Nearly 100,000 people in the U.S. are on the waiting list for kidney transplant, according to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network. Finding a donor kidney that is compatible and matches the right blood and tissue types can be the biggest challenge, especially when the donor pool isn’t as large as the number of people who need a transplant. Dr. Naim Issa, a Mayo Clinic transplant nephrologist, says there are some common myths regarding living kidney donations that may be holding some people back. “We would like people to consider Read More
Do you push away the breadbasket or opt out of any meal that includes macaroni? If so, chances are you are one of the millions of people watching your carbs, or carbohydrates. Dr. Christine Nguyen, a Mayo Clinic family physician, says not all carbs are bad, and there are plenty of foods with good carbs. Fiber-rich foods like whole grains, fruits and vegetables are essential for health, aiding digestion, lowering cholesterol levels and reducing disease risk. When it comes to food choices, there can be plenty to pick from. Dr. Read More
A BCI setup, where the user is interacting with a computer with their intention recorded and decoded from EEG. Credit: Forenzo et al Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) have the potential to make life easier for people with motor or speech disorders, allowing them to manipulate prosthetic limbs and employ computers, among other uses. In addition, healthy and impaired people alike could enjoy BCI-based gaming. Non-invasive BCIs that work by analyzing brain waves recorded through electroencephalography are currently limited by inconsistent performance. Bin He and colleagues used deep-learning decoders to improve a Read More
EchoCLIP workflow. Credit: Nature Medicine (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41591-024-02959-y Artificial intelligence experts at Cedars-Sinai and the Smidt Heart Institute created a dataset with more than 1 million echocardiograms, or cardiac ultrasound videos, and their corresponding clinical interpretations. Using this database, they created EchoCLIP, a powerful machine learning algorithm that can “interpret” echocardiogram images and assess key findings. The design and evaluation of EchoCLIP, described in a manuscript published in Nature Medicine, suggest that an EchoCLIP interpretation of a patient’s echocardiogram provides clinician-level evaluations of heart function, assessment of past surgeries and Read More
The border crossing separating San Diego, California, from Tijuana, Mexico, is a dynamic place. When it was closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, drug tourism from San Diego to Tijuana continued. This provided a flow of people in both directions, bringing with them not only the virus that causes COVID-19 (SARS-CoV2) but also the virus that causes AIDS (HIV). A collaborative study led by researchers from University of California San Diego and Irvine, published in The Lancet Regional Health—Americas, found that rather than preventing the spread of disease, closing the border Read More
Local people gather to hear the research team brief them on the purpose of their visit to a village: to uncover why some homes in rural Madagascar where bubonic plague is endemic are infested with fleas and recommend ways to reduce the flea populations and their impact on human health. The women in the foreground are sitting on a traditional plant-fiber mat. Credit: Adelaide Miarinjara/Emory University Madagascar is one of the last places where outbreaks of human bubonic plague still happen regularly. Fleas carrying the plague bacterium Yersinia pestis can Read More
Diagram of the pancreas. Credit: Houston Methodist A new study has found that pancreatic cancer cells are different based on their location in the pancreas, providing new information about tumors that could lead to better targeted treatments. Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is an aggressive cancer, and the diagnosis has dramatically increased over the last decade. It is currently the seventh leading cause of cancer deaths in men and women globally and projected to be the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide by 2030. This increase is due to several Read More
A large team of medical researchers at the U.S. National Institutes of Health, has found very slight gender differences in temperature perception of a room at ambient conditions and very few gender differences in physiological response to a perceived chill. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group describes experiments they conducted with both male and female volunteers in a climate-controlled room. Prior studies and anecdotal evidence have suggested that women, on average, feel colder when living or working in a room at typical Read More
Anatomical and reverse total shoulder replacements. Anatomical total shoulder replacement—prosthetic ball and socket replacement that matches normal ball and socket anatomy of shoulder joint. Reverse total shoulder replacement—prosthetic ball and socket replacement that reverses normal ball and socket anatomy of shoulder joint. Credit: BMJ (2024) DOI: 10.1136/bmj-2023-077939 A new study has provided valuable insights into the ongoing debate surrounding two types of shoulder replacement surgery: reverse total shoulder replacement and anatomical total shoulder replacement as a treatment for patients with osteoarthritis. The research, led by the University of Oxford and Read More
Graphical abstract. Credit: Cancer Cell (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.ccell.2024.04.004 A novel combination of two cancer drugs has shown great potential as a future treatment for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), one of the most common types of blood cancers. A new study by WEHI researchers has revealed the combination of two existing drugs eradicated AML cancer cells in lab-based tests. The discovery, published in Cancer Cell, could soon lead to clinical trials, providing hope for the 1,100 Australians diagnosed with AML annually. Stimulating the ‘cell death enforcer’ The WEHI research Read More
Professor Alan Godfrey and Jason Moore with video glasses to support fall risk assessment in Parkinson’s patients. Credit: Northumbria University Video-enabled glasses have the potential to support patients at risk of falls by allowing medical staff to monitor how they move around their homes and their community. However, with privacy concerns at the forefront of this new technology, academics at Northumbria University have carried out a cutting-edge study into the ethical use of AI to ensure video footage can be obscured to ensure patient privacy. Traditionally, patients at risk of Read More
If you needed long-term care, could you afford it? For many Americans, especially those with a middle-class income and little savings, the answer to that question is absolutely not. Nursing homes charge somewhere around US$100,000 a year, while frequent visits from a paid caregiver may set you back more than $5,000 a month. With long-term care so expensive for growing numbers of older Americans, and the federal government doing little to make it accessible, some states are taking matters into their own hands to find better ways to cover costs. Read More
by Todd A. Mahr, MD, Executive Medical Director, American College Of Allergy, Asthma And Immunology Having a child with food allergies isn’t easy to manage, and now new research shows that most of these parents turn to social media for medical advice. When they do, some of the advice is good and some is not, researchers report. In the study, published recently in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, 93% of surveyed parents of children with food allergies reported using online search engines. In general, online searches were conducted Read More
