Blood sugar work gets $1.9M grant
A University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences research team has received a $1.9 million grant for a project examining the link between blood sugar and Alzheimer's disease.
Led by Steven Barger, a professor in the College of Medicine's Department of Geriatrics, the project will look at the work of glucose transporter cells in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease, according to a Thursday announcement.
The five-year project was funded by the National Institute on Aging, a division of the National Institutes of Health.
Barger gained attention in the medical field in 2019 for earlier work connecting blood sugar and Alzheimer's disease, UAMS officials previously said. His findings were featured at a conference and written up in national publications.
About 2% of Arkansas' population is estimated to have Alzheimer's disease.
The degenerative illness is the state's sixth-leading cause of death, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Distributors recall enoki mushrooms
Three distributors of enoki mushrooms have recalled the produce because it may be contaminated with listeria monocytogenes, the federal Food and Drug Administration announced last week.
Rainfield Marketing Group, Concord Farms and Marquis Worldwide Specialty voluntarily recalled their enoki mushroom products that originate from Korea and which were distributed nationwide.
Listerosis, the disease caused by the listeria pathogen, can be dangerous to people with weakened immune systems, and can cause miscarriages or stillbirths in pregnant women.
Its symptoms include high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea.
No illnesses have been reported from consuming the recalled products. More detailed information about the recalls is online at fda.gov.