People with obesity face a significantly increased risk of atherosclerosis, and consequently heart attack and stroke. This elevated risk is largely driven by chronic inflammation in the blood vessels, which is more common in severe obesity. A new study led by Florian Kiefer at the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, MedUni Vienna, has now identified brown adipose tissue (brown fat) as a potential protective factor for vascular health. The findings, published in Atherosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, show for the first time in humans that individuals with obesity and active brown fat exhibit significantly lower arterial inflammation.

Blood tests measuring the aging of certain white blood cells can predict cognitive and mood-related symptoms of depression, rather than physical symptoms. 

The findings, published in The Journals of Gerontology, Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, bring researchers closer to identifying a biomarker for detecting the mood disorder, which affects nearly one in five US adults. 

For decades, scientists have wondered what triggered the sudden "explosion" of complex animal life on Earth. This new hypothesis suggests that the answer isn't found in shells or legs, but in the evolution of the brain as a response to an increasingly crowded and tiered ocean. By developing the genetic "blueprints" to organize a complex nervous system first, a few lucky lineages were able to recycle those same instructions to build the most diverse and sophisticated bodies in nature.