Organic walnuts from a California grower that were distributed to health food and co-op stores in 19 states have been linked to serious cases of E. coli illness, federal officials reported Tuesday. So far, 12 people have been sickened; seven were so ill they required hospitalization, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Six cases each have been identified in California and Washington state. There have been no deaths reported. The walnuts were produced and distributed by Gibson Farms of Hollister, Calif., and were typically sold in bulk bins Read More
Feeling angry constricts blood vessels in unhealthy ways and could raise a person’s long-term odds for heart disease, new research warns. “If you’re a person who gets angry all the time, you’re having chronic injuries to your blood vessels,” said study leader Dr. Daichi Shimbo, a cardiologist at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City. His team conducted experiments where the activity of blood vessels was monitored while people were in angry states versus states of anxiety, sadness or neutral emotions. They found that an angry state of Read More
A toxin found in paint strippers that’s responsible for 85 U.S. deaths over the past five decades will be phased out for many uses, under an Environmental Protection Agency rule finalized Tuesday. The cancer-causing solvent methylene chloride will still have some allowed uses, but with strict guidelines aimed at keeping workers safe. “Exposure to methylene chloride has devastated families across this country for too long, including some who saw loved ones go to work and never come home,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in an agency news release. “EPA’s final Read More
Glioblastoma (histology slide). Credit: Wikipedia/CC BY-SA 3.0 In a first-ever human clinical trial of four adult patients, an mRNA cancer vaccine developed at the University of Florida quickly reprogrammed the immune system to attack glioblastoma, the most aggressive and lethal brain tumor. The results mirror those in 10 pet dog patients suffering from naturally occurring brain tumors whose owners approved of their participation, as they had no other treatment options, as well as results from preclinical mouse models. The breakthrough now will be tested in a Phase I pediatric clinical Read More
The health benefits of exercise are well known but new research shows that the body’s response to exercise is more complex and far-reaching than previously thought. In a study on rats, a team of scientists from across the United States has found that physical activity causes many cellular and molecular changes in all 19 of the organs they studied in the animals. Exercise lowers the risk of many diseases, but scientists still don’t fully understand how exercise changes the body on a molecular level. Most studies have focused on a Read More
The ‘gut-germline axis’ is a connection between the gut, its microbiota and the germline. Credit: Joana Carvalho/Isabel Romero Calvo/EMBL A study from the Hackett group at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Rome shows that disrupting the gut microbiome of male mice increases the risk of disease in their future offspring. The gut microbiota is the microbial community that occupies the gastrointestinal tract. It is responsible for producing enzymes, metabolites, and other molecules crucial for host metabolism and in response to the environment. Consequently, a balanced gut microbiota is Read More
Researchers from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) have identified a causal genetic variant strongly associated with childhood obesity. The study provides new insight into the importance of the hypothalamus of the brain and its role in common childhood obesity, and the target gene may serve as a druggable target for future therapeutic interventions. The findings are published in the journal Cell Genomics. Both environmental and genetic factors play critical roles in the increasing incidence of childhood obesity. While the exact role of genetics in childhood obesity is still not fully Read More
A University of Queensland researcher has found molecular doorways that could be used to help deliver drugs into the brain to treat neurological disorders. Dr. Rosemary Cater from UQ’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience led a team that discovered that an essential nutrient called choline is transported into the brain by a protein called FLVCR2. The research is published in Nature. “Choline is a vitamin-like nutrient that is essential for many important functions in the body, particularly for brain development,” Dr. Cater said. “We need to consume 400–500 mg of choline Read More
Researchers from the Brigham and colleagues report on the long-term follow-up of the largest study of women’s health in the U.S., shedding light on the role of menopausal hormone therapy, calcium and vitamin D supplementation, and a low-fat dietary pattern among postmenopausal women More than 1.1 billion women worldwide are postmenopausal. A review paper by authors from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and other leading experts from across the country helps to answer some of the most pressing questions in postmenopausal women’s health and to fill key knowledge gaps to improve Read More
Labeled in red are neurons in the brainstem of a mouse that control body inflammatory responses. Labeled in blue are the brain’s other cells. Credit: Hao Jin and Charles Zuker The brain can direct the immune system to an unexpected degree, capable of detecting, ramping up and tamping down inflammation, shows a new study in mice from researchers at Columbia’s Zuckerman Institute. “The brain is the center of our thoughts, emotions, memories and feelings,” said Hao Jin, Ph.D., a co-first author of the study published online in Nature. “Thanks to Read More
Naja nigriciollis (black-necked spitting cobra). Credit: Marius Burger, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons Scientists have discovered a new snakebite treatment to prevent the devastating tissue damage caused by African spitting cobra venom. Spitting cobra venom is incredibly potent and causes dermo necrosis, which presents as rapid destruction of skin, muscle, and bone around the site of the snakebite, and can lead to permanent injuries and disfigurements, including limb loss and amputations in extreme cases. Professor Nicholas Casewell and Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine colleagues, including Dr. Steven Hall—who is now at Read More
Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve showing sensitivity and specificity for Botox injections in predicting migraine surgical success. The blue line indicates Botox injection success defined as an injection that caused MHI to be decreased by over 50%. The red line indicates Botox injection success defined as an injection that caused MHI to be decreased by over 70%. The green line indicates Botox injection success defined as an injection that caused MHI to be decreased by over 90%. Credit: Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery (2023). DOI: 10.1097/PRS.0000000000010806 Preoperative Botox injections are a Read More
Single-neuron synapse tracking across day–night cycles reveals diverse dynamics. Credit: Nature (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07367-3 During sleep, the brain weakens the new connections between neurons that had been forged while awake—but only during the first half of a night’s sleep, according to a new study in fish by UCL scientists. The researchers say their findings, published in Nature, provide insight into the role of sleep, but still leave an open question around what function the latter half of a night’s sleep serves. The researchers say the study supports the Synaptic Homeostasis Read More
