People have been devising their own homemade cures for hangovers as long as they’ve been drinking too much alcohol. Now researchers at UCLA may have developed a scientific solutions–a pill that can clear alcohol from the body even faster than the liver can on its own.

The research team has processed two enzymes into a pill form, which can be taken before drinking alcohol or when you’re trying to flush alcohol from your body once you’ve imbibed too much. The pill chemically alters the digestive system, first with alcohol oxidase–which promotes alcohol oxidation, but with a toxic byproduct–and with a catalese, which converts the toxic chemical into water and oxygen.

In mice, the pill worked as an antidote to alcohol, as the blood alcohol levels were significantly lower after taking the pill than in the mice that did not get the pill. The enzyme combination also worked as a means to block alcohol absorption, where mice who received the pill had lower blood alcohol levels when the pill was taken before alcohol consumption.
After alcohol was consumed, blood alcohol levels were 15 percent lower after 45 minutes than those without the pill, 26 percent lower after 90 minutes and 35 percent lower after three hours.

Sourced from: Science Daily, Cure for Common Hangover? ‘Pill’ Mimics Action of Human Liver in Fighting Alcohol Intoxication

A diet high in antioxidants can help prevent stroke and dementia, right?  That’s what previous research has suggested.  But now a study done at Harvard Medical School concludes that this may not be the case. They found that after studying 5,300 people over a 14-year period, people following a high antioxidant diet were no less likely to suffer a stroke or develop dementia than those who didn’t.

Other research had found a link between vitamin E intake and lower risk of dementia and between vitamin C and lowered risk of stroke. Both vitamins are antioxidants. But instead of assuming that it was the antioxidants that lowered risk of these conditions, the Harvard team dug deeper and found that the source of food for these vitamins could be what makes the difference.

In this study, those who had high antioxidant diets and low antioxidant diets were often differentiated by the amount of coffee or tea the person drank. Tea and coffee  contain antioxidants, but not vitamins E or C. So getting your antioxidants from tea or coffee, the study suggests, may not be that helpful. Other research has shown, however, that people who get the majority of their antioxidants from fruit, vegetables and nuts, have seen their risks of stroke and dementia lowered.

Sourced from: Live Science, Antioxidants May Not Help Prevent Stroke, Dementia

Gastrointestinal reflux disease (GERD), especially in its chronic form, is much more than just a short bout of heartburn after eating spicy foods. The condition is characterized by a faulty valve that separates the stomach and the throat, resulting in stomach acids creeping back up the esophagus and potentially damaging it. As many as one-third of Americans suffer from the condition, but most respond well to acid-suppressing medications.

But for the most extreme cases, scientists at the Mayo Clinic in Florida have developed a mechanism that can stop GERD, without the need for .taking drugs. They’ve invented a “bracelet” of magnetic beads that encircles the esophageal opening and helps the valve stay closed when the patient is not eating or drinking.

The device was found to be effective for 92 percent of the patients in whom it was implanted. The scientists say the treatment, which involves a minimally invasive procedure lasting one to two hours, is the first new, safe and effective treatment developed for GERD in the past 20 years.

Sourced from: Science Daily, Bracelet-Like Device Controls Chronic Acid Reflux