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Green tea may reduce the risk of obesity and a number of inflammatory biomarkers linked with poor health, a study conducted in mice suggests. Mice fed a diet of two per cent green tea extract fared far better than those that ate a diet without it, according to the study published in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry. The finding has prompted an upcoming study of green tea's potential benefits in people at high risk of diabetes and heart disease. The benefits seen in the study appear to stem from improved gut health, including more beneficial microbes in the intestines of the mice and less permeability in the intestinal wall -- a condition typically called "leaky gut" in people. "This study provides evidence that green tea encourages the growth of good gut bacteria, and that leads to a series of benefits that significantly lower the risk of obesity," said Richard Bruno, the study's lead author and a professor at The Ohio State Univers...

Business Standard : Researchers have identified two biomarkers that could help in the diagnosis of a irregular heart beat condition that raises the risk of stroke. Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common heart rhythm disturbance, affecting over 30 million people worldwide. But it is often detected only after someone has had a stroke. The study, by researchers at the University of Birmingham in the UK, found three clinical risk factors and two biomarkers had a strong connection with AF, the BBC reported on Monday. Those most at risk of the condition were older, male and had a high BMI. One is a hormone secreted by the heart called brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and the other is a protein responsible for phosphate regulation called fibroblast growth factor-23 (FGF-23). "The biomarkers we have identified have the potential to be used in a blood test in community settings such as in general practices to simplify patient selection for ECG screening," lead aut...