Dropping weight prior to competition is a common practice among athletes. But starving oneself prior to an intense athletic event is likely a wrongheaded, self-defeating practice, a new study warns. Triathletes who ate less prior to competition lost more muscle mass and performed poorly, compared to their function after they followed a sensible diet, researchers…  read on >  read on >

Food tends to taste bland in space, astronauts have reported, making it tough for them to eat enough to stay healthy. Focusing on foods’ smell might help overcome this problem, a new study says. Aroma plays a big role in the flavor of food, and researchers found that certain scents might be more powerful in…  read on >  read on >

Hormone therapy for breast cancer might reduce a woman’s later risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, a new study finds. Overall, hormone therapy is associated with a 7% lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s or a related dementia later in life, according to findings published July 16 in the journal JAMA Network Open. However, this link…  read on >  read on >

Early exposure to antibiotics might increase a kid’s risk of asthma by altering their gut bacteria, a new mouse study finds. Antibiotics could specifically lower gut production of indole propionic acid (IPA), a biochemical that’s crucial to long-term protection against asthma, researchers reported July 15 in the journal Immunity. “We have discovered that a consequence…  read on >  read on >

An experimental blood test might be able to predict whether glaucoma patients will continue to lose their vision following treatment, researchers report. A biochemical called nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) tends to be lower in people with glaucoma compared to those without the eye disease, researchers found. What’s more, glaucoma patients with lower NAD levels than…  read on >  read on >

Over-the-counter nasal sprays could be a potent weapon against a major public health threat — antibiotic resistance, researchers report. Their analysis, which looked at data from nearly 14,000 adults, found that common nasal sprays could help keep upper respiratory tract infections at bay, reducing the need for antibiotics. Antibiotic resistance caused by overuse and misuse…  read on >  read on >