Using multiple nicotine products can be associated with higher levels of nicotine dependence among youth and increased mortality in adults, compared with the use of one product alone. Yale researchers have now uncovered factors that contribute to adolescents using multiple nicotine products. These findings, they say, will help inform efforts to prevent escalation from single to multiple product use. Their findings were reported April 24 in the journal Preventative Medicine. While public health campaigns have spread awareness on the harms of smoking and, more recently, vaping, an increasingly diverse landscape Read More
Region-stratified overdose-attributed MRRs comparing pre-COVID-19 pandemic and during pandemic years. Credit: The American Journal on Addictions (2024). DOI: 10.1111/ajad.13536 For as long as statistics about opioid overdose deaths have been collected in the United States, white individuals have been much more likely to die than Black individuals of the same age. With the rapidly increasing rate of fentanyl overdoses in the late 2010s, that trend began to reverse—by the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, more Black Americans began to die of opioid overdoses and from drug overdoses of Read More
When Mass General transplant hepatologist Wei Zhang says he wants his colleagues to think before they speak, he has the tragedy of a recent patient in mind. Admitted to intensive care for advanced alcohol-associated liver disease, the 36-year-old woman hid the truth when asked about her drinking. “She was like, ‘No, I quit over a year ago, I didn’t drink at all,’” said Zhang, also director of the hospital’s Alcohol-Associated Liver Disease Clinic. “But we have tools that can detect the use of alcohol in the past three, four weeks.” Read More
Modified online Delphi process conducted through multiple rounds of idea generation, assessment, feedback, discussion, and presentation of the final MASCC-ASCO Standards and Practice Recommendations for Advanced or Metastatic Cancer. Credit: Supportive Care in Cancer (2024). DOI: 10.1007/s00520-024-08465-8 In the past, advanced or metastatic cancers were rapidly fatal, however with new treatments people with these cancers can now survive for a long time, sometimes many years. They have unique and complex care needs but because they usually can’t be cured, and do not yet need palliative care, they can often be Read More
Soccer players in England’s top-tier WSL were six times more likely to experience a muscle injury in the days leading up to their period compared to when they were on their period, according to new research from UCL, the University of Bath and St. Mary’s University. The study, published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, is the first prospective longitudinal study monitoring menstrual cycles alongside injuries in female soccer players. The findings suggest there could be increased injury risk windows at particular times in the cycle. Despite being Read More
People actively engaging with death, for instance by reading about it, and then watching a film where that subject is central, learn to deal with death better. This is shown in research, by Enny Das and Anneke de Graaf from Radboud University, published in the journal Communication Research. “It’s quite strange that we enjoy watching films about death,” explains professor of Persuasive Communication Enny Das. “Generally, people try to avoid death as much as possible, by not talking about it or thinking about it. But we willingly watch dramatic films Read More
High-resolution model of six insulin molecules assembled in a hexamer. Credit: Isaac Yonemoto/Wikipedia Bromodomain-containing protein 7 (BRD7) was initially identified as a tumor suppressor, but further research has shown it has a broader role in other cellular processes, including the remodeling of chromosomes and cell cycle progression. Now, Boston Children’s Division of Endocrinology researchers have discovered another purpose for BRD7: It seems to be involved in an alternative insulin signaling pathway, the existence of which had been speculated about for decades. Their findings, published in Journal of Endocrinology, could lead Read More
Pre-term babies consuming donor breast milk may be missing out on important hormones, such as melatonin, which are crucial for healthy infant development according to La Trobe University research. Melatonin has been shown to have a significant decrease in inflammation, oxidative stress and cell death, especially when given to pre-term infants. Furthermore, the sleep hormone has been found to improve the clinical outcomes of pre-term infants with neonatal sepsis within 24–72 hours of being administered. Donor breast milk banks are used when mothers cannot supply their own breast milk and Read More
An index of neighborhood environmental and social conditions can help to predict the risk of severe asthma among children at the hyperlocal level, according to a study led by Emily Skeen, MD, a University of Colorado School of Medicine fellow. Skeen, a pediatric pulmonologist with Children’s Hospital Colorado, will become an assistant professor in the CU Department of Pediatrics this summer. She and her colleagues set out to gauge the usefulness of an assessment tool called the Child Opportunity Index 2.0 (COI) as a predictor of the risk of exacerbation-prone Read More
Credit: Pavel Danilyuk from Pexels Keeping your blood pressure in check is a good way to lower your risk of heart disease, stroke, and kidney disease. So, you follow orders, take your prescribed medication, and proudly accept your doctor’s praise when the blood pressure cuff demonstrates continued success. Until it doesn’t. Despite a track record of good results, a recent check-up shows those numbers are creeping up again. How can that be? UR Medicine hypertension expert Dr. Christopher Montgomery says it’s not uncommon for blood pressure to rise, even after Read More
Older adults who walked for transport instead of taking a car, at least once a week, lived longer than those who didn’t, Monash University-led research has found. Published in BMJ Public Health, the observational study looked at transport-related walking, which is walking for a specific purpose, such as to a medical appointment or to shop, instead of using motorized transport. Transport walking is undertaken as a means of transport and is different from other types, such as recreational walking, which was not assessed in this study. In participants with a Read More
Musculoskeletal pain is a prevalent menopause symptom, which helps explain why women typically experience more pain than men, especially around the age of 50 years. Beyond pain, muscle function and mass are also affected by menopause. A new study suggests premature surgical menopause can lead to an increased risk of muscle disorders. Results of the survey are published online in an article titled “Association of muscle disorders in late postmenopausal women according to the type of experienced menopause” in Menopause. The Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation spotlighted a Read More
Weight-bearing activity appears tied to incident knee osteoarthritis (OA) in people who have low levels of lower-limb muscle mass, according to a study published online April 30 in JAMA Network Open. Yahong Wu, M.D., of the University Medical Center Rotterdam in the Netherlands, and colleagues conducted a prospective cohort study using data from the Rotterdam Study. They included participants who had knee X-ray measurements at baseline and follow-up examinations. They evaluated the incidence of knee OA by knee X-ray and the incidence of symptomatic knee OA defined by X-ray and Read More
