Slowdown in progress found with cancer survival in England and Wales

Scientists have developed a faster method for measuring the elasticity of airway walls, a property that can reveal important information about respiratory health. The technique, reported in the Journal of Biomedical Optics, could help assess conditions such as airway obstruction or burn injury during a standard bronchoscopy exam, without adding significant time or risk to the procedure.

The COVID-19 pandemic was an unprecedented challenge worldwide, but for many mothers, it brought an even heavier burden. Mothers took on increased responsibilities at home—from childcare to remote learning—while also navigating disruptions in work and personal life. These added demands contributed to rising stress levels, mental health concerns and a loss of identity for many.

The Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) has developed a diagnostic platform that amplifies the unique optical signals of molecules by more than a hundred million times, enabling the precise detection and quantification of trace amounts of Alzheimer's disease biomarkers in body fluids.

Cerebral palsy affects around one in 345 children in the U.S., and more than half of them experience a problem called dystonia—involuntary and often painful muscle contractions, most commonly in the legs, that lead to abnormal movement and postures and make regular activities such as walking difficult.

Scientists from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, working in collaboration with a team from the University of Texas at El Paso, have developed a novel computational framework for understanding how a region of the brain known as the striatum is involved in the everyday decisions we make and, importantly, how it might factor into impaired decision-making by individuals with psychiatric disorders like post-traumatic stress disorder and substance use disorder.

Origin-recognition complex (ORC) plays an unexpectedly broad role in the regulation of human cell gene expression, according to a study in the journal Cell Reports.

Childhood contact allergies have increased markedly in Finland over the past two decades, according to a study conducted at the University of Oulu. The rise is especially notable in allergies caused by chemicals in cosmetics and adhesives.

Northwestern Medicine scientists have discovered how a subset of immune cells are essential for successful organ transplantation acceptance and that therapeutically targeting them may improve long-term survival post-transplant, according to a recent study published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Cholera has claimed at least 40 lives in Sudan's Darfur region over the last week as the country weathers its worst outbreak in years, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said on Thursday.

A study published in The Journal of Rural Health sheds new light on the persistent and troubling disparities in chronic pain prevalence between rural and urban populations in the United States.

A study by ethnobotanist Hemerson Dantas dos Santos Pataxó Hãhãhãi has revived the ancestral healing knowledge of his Indigenous people. Currently a doctoral student at the Institute of Environmental, Chemical, and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the Federal University of São Paulo (ICAQF-UNIFESP) in Brazil, he belongs to the Pataxó Hã-Hã-Hãi people. According to his doctoral advisor, Eliana Rodrigues, he is the world's first Indigenous ethnobotanical researcher.

While smoking rates in the United States have substantially declined over the past six decades, smoking remains high among people with low incomes, leading to health disparities. A smartphone app that delivers real-time, tailored messages may hold the key to helping them quit, according to University of Oklahoma clinical trial results published in JAMA Network Open.

Shedding light on what determines how cells become what they are meant to be—nerves, bone, muscles, etc.—can also help researchers understand how diseases develop when these biological programs break down. Now, researchers at Case Western Reserve University have discovered a key synergistic role for two epigenetic markers—molecules that help tell genes to turn on and off—involved in programming cell fate. Importantly, turning off these two markers causes genes to over-activate, disrupting normal cell development.

Scientists at the University of Virginia School of Medicine and the University of Michigan have developed a monoclonal antibody to stop sepsis, a deadly full-body infection. The antibody also has the potential to treat a broad array of other inflammatory conditions, including autoimmune disorders, their research indicates.

The underlying causes of this increase are not fully understood. The researchers note that the trend does not appear to be driven by known risk factors for colorectal cancer in younger people, such as inflammatory bowel disease and hereditary factors. Instead, environmental and lifestyle factors early in life may play a role.

People who have had COVID-19 are at increased risk of developing certain inflammatory diseases of the airways, such as asthma, hay fever and chronic sinusitis. However, vaccination against the SARS-CoV-2 virus appears to reduce the risk, according to a comprehensive epidemiological study led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet.

A novel drilling plate simulating the tactile and structural properties of natural human dental tissues may provide dental students with increasingly realistic training opportunities in the preclinical phase. The new drilling plate was assessed by dental educators as part of an international study led by the University of Eastern Finland.

Preventing and managing high blood pressure with healthy lifestyle behaviors, such as following a heart-healthy diet including reducing salt intake, staying physically active, maintaining a healthy weight and managing stress—combined with early treatment with medication to lower blood pressure if necessary—are recommended to reduce the risk of heart attack, stroke, heart failure, kidney disease, cognitive decline and dementia, according to a new clinical guideline published in Circulation, Hypertension, and in JACC.