC Heart Failure, a journal of the European Society of Cardiology, found that warmer temps were associated with weight loss, which worsens heart failure."The weight loss we observed in people with heart failure may lead to low blood pressure, especially when standing up, and renal...

THURSDAY, Sept. 22, 2022 (HealthDay News) – The fight against malaria could hinge on genetically engineered mosquitoes that have something called "gene drive."Researchers from the Transmission: Zero team at Imperial College London report that they have engineered mosquitoes that slow the growth in their gut of the parasites that cause malaria. This delay would mean the mosquito would reach its natural life span before the parasite would reach the mosquitoes' salivary glands. So a bite wouldn't spread the disease.In the lab, this dramatically reduced the spread of malaria. "Since 2015, the progress in tackling malaria has stalled. Mosquitoes and the parasites they carry are becoming resistant to available interventions such as insecticides and treatments, and funding has plateaued. We...

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 21, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- For many years, doctors have advised taking low-dose aspirin to help prevent first-time heart attacks and stroke. But increasingly, they're doing an about-face.The latest warnings come from University of Michigan researchers who reported that patients simultaneously taking another blood thinner, warfarin, along with aspirin are more likely to have bleeding problems. The research team found the risk of a bleeding event dropped by almost one-third when aspirin use was reduced in this group. Aspirin is not a panacea drug as it was once thought to be, said Dr. Geoffrey Barnes, study co-author and cardiologist at the university's Cardiovascular Center."We said, ‘Let's see if we can identify the patients who we don't need to be on aspirin...