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Biomarker

All articles tagged with #biomarker

Vitamin B12: High Blood Levels as a Possible Cancer Signal, Not a Cure
health6 days ago

Vitamin B12: High Blood Levels as a Possible Cancer Signal, Not a Cure

Vitamin B12 is essential for DNA repair, nerve function, and blood cell health, but very high levels may signal underlying illness rather than provide cancer protection. While deficiency is a real risk, long-term high-dose B12 supplements have not shown clear cancer-preventive benefits, and elevated B12 in cancer patients is often an epiphenomenon caused by liver release or B12-binding proteins. High B12 could serve as a cancer marker in some cases, especially for colon or oral cancers, but for most people a balanced diet suffices and megadoses should only be taken under medical advice, with emphasis on overall healthy habits and routine screenings.

via SciTechDaily|
#biomarker#cancer#health
Blood biomarker p-tau217 signals dementia risk in women decades before symptoms
health2 months ago

Blood biomarker p-tau217 signals dementia risk in women decades before symptoms

A long-term study of 2,766 cognitively healthy women found higher blood levels of p-tau217 predict an increased risk of developing dementia or mild cognitive impairment over up to 25 years, suggesting a blood test could help identify those at greatest risk years before symptoms, though it is not deterministic and results vary by race, hormone therapy use, and age; more research is needed before public screening.

via ScienceAlert|
#biomarker#blood-test#dementia
Blood biomarker p-tau217 signals dementia risk decades ahead, UCSD study finds
health2 months ago

Blood biomarker p-tau217 signals dementia risk decades ahead, UCSD study finds

A UC San Diego–led study analyzed archived blood samples from the Women’s Health Initiative Memory Study and found that higher levels of the brain protein p-tau217 in cognitively healthy women predicted dementia or mild cognitive impairment up to 25 years later. Published in JAMA Network Open, the finding suggests a simple blood test could identify future dementia risk long before symptoms, enabling earlier lifestyle interventions and more targeted trial recruitment. The study involved only women, with ongoing work to understand modifiable risk factors and whether results apply to men.

via San Diego Union-Tribune|
#biomarker#blood-test#dementia
Blood Biomarker Could Flag Dementia Risk Decades Ahead in Women
health2 months ago

Blood Biomarker Could Flag Dementia Risk Decades Ahead in Women

A UC San Diego study of over 2,500 women found that higher blood levels of the biomarker p-tau217 can predict future dementia risk up to 25 years before symptoms, with stronger links in women over 70, those with Alzheimer’s genetic risk, or on estrogen-progestin therapy; while promising, more studies are needed and it isn’t yet ready for routine clinical use, but could guide prevention trials.

via Gizmodo|
#alzheimers-disease#biomarker#blood-test
Blood tau clock could forecast when Alzheimer’s symptoms begin
health3 months ago

Blood tau clock could forecast when Alzheimer’s symptoms begin

A Nature Medicine study describes a blood test that detects an abnormal form of tau in the blood, which may serve as a molecular clock to predict not only if someone will develop Alzheimer’s but also when symptoms could start. If validated in larger trials, it could enable earlier interventions and streamline clinical testing for therapies, though experts caution that it’s not yet recommended for cognitively unimpaired individuals to use this biomarker outside of research.

via Nature|
#alzheimers-disease#biomarker#blood-test
Semen analysis as a routine health check for men sparks hype and skepticism
health3 months ago

Semen analysis as a routine health check for men sparks hype and skepticism

The piece explores the idea that routine semen analysis could serve as a broad biomarker for men’s health—potentially a “new Pap smear” that flags risks for metabolic, cardiovascular, and cancer conditions. Startups are offering mail-in and at-home testing to tap a growing market, while medical experts caution that there is insufficient evidence that broad semen screening improves health outcomes, and warn of logistical, ethical, and equity concerns and possible overdiagnosis.

via statnews.com|
#biomarker#fertility#health
Tumor-Modulated Neutrophils Fuel Cancer Growth via CCL3
science3 months ago

Tumor-Modulated Neutrophils Fuel Cancer Growth via CCL3

University of Geneva researchers find that neutrophils recruited to tumors are reprogrammed to produce the chemokine CCL3, which promotes tumor growth. This shift helps explain why some cancers become more aggressive and points to CCL3 activity in neutrophils as a potential prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target. The team used genetic tools to selectively suppress CCL3 in neutrophils and reanalyzed multiple studies to confirm the link.

via SciTechDaily|
#biomarker#cancer-progression#ccl3
Brainwave marker pinpoints moment consciousness fades under anesthesia
science3 months ago

Brainwave marker pinpoints moment consciousness fades under anesthesia

A study with 31 participants under propofol anesthesia identifies a distinctive brain-wave pattern and decreasing inter-regional connectivity—especially between the parietal cortex and thalamus and between parietal and occipital areas—that mark loss of consciousness, suggesting an actionable biomarker to refine dosing, though findings are limited to one anesthetic and rely on new methods to infer whole-brain signals from scalp data.

via Nature|
#anesthesia#biomarker#brain-waves
Resting Beta-Wave Signatures Could Foresee Alzheimer's Years Earlier
science4 months ago

Resting Beta-Wave Signatures Could Foresee Alzheimer's Years Earlier

A Brown University-led study using noninvasive magnetoencephalography (MEG) tracked resting brain activity in 85 individuals with mild cognitive impairment and found that those who later developed Alzheimer's showed beta-wave bursts that were shorter, weaker, and less frequent, suggesting a potential early biomarker for progression up to about 2.5 years before diagnosis.

via ScienceAlert|
#alzheimers-disease#beta-waves#biomarker