For an OB-GYN, one of the worst-case scenarios runs like this: A woman comes in, overjoyed that she is finally pregnant after years of fertility treatments. Then a month later, she finds out she has cancer—news that is devastating for the patient and difficult for the doctor because options, both practically and politically, can be limited. It’s this scenario that starts the commentary penned by UW Medicine OB-GYNs Drs. Alisa Kachikis and Linda Eckert in support of research published April 17 in JAMA Network Open. Researchers from the University of Read More
Eligible out-of-bed index (events per day) across intensive care unit (ICU) types. Index is calculated as number of out-of-bed mobility events on eligible days divided by number of mobility-eligible ICU days. Credit: American Journal of Critical Care (2024). DOI: 10.4037/ajcc2024747 More out-of-bed mobility interventions for critically ill patients were associated with shorter mechanical ventilation duration and hospital stays, suggesting a dose-response relationship between daily mobility and patient outcomes, according to a study published in the American Journal of Critical Care. “Early Mobility Index and Patient Outcomes: A Retrospective Study in Read More
Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca admitted in court this week that its COVID-19 vaccine can cause a rare but deadly blood-clotting condition that has become the central focus of a class-action lawsuit worth potentially $125 million. A Northeastern University legal scholar says the admission isn’t especially damning, as the rare condition—called thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome, or TTS—was well-studied prior to the ongoing litigation. “The fact that this had already been listed as a potential side effect reduces its legal impact,” says Richard Daynard, university distinguished professor of law and president of the Read More
Marketing researchers at the University of Arkansas examined the usefulness of “stop sign” disclosures on ultra-processed food packaging and found that such warnings can counterbalance positive—and possibly misleading or inaccurate—claims by marketers. The researchers’ study was published in the Journal of Business Research. The research showed that front-of-packaging marketing claims about the processing of such food products—”natural,” for example—can mislead consumers about ultra-processed food. Ultra-processed information disclosures, on the other hand, can reduce inappropriate or exaggerated health claims and influence consumer evaluations of the dietary impact of ultra-processed foods. “This Read More
New research by Edith Cowan University (ECU) and Fiona Stanley Hospital aims to decrease noise levels in intensive care units (ICUs) by implementing improvements in acoustic design. Up to 50% of patients in ICUs experience sleep disturbance due to noise which can hinder recovery and negatively impact their health. The study, by ECU Adjunct Senior Research Fellow Dr. Emil Jonescu and Director of ICU Research at Fiona Stanley Hospital Professor Ed Litton, was conducted at a 40-bed ICU in Fiona Stanley Hospital, Perth, and involved clinicians, medical practitioners, academics, and Read More
Graphical abstract. Credit: Patterns (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.patter.2024.100973 Scientists have designed a new artificial intelligence model that emulates randomized clinical trials to determine the treatment options most effective at preventing stroke in people with heart disease. The model was front-loaded with de-identified data on millions of patients gleaned from health care claims information submitted by employers, health plans, and hospitals—a foundation model strategy similar to that of generative AI tools like ChatGPT. By pre-training the model on a huge cache of general data, researchers could then fine-tune the model with information Read More
Children’s sporting events are a fun time to cheer on the kids and socialize, but they can quickly go south if parents act excessively competitive. A Baylor College of Medicine child and adolescent psychiatrist details the impact of poor sports behavior on kids. “Some of those behaviors would be setting unrealistic expectations for the young athlete, such as perfection in a game and displaying disappointment or embarrassment if their kid isn’t meeting those expectations,” said Dr. Lauren Havel, assistant professor in the Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Read More
Credit: Unsplash/Jonathan Pielmayer, CC BY-SA Most Australian adults would know they’re meant to eat two or more servings of fruit and five or more servings of vegetables every day. Whether or not they get there is another question. A recent national survey reported 45% of Australian women and 56% of Australian men didn’t eat enough fruit. And 90% of women and 96% of men didn’t eat enough vegetables. This figure is worse than for the preceding 10 years. Men had on average 1.6 servings of fruit and 2.3 servings of Read More
If you spend a lot of time exploring fitness content online, you might have come across the concept of heart rate zones. Heart rate zone training has become more popular in recent years partly because of the boom in wearable technology which, among other functions, allows people to easily track their heart rates. Heart rate zones reflect different levels of intensity during aerobic exercise. They’re most often based on a percentage of your maximum heart rate, which is the highest number of beats your heart can achieve per minute. But Read More
Scoring the ACLM Diet Screener. Credit: Frontiers in Nutrition (2024). DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2024.1356676 The American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) has developed a clinical tool to help health care professionals incorporate a food as medicine approach into their practice by assessing and tracking the proportion of whole, unrefined plant-based foods and water intake in their patients’ dietary patterns. The ACLM Diet Screener, a 27-item diet assessment tool available free on ACLM’s website, was designed to guide clinical conversations around diet and support nutrition prescriptions, while also being brief enough for use Read More
Loneliness in adulthood follows a U-shaped pattern: it’s higher in younger and older adulthood, and lowest during middle adulthood, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study that examined nine longitudinal studies from around the world. The study also identified several risk factors for heightened loneliness across the whole lifespan, including social isolation, sex, education and physical impairment. “What was striking was how consistent the uptick in loneliness is in older adulthood,” said corresponding author Eileen Graham, associate professor of medical social sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “There’s a Read More
Sources of air pollution. Credit: Environmental Protection Agency A new review explores the interaction between exercise and air pollution exposure to determine how a person’s physiology reacts—and in some cases, acclimates—to environmental pollutants. The review is published in Physiological Reports. Exposure to air pollution can lead to a variety of chronic health conditions, including dementia, Type 2 diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart disease and an increased risk of dying by any cause. However, air pollution is not constant in type or state. Different kinds of pollutants include dust and Read More
