A single minute of exercise each day is linked to better bone health in women, new research shows. Scientists from the University of Exeter and the University of Leicester found those who did "brief bursts" of high-intensity, weight-bearing activity equivalent to a medium-paced run for pre-menopausal women, or a slow jog for post-menopausal women, had better bone health.

Peptides are biological molecules, made up of short sequences of amino acids. Because they are easy to synthesize, show low toxicity and high efficiency, peptides such as insulin and other hormones can be used as drugs. But peptides are quickly cleared by the kidneys, which means that we can only use peptide drugs that act within minutes. This problem can be overcome by connecting peptides to ligands that bind blood-serum proteins such as albumin, allowing the peptide to linger in the bloodstream longer.

In a study that could explain why some breast cancers are more aggressive than others, researchers say they now understand how cancer cells force normal cells to act like viruses - allowing tumors to grow, resist treatment, and spread. The virus mimic is detected in the blood of cancer patients, particularly in cases of an aggressive type known as triple-negative breast cancer. Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania say cracking the code of how this process works opens up the possibility of targeting this mechanism for treatment.

It's a metabolite found in essentially all our cells that, like so many things, cancer overexpresses. Now scientists have shown that when they inhibit 20-HETE, it reduces both the size of a breast cancer tumor and its ability to spread to the lungs. "The drug is reducing the ability of cancer cells to create a distant microenvironment where they can thrive," said Dr. Ali S. Arbab, leader of the Tumor Angiogenesis Initiative at the Georgia Cancer Center and a professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University.

The majority of promising new drug candidates are effective only within the body's cells, but quick general methods of determining intracellular drug quantities are lacking. A team of researchers, headed by the Drug Delivery Group at Uppsala University, may now be on the track of a solution through a new, small-scale and fast method of determining a drug's bioavailability (the fraction available to work in biological processes) inside cultured cells.

Kefir may be a beneficial post-exercise beverage for cancer survivors. It means that cancer survivors can enjoy the nutritional support that milk provides without the potential for significant stomach upset, report researchers in the Journal of Dairy Science®. Regular exercise plays an important role in improving cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular strength, and feelings of fatigue in cancer survivors during and after treatment.

At least 28 million prescriptions for blood thinners are filled by pharmacists yearly for the irregular heartbeat of atrial fibrillation, deep vein thrombosis, and other indications, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. However, on rare occasions, anticoagulants can present risks of accidental bleeding and hemorrhage or can delay emergency surgery. A newly completed phase III clinical study demonstrates the safety and efficacy of idarucizumab, a novel therapy that acts as an antidote to the blood thinner dabigatran.