JUPITER, Fla. – A team of researchers from Florida and Arizona have uncovered a way to potentially improve the outcomes from pre-term births and prevent obesity related liver disease.
In the study which included the Herbert Wertheim University of Florida Scripps Institute for Biomedical Innovation and Technology, scientists saw improvement in both conditions with an inflammation targeting antibody.
“Our work has shown that we’ve been able to identify some key activators of inflammation and some key participants in how that inflammation and how that inflammation might go out of control and we’ve developed a therapy to mitigate or reduce the effects of that runaway inflammation,” said Dr. Joe Garcia, Associate Vice President for Research with UF Health.
Researchers say the monoclonal antibody reduced the negative impact of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in mouse models.
Additionally, in pregnant mice with an infection, the monoclonal antibody reduced the risk of disability and death of their offspring from premature birth by 80%.
Researchers from the University of Arizona Health Sciences in Tucson collaborated in the study.
LINK BETWEEN ANTACIDS & DEMENTIA
And a separate study suggests long-term use of certain acid reflux medications is associated with a higher risk of dementia.
The population-based study found people 45 years old and up who took proton pump inhibitors for more than four years had a 33 percent higher risk of developing dementia than people who never took the drugs.
While the study does not prove acid reflux drugs cause dementia, the author says it shows that there is an association.
Patients who are concerned should talk to their doctors about their medications.