The teenage brain evolved over a long history, says Juliet Davidow, assistant professor of psychology, but today it has to face the modern world. Credit: Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University Imagine you’re at a carnival and want to win a big stuffed toy. You play different games and, if successful, collect tickets. But it’s not the tickets you care about, it’s the big toy they’ll buy. And you’re likely to stick to the easier games to earn as many tickets as possible. An experience like this would be goal-directed learning, says Juliet Read More
From skin to hair, scabs and even tears, the external appearance of the body can offer clues about the state of your health. But there’s another part of the anatomy that’s often overlooked: the feet. Feet are wired up to nerve fiber tracts from the brain so you can stand, balance and wiggle your toes. They’re also plumbed by blood vessels, which lead all the way from the heart. The appearance and function of our feet, then, can indicate viral infections, diseases of the cardiovascular system and even neurological disorders. Read More
Characterization of the cranberry extract. Credit: npj Biofilms and Microbiomes (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41522-024-00493-w Cranberry extracts appear to improve intestinal microbiota and help prevent chronic diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. A recent study by Université Laval and the Institute of Nutrition and Functional Foods (INAF) reported beneficial effects after only four days of use. Cranberries and berries are associated with multiple health benefits, mainly attributed to their high content of polyphenols, in the form of tannins. They also contain high concentrations of oligosaccharides, small fibers that are thought to Read More
cGAMP triggers SOAT1-Mediated ER Cholesterol Reduction. Credit: Nature Communications (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-47046-5 A team of researchers from Aarhus University has made a remarkable discovery that could improve cancer treatment and the treatment of a number of other illnesses. Their research is published in the journal Nature Communications. The key lies in regulating cholesterol levels, which can help make existing treatments more effective. “We’ve identified a new mechanism that can regulate a crucial immune pathway in the fight against cancer, and this gives us a deeper understanding of how we can Read More
Credit: Pixabay from Pexels Reports that the H5N1 virus has been found in raw and pasteurized milk in the United States have raised questions regarding the safety of H5N1-contaminated milk for human consumption. Although H5N1 influenza usually affects birds, it was recently found in U.S. dairy cows. According to the Public Health Agency of Canada’s April 26 update, no cases have been reported in Canada yet. To answer questions about the safety of drinking milk contaminated with the H5N1 virus, it is important to understand some basic biology of H5N1 Read More
Ganggang Zhao, left, demonstrates the device’s wireless charging capability as Zheng Yan observes the test. Credit: Ben Stewart/University of Missouri Zheng Yan and a team of researchers at the University of Missouri have made a significant breakthrough in their ongoing development of an on-skin wearable bioelectronic device. Yan’s lab, which specializes in soft bioelectronics, recently added an important component to the team’s existing ultrasoft, breathable and stretchable material. The key feature: wireless charging—without batteries—through a magnetic connection. The team’s innovation, recently detailed in Nature Nanotechnology, provides the foundation for gathering Read More
Men with prostate cancer who are treated with radiation therapy experience significant side effects such as fatigue, sleep problems, anxiety and depressive symptoms. But listening to mindfulness audio recordings significantly eased those symptoms, a new Northwestern Medicine study has found. While reclining and receiving their daily 5-to-15-minute radiation treatment, men in the study listened to short (3-to-6 minute) audio-based mindfulness recordings that asked them to focus on their breath, posture, sounds and environment. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to deliver a brief mindfulness intervention during actual Read More
“The more different types of bad experiences you have in your emotional baggage, the stronger the effect on brushing habits and caries, says psychologist specialist and research fellow Lena Myran. Credit: Elin Korsmo Young people who have adverse childhood experiences are at greater risk of poor dental health. This is important knowledge for dental health services, according to new research published in BMC Oral Health. Most teenagers brush their teeth every day, but not all of them. Just over 6% of young people between the ages of 13 and 17 Read More
A large new global study published in The Lancet Regional Health—Southeast Asia reveals that cancer-related deaths rose to 5.6 million in 2019 from 2.8 million in 1999 in Asia, attributing the surge mainly to smoking and alcohol. The study highlights a more than two-fold increase in cancer cases which it finds to have skyrocketed to 9.4 million in 2019 from 3.7 million in 1990, citing unsafe sex and pollution as among other factors. The authors write, “In Asia, there were 9.4 million new cancer cases in 2019, having more than Read More
Credit: Mikhail Nilov from Pexels A research team assessed both short and long-term cognitive, psychological and physiological outcomes of an adapted eight-week mindfulness-based intervention in a group of healthy older adults. The findings, published in BMC Geriatrics, indicated that the participants improved in several domains, including verbal memory, attention switching and executive functions. Considering that population aging is one of the most significant trends of the 21st century, and that 1 in 9 people in the world is aged 60 or over (data from the United Nations Population Fund), the Read More
Millions of working parents know the routine: bustle the kids off to childcare in the morning, work all day, then fight the daily traffic jams to get the kids back home. Something to drink, maybe a snack to munch, can help ease the commute. Understandably, few parents take the time to think about the nutrients or calories involved, but experts at Cincinnati Children’s decided to take a closer look. Their eyebrow-raising findings were published April 27, 2024, in the journal Children’s Health Care. The researchers took a fresh look at Read More
This confocal image of a macrophage (a type of white blood cell in the immune system) differentiated from induced pluripotent stem cells shows that the human specific gene CHRFAM7A rearranges the actin cytoskeleton (green). Credit: University at Buffalo University at Buffalo researchers have found that the active form of a gene promotes a broad range of protective traits. The gene is found in 75% of the population and is known to protect against neurodegeneration. Now, UB researchers have found that this same gene enhances immune function, too. The new findings were published Read More
A shopper loads her car after shopping at a Walmart in Pittsburgh, Thursday, Feb. 22, 2018. Walmart announced Tuesday, April 30, 2024, is closing its health centers and virtual care service, as the retail giant has struggled to find success with the offerings. AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File) Walmart is closing its health centers and virtual care service after struggling to find success with the offerings, the U.S. retailer said Tuesday. The Bentonville, Arkansas-based company said that after managing the clinics it launched in 2019 and expanding its telehealth program, Read More
