Genetics of cardiomyopathy risk in childhood cancer survivors differ by age of onset, study shows

23 June 2025, Dublin/Geneva—The World Health Organization (WHO) today released its report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic 2025 at the World Conference on Tobacco Control in Dublin, warning that action is needed to maintain and accelerate progress in tobacco control as rising industry interference challenges tobacco policies and control efforts. The report focuses on the six proven WHO MPOWER tobacco control measures to reduce tobacco use, which claims over 7 million lives a year: Monitoring tobacco use and prevention policies; Protecting people from tobacco smoke with smoke-free air legislation; Offering help to quit tobacco use; Warning about the dangers of tobacco with pack labels and mass media; Enforcing bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship; and Raising taxes on tobacco. Since 2007, 155 countries have implemented at least one of the WHO MPOWER tobacco control measures to reduce tobacco use at best-practice level. Today, over 6.1 billion people, three-quarters of the world’s population, are protected by at least one such policy, compared to just 1 billion in 2007. Four countries have implemented the full MPOWER package: Brazil, Mauritius, the Netherlands (Kingdom of the), and Türkiye. Seven countries are just one measure away from achieving the full implementation of the MPOWER package, signifying the highest level of tobacco control, including Ethiopia, Ireland, Jordan, Mexico, New Zealand, Slovenia and Spain. However, there are major gaps. Forty countries still have no MPOWER measure at best-practice level and more than 30 countries allow cigarette sales without mandatory health warnings. “Twenty years since the adoption of the WHO Framework Read more...

A team of international researchers led by scientists at City of Hope provides the most thorough account yet of an elusive target for cancer treatment. Published in Science Advances, the study suggests a complex signaling process involving paxillin, a focal adhesion protein that acts as a hub to connect with other proteins, may be vulnerable to therapy despite its fluid state.

It's difficult to overstate the corrosive impact of Canada's ongoing opioid crisis. Since 2016, there have been over 40,000 opioid-related deaths across the country, devastating Canadian families from all walks of life. Opioid-related hospitalizations and calls to paramedics have ballooned.

Cambodia registered its fifth bird flu death this year after a 52-year-old man died from the virus, the health ministry said on Saturday.

A French woman from the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe has been identified as the only known carrier of a new blood type, dubbed "Gwada negative," France's blood supply agency has announced.

22 June 2025, Cairo, Egypt – June is Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month, dedicated to raising awareness about all forms of dementia. Worldwide, dementia is the seventh leading cause of death and a major contributor to disability. The majority (61%) of the 55 million people living with dementia – a number that is expected to increase to approximately 78 million by 2030 – live in low- and middle-income countries, underscoring the urgent need to raise awareness and advocate for better care, support and prevention strategies. In the World Health Organization (WHO) Eastern Mediterranean Region around 2.3 million people live with dementia, and it is the 14th leading cause of death. Dementia is an umbrella term for several diseases that affect memory and other cognitive abilities and behaviours that interfere with a person’s ability to maintain their daily activities. It is a progressive and chronic condition in which there is disturbance of brain functions such as memory, thinking, judgment, orientation, calculation, language, learning capacity and comprehension. It is often preceded by a decline in motivation, deteriorating social behaviour and emotional control. Alzheimer's disease is a specific type of dementia characterized by progressive memory loss and cognitive decline. While the strongest known risk factor for dementia is age it is not a normal part of ageing. Lack of awareness and understanding of dementia leads to stigmatization and barriers to diagnosis and proper care. The impact of dementia extends far beyond the person with dementia. Read more...

Mismatch repair (MMR) germline alterations are enriched among patients with uveal melanoma (UM), according to a study published online June 18 in JAMA Ophthalmology.

There are substantial racial and ethnic differences in U.S. adolescents' use of mental health services, according to a study published online June 18 in JAMA Network Open.

Some of the most harmful genetic changes in cancer are also the hardest to see. These structural alterations, deep within a tumor's DNA, can fuel aggressive growth and evade standard testing, especially when tissue samples are small or degraded.

New research by Swansea University and Cambridge University has revealed the causes and devastating impacts of delays—that can last decades—in diagnosing lupus, an auto-immune condition.

The U.S. logged fewer than 20 measles cases this week, though Iowa announced the state's first outbreak Thursday and Georgia confirmed its second Wednesday.

Six in 10 dementia caregivers report having at least one modifiable risk factor that could increase their own chances of developing dementia, according to a report issued June 12 by the Alzheimer's Association.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Andembry (garadacimab-gxii) as the only treatment targeting factor XIIa for prophylactic use to prevent attacks of hereditary angioedema (HAE).

A new generation of weight-loss drugs has proven remarkably effective, hugely popular and massively lucrative in the last few years, though they do have some drawbacks.

Pregnant women are exposed to lower levels of toxic chemicals if they vape during pregnancy compared with if they smoke cigarettes, according to new research led by scientists at City St George's, University of London and published today in Nicotine and Tobacco Research.

A diabetes medication that lowers brain fluid pressure has cut monthly migraine days by more than half, according to a new study presented today at the European Academy of Neurology (EAN) Congress 2025.

A study conducted at the Department of Neurology, Inselspital, the University Hospital of Bern, analyzed 4,170 individuals over an observation period of 13,217 person-years. It found that heart rate variability (HRV) during sleep can serve as a powerful early warning sign of future health conditions, including stroke, depression, and cognitive dysfunction.

A new study reveals that when we experience short-term (acute) pain, the brain has a built‑in way to dial down pain signals—like pressing the brakes—to keep them from going into overdrive. But in long‑term (chronic) pain, this braking system fails, and the pain signals just keep firing. This discovery helps explain why some pain goes away while other pain lingers, and it opens the door to new treatments that could stop pain from becoming chronic in the first place.