A study published online today in Nature by Albert Einstein College of Medicine scientists suggests that it may not be possible to extend the human life span beyond the ages already attained by the oldest people on record. Since the 19th century, average life expectancy has risen almost continuously thanks to improvements in public health, diet, the environment and other areas.

Antibiotics save millions of lives. But their tendency to kill helpful and harmful bacteria alike, coupled with the growing problem of antibiotic resistance, means that they are not without their downside. Probiotics consisting of beneficial microorganisms, meanwhile, have the potential to deliver the benefits of antibiotics minus the pitfalls. Yet up until now, evidence of their efficacy has been largely anecdotal, their mechanisms of action poorly understood.

Can having a few drinks help people with clinical depression feel better? Yes. At least in terms of biochemistry. In a study published in the current issue of the journal Nature Communications, researchers found that alcohol produces the same neural and molecular changes as drugs that have proven to be rapidly effective antidepressants.

A component of red wine and grapes can help control inflammation induced by a bacterial pathogen that is linked to upper respiratory tract inflammatory diseases such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) and middle ear infection (otitis media), according to a study by researchers at Georgia State University. The findings, published in the online journal Scientific Reports, identify a novel mechanism that resveratrol, a compound found naturally in some plant foods such as grapes, uses to alleviate inflammation in airway disease.

Your gut may play a pivotal role in preventing the onset of Parkinson’s disease. And the reason may be its knack for sleuthing. Researchers at the University of Iowa have found that the gut may be key to preventing Parkinson's disease. Cells located in the intestine spark an immune response that protects nerve cells, or neurons, against damage connected with Parkinson's disease.

Seventy-five percent of patients with moderate to severe alopecia areata - an autoimmune disease that causes patchy and, less frequently, total hair loss - had significant hair regrowth after treatment with ruxolitinib, reported researchers from Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC). By the end of treatment, average hair regrowth among the patients was 92 percent. Findings from an open-label clinical trial of 12 patients with alopecia areata were published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation/Insight,

Everyone knows that tobacco products are bad for your health, and even the new e-cigarettes may have harmful toxins. However, according to research at Texas A&M, it turns out the nicotine itself - when given independently from tobacco - could help protect the brain as it ages, and even ward off Parkinson's or Alzheimer's disease. Ursula Winzer-Serhan, PhD, an associate professor at the Texas A&M College of Medicine, and her collaborators found that nicotine's ability to be neuroprotective may be partly due to its well-known ability to suppress the appetite.