This is a story about proteins, how they malfunction, and what cells do to prevent that. Credit: Matt Perko, UC Santa Barbara Proteins are the workhorses of life. Organisms use them as building blocks, receptors, processors, couriers and catalysts. A protein’s structure is critical to its function. Malformed proteins not only fail to carry out their tasks, they can accumulate and eventually gum up the inner workings of cells. As a result, misfolded proteins cause a variety of degenerative diseases, from Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s to the blinding disease retinitis pigmentosa. Read More
Words have a direct impact on the formation of a child’s identity. By labeling children, for example categorizing them as “lazy” or “clever,” we may actually be doing them a disservice. We might see ourselves as benevolent architects of their future, but we might, involuntarily, be holding them back. There is a delicate balance between uplifting or helping a child to grow and condemning them. It is vital that we reflect on whether our words build bridges or barriers for the children who hear them. Labels: beyond praise and criticism Read More
On a narrow street lined with row houses and an auto body shop in the Kensington neighborhood of North Philadelphia, Marsella Elie climbs a home’s front steps and knocks hard on the door. A middle-aged man appears with a wary look on his face. “Hello, sir, how are you doing today?” asked Elie, wearing a royal-blue jacket embroidered with the city government’s Liberty Bell logo. “My name is Marsella. I’m working with the city. You heard about the overdoses that are going around in the neighborhood, right?” The man gives Read More
Dr. Ashraf Ibrahim in his laboratory at The Lundquist Institute. Credit: The Lundquist Institute for Biomedical Innovation at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center A novel oral amphotericin B (MAT2203) developed by Matinas BioPharma for treatment of invasive mucormycosis (IM) and other deadly invasive fungal infections, has demonstrated encouraging results in a series of preclinical studies. The research, led by Lundquist Institute (TLI) Investigator Ashraf Ibrahim, Ph.D., has been published in the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. The studies focused on MAT2203, an oral lipid nanocrystal formulation of amphotericin B, which has previously Read More
Use of publicly available large language models (LLMs) resulted in changes in breast imaging reports classification that could have a negative effect on patient management, according to a new international study published in the journal Radiology. The study findings underscore the need to regulate these LLMs in scenarios that require high-level medical reasoning, researchers said. LLMs are a type of artificial intelligence (AI) widely used today for a variety of purposes. In radiology, LLMs have already been tested in a wide variety of clinical tasks, from processing radiology request forms Read More
The disruption to the supply of a prescription medicine that helps people stop smoking may have led to thousands fewer people quitting each year in England, which will lead to avoidable deaths in future, suggests a new study led by UCL (University College London) researchers. Varenicline (also known as Champix) is one of the most effective treatments to help smokers quit. It works by reducing cravings for nicotine and easing withdrawal symptoms. But its distribution was paused in July 2021 in the UK and Europe as a precaution after higher Read More
Children who are recovering from severe pneumonia could safely switch from injectable to oral antibiotics earlier, allowing them to come home from hospital sooner. This is according to new results from the PediCAP clinical trial, presented April 29 at the ESCMID Global conference in Barcelona. The current World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines recommend that children with severe community-acquired pneumonia are treated for five days with an injectable antibiotic. This means children must stay in hospital for the full five days, even if they get better sooner. Longer hospital stays are Read More
New research from UNICEF Innocenti, produced in partnership with the University of Sheffield, New York University, City University New York and the Queensland University of Technology, explores the question of whether video games can contribute to the well-being of children, and if so, how? This research looked to the voices of the young, based on the scientific study of hundreds of children in six countries over many months. The report is titled “Digital Technology, Play and Child Well-Being.” The research found something remarkable: Digital games can indeed contribute to the Read More
Researchers highlight the significance of plant-based alternatives for disease treatment, as well as of advanced diagnostic tools through the development of metabolomics. Credit: Journal of Pharmaceutical Analysis Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a common chronic gastrointestinal disorder and current treatment strategies can cause adverse effects. Thus, there is a need to identify alternative compounds to treat IBD. Similarly, the dose-related toxicity and efficacy of anticancer drugs needs to be monitored accurately to improve the treatment outcomes. Moreover, over the years, plant-based therapeutic compounds and traditional Chinese medicine formulas have gained Read More
If you’re preparing to register your child for summer sports camps and fall, team sports, Nirav Pandya, MD, orthopedic surgeon at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals, has some suggestions for how to help your kids avoid common repetitive injuries. Kids who play a variety of sports, rather than specializing in one, at a young age tend to experience fewer injuries overall on average, Pandya says. That’s because specializing in a single sport when kids are young comes with risks. What should parents be thinking about as they make upcoming summer and Read More
The way religious beliefs and medical treatments intersect can really affect how people use medications and stick to their treatment plans. Lately, there’s been talk about “Halal pharmaceuticals,” which are drugs made to fit with Islamic beliefs. But a lot of health care providers in places like the Middle East don’t know much about what goes into these drugs or how they’re made. Scholars in Zarqa University, Jordan, have investigated what health care providers know, think, and feel about halal pharmaceuticals. The work is published in The Open Public Health Read More
Experimental treatment groups involving hepatocytes exposed to various doses of AAV, AAV* (AAV pre-treated with EP), or plasmids, with or without electric field pulse (EP) exposure (illustrations not drawn to scale). Credit: PLOS ONE (2024). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0298866 In an effort to improve delivery of costly medical treatments, a team of researchers in electrical engineering at the University of Wisconsin–Madison has developed a stimulating method that could make the human body more receptive to certain gene therapies. The researchers exposed liver cells to short electric pulses—and those gentle zaps caused the Read More
