Researchers at the University of Hong Kong have analysed data from more than 37,000 patients with type 2 diabetes followed for several years. Although some clinical trials have shown that weight loss can be quite effective in controlling the disease, the study data indicate that in the long term and 'in the real world' this is only achieved in 6% of patients. The results are published in the journal Plos Medicine.

A study published in the journal Science has analyzed the set of proteins present in the blood of 113 people with covid-19 and 39 healthy people. According to their results, patients with persistent covid had a higher amount of proteins related to complement activation, a system involved in the inflammatory and immune response. In addition, there was an increase in antibodies against cytomegalovirus and Epstein-Barr virus. According to the authors, "available therapies targeting the terminal complement pathway could offer new treatment strategies for persistent covid."

Fifteen years ago, the European Space Agency's (ESA) Mars Express probe revealed the presence of large deep deposits on Mars, in an area called the Medusae Fossae Formation (MFF), located at its equator. Now, new data from the probe's MARSIS radar indicate that the deposits are deeper than previously thought - up to 3.7 kilometers thick - and include both ice-rich and dusty layers. The results are published in Geophysical Research Letters.

Indicators of human longevity are on an upward trend in five groups of countries around the world, and the gap between women and men is narrowing, according to a study published in PLoS ONE. The gender gap in life expectancy resulting from the harmful effect of men's blue-collar jobs will shrink, but will persist in the future because men have a higher risk of certain diseases, the authors write. The research team, which includes scientists from the universities of Alcalá́, Barcelona, Oxford and London (UK), uses data and projections for 194 countries from 1990 to 2030.

In pregnant women, neither regular use of electronic cigarettes nor nicotine replacement therapy is associated with unfavorable effects, according to a trial involving 1,140 pregnant smokers in England and Scotland. The authors analyzed the association between nicotine consumption by the two routes - vaping and nicotine patches - with parameters including infant birth weight, miscarriages, premature births and respiratory symptoms in the mother. The research is published in the scientific journal Addiction.

A team of Chinese researchers report today in the journal Nature Communications the successful cloning of a rhesus monkey, with a healthy placenta, which survived for more than two years. According to the authors, this could improve the efficiency of the monkey cloning process, which so far is very low. Previously, different teams have cloned more mammalian species, including 'Dolly the sheep' and another species of macaque (Macaca fascicularis).

The influenza epidemic could have reached its peak of activity in Primary Care in the last week of 2023, while hospitalization due to influenza continues to rise, according to the latest weekly SiVIRA report published by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III. Thus, during the first week of 2024 there has been a decrease in the primary care rate for influenza: 387 cases per 100,000 inhabitants compared to 430 cases the previous week. This is the first decrease in incidence in four weeks.

A study published in the journal BMJ Oncology shows a preliminary stage test for the detection of 18 solid tumors of different organs based on the blood plasma proteome.

A team led by the Princess Máxima Pediatric Oncology Center and the Hubrecht Institute (The Netherlands) has generated small 3D brain models--known as organoids--from human fetal brain tissue. Until now, these brain organoids-which attempt to resemble real organs on a miniature scale-were grown in the laboratory using pluripotent or embryonic stem cells. The new technique, published in the journal Cell, allows regions of brain tissue to self-organize into three-dimensional brain structures. The authors used these organoids and the CRISPR-Cas9 tool to simulate the development of one type of brain tumor, glioblastoma, and see how it responded to different drugs.

A spill of plastic pellets from containers from the merchant ship Toconao has reached several areas of the Galician coastline. For its part, the Government of Asturias has upgraded the Accidental Marine Pollution Plan to phase 2 due to the detection of microplastics on the coast.