The keto diet may help individuals with anorexia nervosa, new research from UC San Diego School of Medicine suggests.

The small study, published in the journal Nature, enrolled 22 women between 18 and 45 years old who had a history of anorexia nervosa and a BMI (body mass index) above 17.5.

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a severe psychiatric disorder involving food restriction and low body weight, the researchers describe. This is often followed by body dissatisfaction, an intense fear of eating, and a preoccupation with body shape and size even after weight restoration.

KETO DIET HAS SURPRISING IMPACT ON MENTAL HEALTH, RESEARCHERS DISCOVER

The participants followed a ketogenic therapy plan for 14 weeks, aiming for a diet consisting of 70% fat, 20% protein and 10% carbohydrates, according to a press release.

The goal was to maintain weight while inducing nutritional ketosis — a metabolic state in which the body produces and uses ketones for energy because carbohydrate intake is low enough to shift metabolism toward fat burning.

The researchers monitored the participants via ketone testing, weekly weight checks, symptom questionnaires, and nutritional and psychiatric support.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE HEALTH STORIES

Among the remaining 18 participants, eating disorder symptoms reportedly improved in several areas, including restraint, depression scores, and concern with eating, shape and weight.

Overall scores on the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q) also improved, with 72% of participants scoring in the recovered or normal range.

The participants’ body weight did not change significantly, and no BMI fell below 17.5, according to the results.

Those who continued to follow ketogenic therapy three months after the intervention had slightly better EDE-Q scores.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

The study authors concluded that ketogenic dietary therapy is “well-tolerated” and demonstrated “potential efficacy” in reducing anorexia nervosa symptoms in adults who are mildly underweight or weight-restored.

Although the study was “sufficiently powered,” the authors noted that the small sample size of predominantly White females limits the scope of the findings.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER

“Future research should replicate these findings in more diverse populations and incorporate objective assessments of brain function, such as metabolic PET imaging, to assess brain glucose metabolism,” they wrote.

Lead study author Guido Frank, MD, professor of psychiatry at the UC San Diego School of Medicine, who has studied and treated anorexia patients for more than 25 years, launched this study to broaden treatment options for this high-risk population.

Frank wrote in a statement that new approaches to anorexia nervosa are “urgently” needed.

TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ

“Our work with ketogenic therapy looks beyond standard therapies and potentially at the underlying physiology of the disorder,” he went on.

“Growing evidence links anorexia nervosa to neurometabolic dysfunction, and we are hopeful that direct metabolic intervention can regulate neural function and address the psychological symptoms patients experience.”

A new injectable therapy is showing positive results in reducing melanoma throughout a five-year period.

The personalized mRNA cancer therapy, called intismeran autogene, combined with the cancer immunotherapy drug KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab), is a collaboration between Merck and Moderna.

The results from the phase 2b KEYNOTE-942 study were presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting in Chicago on May 27.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE HEALTH STORIES

After about a five-year follow-up, the combo drug was found to reduce the risk of melanoma recurrence or death by 49% compared to pembrolizumab alone.

The researchers analyzed data from 157 patients with high-risk stage 3 and 4 melanoma whose cancer had been removed via surgery. The participants were split into two groups — one received the combo therapy and the other only received pembrolizumab, according to a press release.

The findings revealed that the combination group saw benefits that were “sustained and durable over time.”

Intismeran autogene is designed using mutations identified in a patient’s own tumor, with the intention of teaching the immune system what the cancer looks like so that it can recognize and attack it.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER

According to the researchers, intismeran is “well-tolerated” with a “manageable” safety profile. 

The most commonly cited side effects of the personalized mRNA vaccine plus KEYTRUDA were fatigue, injection-site pain, chills, fever and headache. The researchers reported no new long-term safety concerns and no severe vaccine-related adverse events.

The combination therapy is currently being evaluated in a phase 3 study — the final confirmation stage.

In a Merck press release from January, Kyle Holen, MD, Moderna’s senior vice president and head of development, oncology and therapeutics, noted that this data highlights the “potential of a prolonged benefit … in patients with resected high-risk melanoma.”

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“We continue to invest in our platform in oncology because of encouraging outcomes like these, which illustrate mRNA’s potential in cancer care,” he said.  

Dr. Marjorie Green, senior vice president and head of oncology, global clinical development at Merck Research Laboratories, also commented that for many patients with stage 3 or 4 melanoma, there is a “significant risk of recurrence following surgery.”

“As such, demonstrating the longer-term potential of intismeran autogene and KEYTRUDA to reduce the risk of recurrence for certain patients with melanoma is a meaningful milestone,” she said.

TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ

The company cited encouraging five-year follow-up data and pointed to upcoming late-stage INTerpath trial results with Moderna in several hard-to-treat cancers.

An accidental lab discovery has opened the door to entirely new ways of preventing the flu.

While investigating how influenza replicates, researchers discovered that different flu strains use completely different strategies to infiltrate human cells, SWNS reported.

By targeting the specific molecules the viruses rely on, scientists found that they could block them from entering new cells and halt their replication altogether.

5 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE GETTING YOUR FLU SHOT, ACCORDING TO DOCTORS

Researchers say these “fundamental insights” into seasonal influenza highlight a clear path toward developing better preventive medications.

“The hope is that fundamental, curiosity-based research like this helps to pave the way for novel strategies to treat and prevent influenza infections,” principal investigator Dr. Emily Bruce, from the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine, said in the SWNS report.

While several flu strains cause illness, H1N1 and H3N2 influenza A viruses are the most common. However, current flu tests cannot differentiate between them, and clinical treatments are identical for both.

Although vaccines and antivirals are available, Bruce noted a “dire” need for better medications to stop the virus from spreading cell to xxcell.

“You don’t get sick when a virus is in one cell,” he noted. “You get sick because a virus replicates itself and goes into many more cells.”

HOW LONG YOU’RE CONTAGIOUS WITH THE FLU — AND WHEN IT’S SAFE TO GO OUT

The study, which was published in The Journal of Virology, originally aimed to map how viral RNA segments are transported within cells to create new viral particles.

The team used H1N1 and H3N2 viruses isolated from the nasal passages of positive patients in 2022.

During the investigation, the team unexpectedly stumbled upon a cellular pathway that blocked the virus from entering lung cells, SWNS reported.

RESEARCHERS LOCKED FLU PATIENTS IN A HOTEL WITH HEALTHY ADULTS — NO ONE GOT SICK

The data revealed that when a specific human protein called Rab11B was depleted, H3N2 viruses failed to enter human lung cells. H1N1 viruses were completely unaffected.

Using reverse genetics, the team mapped this defect and uncovered a brand-new, H3N2-specific role for Rab11B during viral entry.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE HEALTH STORIES

This discovery challenged the scientific assumption that all flu viruses enter cells the same way.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER

“Viruses are like pirates from different countries hijacking someone’s ship,” Bruce said. “Different viruses, like different types of pirates, use different methods to get onboard.”

“We had previously thought that all flu viruses used the same way to get into a cell, but we discovered that this is not true,” she went on. “H1N1 and H3N2 need different proteins to get in, and if you get rid of the right protein, a specific virus can’t get in.”

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

While these findings identify a critical cellular pathway for viral entry, the study was conducted using isolated cells, the researchers acknowledged.

TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ

Further research is needed to determine whether blocking the protein is safe and effective within a live, complex human respiratory system.

Bruce and the team hope to conduct further research to determine whether this Rab11B-dependency is a fundamental property of H3N2, or if it’s a trait unique to currently circulating flu strains.