America’s young people face a mental health crisis, and adults constantly debate how much to blame phones and social media. A new round of conversation has been spurred by Jonathan Haidt’s book “The Anxious Generation,” which contends that rising mental health issues in children and adolescents are the result of social media replacing key experiences during formative years of brain development. The book has been criticized by academics, and rightfully so. Haidt’s argument is based largely on research showing that adolescent mental health has declined since 2010, coinciding roughly with Read More
The benefits of physical fitness for kids spill over into their mental health, new research shows. Getting plenty of exercise may guard against depressive symptoms, anxiety and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a new study published April 29 in the journal JAMA Pediatrics found. And the more exercise, the better: Higher performance in cardiovascular activities, strength and muscular endurance were each associated with even greater protection against mental health issues. The findings arrive as America continues to grapple with a surge in mental health diagnoses among children and adolescents. The new Read More
All women should start getting mammograms every other year beginning at age 40, the nation’s top panel of preventive health experts announced Tuesday. About 20% more lives can be saved from breast cancer by moving the regular screening age up to age 40, rather than starting at age 50, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) estimates. The task force based its recommendation partly on increasing rates of breast cancer in younger women. “More women in their 40s have been getting breast cancer, with rates increasing about 2 percent each Read More
Chicken with potatoes, carrot-and-cabbage salad: it looks like a detox meal, but it’s the menu at a school cafeteria in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which is seeking new ways to fight childhood obesity. Nearly one-third of children in Brazil are obese, an epidemic city health officials and community leaders are seeking to address in innovative ways, enlisting school cafeterias and taking their message of healthful eating to the street. “Cake? There’s no cake here,” laughs cook Neide Oliveira as she chops onions for the 650 students of Burle Marx public Read More
For her study, Selvarathinam leveraged the fact that worms have similarities in their genes to humans and predictable behaviors that are easy to study. She proceeded to optimize an experi-mental protocol that aimed to link the mental illness schizophrenia to neurodegenerative disease using worm behavior. Credit: UT Arlington As an undergraduate student in The University of Texas at Arlington’s Honors College, Hannah Selvarathinam knew she wanted to conduct research. Near the end of her first year at UTA, the Keller native reached out to the lab of biology Assistant Professor Read More
by KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. The Effect of cyclosporine and its analog NIM-811 on tissue injury. Credit: Liver Research (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.livres.2024.02.002 During hepatic surgery or liver transplantation, the liver is vulnerable to ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI), especially when vessels are compressed to control bleeding or during periods of ischemia. The hallmark of IRI is mitochondrial dysfunction, which generates reactive oxygen species, and cell death through necrosis or apoptosis. Cyclosporine (CsA), a well-known immunosuppressive agent that inhibits calcineurin, provides the additional effect of inhibiting the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP), hence Read More
Flow diagram of this study. Flow diagram shows the analytic process of the DRIA predictive value in multiple ICI-treated cohorts. DRIA, DNA damage response-related immune activation; ICIs, immune checkpoint inhibitors; GI, gastrointestinal; MSS, microsatellite-stable. Credit: Cancer Biology & Medicine (2024). DOI: 10.20892/j.issn.2095-3941.2023.0303 Despite significant progress in treating gastrointestinal (GI) cancers through surgical resection, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and targeted therapy, the objective response rate (ORR) for immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy remains low. Common biomarkers such as PD-L1 expression, tumor mutational burden (TMB), and microsatellite instability (MSI) often lack predictive precision or Read More
Variant definition, splitting and classification as border or ectopic. Credit: Nature Neuroscience (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41593-024-01618-2 A new study by neuroscientists at Florida State University has revealed brain differences that may explain why humans demonstrate a variety of cognitive abilities and behaviors. The research, conducted by a multi-institution team led by FSU Associate Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience Caterina Gratton and research technician Ally Dworetsky, shows that two forms of individual differences may predict cognitive abilities, explain behavioral differences and even pinpoint biomarkers of brain disease. “We discovered that in addition Read More
Graphical Abstract. Credit: SLEEP (2023). DOI: 10.1093/sleep/zsad233 Sleep apnea and low oxygen levels while sleeping are associated with epilepsy that first occurs after 60 years of age, known as late-onset epilepsy, according to a new study published in Sleep. The link was independent of other known risk factors for late-onset epilepsy and sleep apnea including hypertension and stroke. The findings may help to better understand the relationship between sleep disorders and late-onset epilepsy, as well as identify potential targets for treatment. “There’s increasing evidence that late-onset epilepsy may be indicative Read More
Women are 40% more likely to experience depression in perimenopause than those who aren’t experiencing any menopausal symptoms, finds a new study led by UCL researchers. The research, published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, provides a meta-analysis of seven studies involving 9,141 women from across the world (including Australia, U.S., China, Netherlands and Switzerland), to understand whether different stages of the menopause were associated with different risk of depression. Perimenopause usually occurs around three to five years before the onset of menopause. During this stage, women’s estrogen and progesterone Read More
Autistic young adults face many barriers to employment and often struggle to reconcile their hopes and expectations for a future career during vocational planning. Credit: Shelly Silva/University of Delaware With graduation season around the corner, many autistic high school and college seniors may feel a unique tension between their hopes (what is possible) and their expectations (what is probable) when it comes to their future careers. Autistic youth face so many barriers to employment that one-third of young adults on the autism spectrum are not employed in their twenties. Those Read More
A survey commissioned by King’s College London, and carried out by YouGov, has found that 65% of people across the U.K. are worried about access to palliative and end of life care, and 41% think there is too little NHS resource allocated to palliative care. The survey of 2,164 adults across the U.K. was commissioned by the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care at King’s to explore people’s knowledge and experiences of palliative and end of life care. The data was released ahead of yesterday’s debate by Read More
