Category: 4. Health

  • Addressing hearing loss may reduce isolation among the elderly

    Addressing hearing loss may reduce isolation among the elderly

    Providing hearing aids and advice on their use may preserve social connections that often wane as we age, a new study shows. Its authors say that this approach could help ease the loneliness epidemic that older Americans face.

    According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than a quarter of seniors say they have little or no contact with others, and a third report feeling lonely. Experts have linked such isolation in part to hearing loss, which can interfere with…

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    News Source: www.sciencedaily.com

  • A chemical in plastics is tied to heart disease deaths

    A chemical in plastics is tied to heart disease deaths

    A common chemical in household plastics has been linked with heart disease deaths.

    In 2018, about 13.5 percent of the more than 2.6 million deaths from cardiovascular disease among people ages 55 to 64 globally could have been related to exposure to a type of chemical called a phthalate, researchers report April 28 in eBioMedicine.

    Phthalates are a group of chemicals found in shampoos, lotions, food packaging and medical supplies including blood bags. The chemicals are often…

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    News Source: www.sciencenews.org

  • Extended reality boccia shows positive rehabilitation effects

    Extended reality boccia shows positive rehabilitation effects

    Boccia’s appeal and rising popularity comes from its showcase as a Paralympic sport that can be enjoyed by people of all ages and abilities. An Osaka Metropolitan University team has developed an extended reality version of the game as a rehabilitation program, showing how the game that requires accuracy and strategy can aid motor and cognitive skills.

    Graduate School of Rehabilitation Science Associate Professor Masataka Kataoka’s research group developed Boccia XR so that the program can…

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    News Source: www.sciencedaily.com

  • Different anesthetics, same result: Unconsciousness by shifting brainwave phase

    Different anesthetics, same result: Unconsciousness by shifting brainwave phase

    At the level of molecules and cells, ketamine and dexmedetomidine work very differently, but in the operating room they do the same exact thing: anesthetize the patient. By demonstrating how these distinct drugs achieve the same result, a new study in animals by neuroscientists at The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at MIT identifies a potential signature of unconsciousness that is readily measurable to improve anesthesiology care.

    What the two drugs have in common, the researchers…

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    News Source: www.sciencedaily.com

  • ChatGPT helps pinpoint precise locations of seizures in the brain, aiding neurosurgeons

    ChatGPT helps pinpoint precise locations of seizures in the brain, aiding neurosurgeons

    Epilepsy, one of the most common neurological disorders characterized by recurrent seizures, affects over 70 million people worldwide. In the United States, about 3.4 million people live with this challenging condition. Around one third of the epilepsy cases cannot be controlled by medications. For those patients, surgical resection of the epileptogenic zone (EZ), an area whose removal can lead to seizure freedom — a period of time when a person with epilepsy experiences no seizures — can…

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    News Source: www.sciencedaily.com

  • Your fingers wrinkle in the same pattern every time you’re in the water for too long

    Your fingers wrinkle in the same pattern every time you’re in the water for too long

    Do your wrinkles always form in the same pattern every time you’re in the water for too long? According to new research from Binghamton University, State University of New York, the answer is yes.

    A couple of years ago, Binghamton University Associate Professor Guy German published research about why human skin wrinkles when you stay in the water too long. Received wisdom held that the water swelled your skin and made your fingers wrinkly, but little to no research had been done to prove…

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    News Source: www.sciencedaily.com

  • Cell death discovery could lead to next-gen drugs for neurodegenerative conditions

    Cell death discovery could lead to next-gen drugs for neurodegenerative conditions

    Researchers have discovered how to block cells dying, in a finding that could lead to new treatments for neurodegenerative conditions like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

    The team at WEHI in Melbourne, Australia, have identified a small molecule that can selectively block cell death.

    Published in Science Advances, the findings lay the groundwork for next-generation neuroprotective drugs for degenerative conditions, which currently have no cure or treatments to stop their progression.

    At a…

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    News Source: www.sciencedaily.com

  • Lactate’s Role in Innate Immune Defense is Revealed

    Lactate’s Role in Innate Immune Defense is Revealed

    The immune system can work in two ways: the innate immune system reacts to any foreign invaders that are identified by immune cells that look for such pathogens; but the acquired or adaptive immune system responds to an infection that it has encountered before, and now ‘remembers.’ Vaccines can help train the acquired immune system, so it has such a memory of an infection, without the body needing to actually be infected.

    The Bacille Calmette-Guérin…

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    News Source: www.labroots.com

  • A Simple, New Blood Test ID’s Type 1 Diabetes at Early Stages

    A Simple, New Blood Test ID’s Type 1 Diabetes at Early Stages

    Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disorder in which the immune system erroneously attacks cells in the pancreas that generate the hormone insulin. Since insulin regulates blood sugar levels, it is essential for it to be maintained at the proper levels, or serious problems can arise. Researchers have now developed a blood test that can identify the earliest stage of type 1 diabetes with small blood samples. This could be especially beneficial for very young…

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    News Source: www.labroots.com

  • Calorie counts on menus and food labels may not help consumers choose healthier foods, new research shows

    Calorie counts on menus and food labels may not help consumers choose healthier foods, new research shows

    Knowing the calorie content of foods does not help people understand which foods are healthier, according to a study I recently co-authored in the Journal of Retailing. When study participants considered calorie information, they rated unhealthy food as less unhealthy and healthy food as less healthy. They were also less sure in their judgments.

    In other words, calorie labeling didn’t help participants judge foods more accurately. It made them second-guess themselves.

    Across nine…

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    News Source: theconversation.com