Erythropoietin or EPO might be considered a “performance enhancing” substance for athletes, but new research published online in /iThe FASEB Journal shows that these enhancements come at a high cost - increased risk of vascular problems in the brain. According to the study, short- or long-term use of EPO raises blood pressure by constricting arteries, which reduces the flow of blood to the brain…

A history of cancer was a significant risk factor for developing blood clotting issues following knee arthroscopy, according to a study presented at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine’s Annual Meeting in San Diego. Researchers from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota analyzed the records of more than 12,000 patients who had undergone the common knee procedure…

A pilot trial showed that a six-month exercise training program designed to increase leg strength, leg flexibility and overall fitness may improve post-thrombotic syndrome, a frequent, chronic complication of deep vein thrombosis, states a research article in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal)…

Researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC), in collaboration with international partners in Spain and Switzerland and colleagues in California, have found that exposure to air pollution accelerates the thickening of artery walls that leads to cardiovascular disease…

When most people think of insulin, they think of diabetes - a disease that arises when, for one reason or another, insulin can’t do the critical job of helping the body process sugar. But the hormone has another, less well-known function. It’s also necessary for muscle growth, increasing blood flow through muscle tissue, encouraging nutrients to disperse from blood vessels and itself serving as a biochemical signal to boost muscle protein synthesis and cell proliferation.