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A new study suggests humans became overwhelmingly right-handed because of two major evolutionary shifts: walking on two legs and developing much larger brains. Researchers found that as human ancestors evolved, their right-hand preference steadily intensified — transforming a mild tendency into one of humanity’s most distinctive traits.

Coffee may give your blood pressure a temporary jolt, but that doesn’t mean it’s secretly wrecking your heart. Researchers say caffeine can briefly raise blood pressure by stimulating your heart and tightening blood vessels, especially in people who don’t drink coffee regularly. But large studies involving hundreds of thousands of people found no strong evidence that moderate coffee drinking increases the risk of developing hypertension. In fact, coffee also contains natural compounds that may help blood vessels function better.

Studies suggest watermelon could be a hidden powerhouse for better health. Researchers found that people who eat watermelon tend to have higher-quality diets packed with more vitamins, fiber, and antioxidants — while consuming less added sugar and saturated fat. Another study showed watermelon juice may help protect blood vessel function and support heart health.

Scientists have discovered that the human body undergoes a dramatic internal transformation during extended fasting, with major changes appearing only after about three days without food. In a seven-day water-only fasting study, researchers tracked thousands of proteins in the blood and found widespread shifts affecting organs throughout the body — including the brain. While the body quickly switches from burning glucose to fat, the most intriguing biological changes linked to potential health benefits didn’t emerge until later in the fast.

A new nanotechnology treatment reversed Alzheimer’s symptoms in mice by restoring the brain’s natural cleanup system. The specially engineered nanoparticles helped clear toxic amyloid proteins from the brain and repair the blood-brain barrier, which normally protects and regulates the brain’s environment. In one striking experiment, elderly mice treated with the therapy later behaved like healthy younger mice.

Microglial senescence has emerged as a potentially important aging-related mechanism in Alzheimer's disease (AD), shaped in part by epigenetic reprogramming and closely coupled to immunometabolic dysfunction. While microglia initially mount adaptive responses to amyloid-beta (Aβ), tau, and tissue stress, persistent exposure to chronic neurodegenerative cues may drive subsets of microglia toward senescence-like states characterized by altered chromatin regulation, transcriptional remodeling,...

The genotoxic agent doxorubicin induces premature vascular aging, defined by vascular endothelial dysfunction and aortic stiffening. Excess vascular cell senescence and the accompanying senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) are key mechanisms underlying doxorubicin-induced vascular dysfunction, in part, by promoting excess mitochondrial oxidative stress, which reduces the bioavailability of the vasodilatory molecule nitric oxide (NO). In the present study, we assessed if the natural...

For years, “yo-yo dieting” has been blamed for wrecking metabolism and causing lasting damage, but a major new review says the fear may be wildly overblown. After analyzing decades of studies in humans and animals, researchers found little convincing evidence that losing weight and regaining it actually causes long-term harm. While regaining weight can erase some health improvements, it doesn’t appear to make people worse off than before.

Scientists have uncovered a surprising new trick used by one of cancer’s most notorious proteins. MYC, already infamous for fueling runaway tumor growth, also appears to help cancer cells survive by repairing their damaged DNA — including damage caused by chemotherapy and radiation. Researchers found that MYC can rush directly to broken DNA and recruit repair machinery, effectively helping tumors recover from treatments meant to destroy them.

Exercise may be training your brain just as much as your body. Researchers discovered that certain brain cells stay highly active even after a workout ends, and those lingering signals appear to help the body build endurance over time. In experiments with mice, blocking these brain cells prevented improvements in stamina, even when the animals still exercised normally.

Researchers have shown for the first time that malfunctioning mitochondria — the cell’s energy generators — may directly cause cognitive decline in neurodegenerative diseases. By creating a new tool that temporarily boosts mitochondrial activity in the brain, scientists restored memory performance in mouse models of dementia. The discovery hints that energy failure inside neurons could happen before brain cells die, potentially offering a new target for future Alzheimer’s treatments.

A major analysis of brain scans found that people with anxiety disorders have noticeably lower levels of choline, a nutrient crucial for healthy brain function. The strongest evidence appeared in the prefrontal cortex, the region tied to emotional control and decision-making. Researchers say the discovery is the first clear chemical brain pattern linked to anxiety and could eventually lead to new nutrition-based treatments.

Estrogens are pleiotropic hormones that regulate reproductive and non-reproductive physiological processes in both sexes. Among these, 17α-estradiol (17α-E2), a C17 epimer of the canonical estrogen 17β-estradiol (17β-E2), has emerged as a promising modulator of aging and metabolism with sexual dimorphism. Unlike 17β-E2, which exerts broad estrogenic effects in both sexes, 17α-E2 extends lifespan and preferentially improves metabolic homeostasis in male mice while inducing only mild feminizing...