Credit: Pediatric Neurology (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.pediatrneurol.2024.03.008 TRAF7 syndrome, or CAFDADD syndrome, is a neurological and developmental disease that causes a wide variety of clinical manifestations, such as cardiac, facial and digital abnormalities and developmental delay. Now, a study published in Pediatric Neurology provides a better understanding of the clinical, genetic and functional characteristics of CAFDADD syndrome, which is caused by the TRAF7 gene. The paper will contribute to a better understanding of this disease and the improvement of medical care and clinical management of patients. The study was co-led by Read More
Evidence mapping bubble plot of exercise-based interventions for long-term conditions (LTCs). Y-axis: number of participants included in the selected systematic review. X-axis: categorization of exercise intervention effect. Credit: eClinicalMedicine (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.eclinm.2024.102599 A new study looking at health data from the last 20 years has highlighted the benefits of exercise programs for individuals living with long-term health conditions. Drawing on a comprehensive overview of published evidence spanning 39 different long-term conditions—and encompassing 990 randomized controlled trials and more than 900,000 patients—the research underscores the fundamental role of exercise in enhancing Read More
Researchers from the University of California San Diego have revealed new trends in drug consumption that shed light on how people are adapting to the evolving risks associated with unregulated drug use in the United States. The findings could help policymakers and public health officials better tailor interventions to meet the needs of vulnerable populations and reduce the public health burden of substance-related harm. The study was published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence. Since the early 2010s, deaths from accidental overdoses have been on the rise in the United States Read More
Morphological changes of human corneal endothelial cells after UV-A exposition. Credit: Aging (2024). DOI: 10.18632/aging.205761 A new research paper titled “Senescent characteristics of human corneal endothelial cells upon ultraviolet-A exposure” has been published on the cover of Aging. In this new study, researchers Kohsaku Numa, Sandip Kumar Patel, Zhixin A. Zhang, Jordan B. Burton, Akifumi Matsumoto, Jun-Wei B. Hughes, Chie Sotozono, Birgit Schilling, Pierre-Yves Desprez, Judith Campisi (1948-2024), and Koji Kitazawa from Buck Institute for Research on Aging, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, University of Cambridge, and California Pacific Medical Read More
The American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery Foundation (AAO-HNSF) has published “Clinical Practice Guideline: Age-Related Hearing Loss” in Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery. This clinical practice guideline (CPG) sheds lights on a global public health problem affecting approximately 466 million people worldwide and identifies quality improvement opportunities and provide clinicians trustworthy, evidence-based recommendations regarding the identification and management of age-related hearing loss (ARHL) in patients 50 years and older. “Age-related hearing loss is underdiagnosed and undertreated despite being the most common sensory deficit in the aging population. With almost 50% Read More
Key milestones in NET diagnostics and therapeutics. 64Cu DOTATATE indicates copper-64 DOTA-Tyr3-octreotate; 68Ga DOTATATE, gallium-68 DOTA-Tyr3-octreotate; 77Lu DOTATATE, lutetium-177 DOTA-Tyr3-octreotate; GEP, gastroenteropancreatic; GI, gastrointestinal; NET, neuroendocrine tumor; PET, positron emission tomography. Credit: CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians (2024). DOI: 10.3322/caac.21840 Newly updated guidelines on neuroendocrine tumors developed by an expert at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and collaborators provide clinicians with the latest recommendations for staging and management of these rare but increasingly diagnosed tumors. The guidelines, developed for the American Read More
Clonal hematopoiesis is a phenomenon caused by mutations in hematopoietic stem cells and can lead to blood cancer. We now know that it occurs also in people with normal blood counts, where it is associated with an increased risk of life-threatening atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. A research team at the Medical University of Vienna has now developed a genetic testing procedure to detect clonal hematopoiesis, which, when used in combination with an ultrasound examination of the carotid artery, allows to identify patients at high cardiovascular risk. The study was published in Read More
BET inhibition is synthetic lethal to OXPHOS blockage in liver cancer. Left: GDH1-dependent glutamine metabolic remodeling upon BET inhibition. Right: “Synthetic lethality” targeting OXPHOS and BET proteins extends the survival of HCC-bearing mice. Credit: Wen Mi, Jianwei You, Liucheng Li, Lingzhi Zhu, Xinyi Xia, Li Yang, Fei Li, Yi Xu, Junfeng Bi, Pingyu Liu, Li Chen, Fuming Li Primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the major type of liver cancer, is a leading cause of worldwide cancer-related death. End-stage liver cancer patients have limited treatment options due to the lack of druggable Read More
Overview of a National Dashboard of State- and Territory-Level COVID-19 Policies Aimed at Post–Acute Care Settings The date filter allows for daily selection of dates from March 1, 2020, to July 1, 2022. A slider is included under the date selection box for viewing policy progression throughout the pandemic. The health care settings filter consists of 4 checkboxes, allowing for the selection of target health care settings (general health care settings, nursing homes, home health care agencies, and both). Comprehensive definitions are found in the eTable in Supplement 1. The Read More
Cost-effectiveness acceptability curve (CEAC) showing the probability of early GDM diagnosis and treatment being cost-effective among women with risk factors for hyperglycemia in pregnancy for different ceilings of willingness-to-pay (WTP) compared with usual care for composite adverse pregnancy outcome. Credit: eClinicalMedicine (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.eclinm.2024.102610 New research led by Western Sydney University has shown that treatment of gestational diabetes from early pregnancy can not only reduce birth complications among babies and mothers, but can also reduce health costs by up to 10%. Published in eClinicalMedicine, the new study explored whether treatment Read More
A Monash University sexual health expert has warned that an unintended consequence of Australia’s migration rules could compromise Australia’s goal to end the HIV epidemic by 2030. Associate Professor Jason Ong, of the Melbourne Sexual Health Center (MSHC), at Monash University’s School of Translational Medicine, says some people living with HIV are choosing cheaper, suboptimal antiretroviral treatment (ART) out of fear that their applications for permanent residency (PR) will be rejected. This is because they must show their medical spending will not total more than $51,000 over 10 years—a requirement, Read More
England striker Beth Mead was sidelined by an ACL injury. A groundbreaking project was launched Tuesday in the English Women’s Super League to study anterior cruciate ligament injury prevention. Players unions the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) and FIFPRO have joined forces with Nike and Leeds Beckett University to provide funding. Research suggests such injuries are two to six times more likely to occur in women than men but there is little understanding about how to reduce their frequency in professional women footballers. The WSL clubs participating in the three-year study Read More