Structured lifestyle program improves cognition in at-risk older adults

A recent study has revealed a critical gap in the use of accessibility features among people living with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and their caregivers. Though over 90% of ALS patients surveyed reported daily use of smartphones, tablets, or computers, many are unaware of the accessibility tools embedded in these devices—tools that could greatly enhance their quality of life as the disease progresses.

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are the fundamental building blocks of our circulatory system, giving rise to all blood cell types, including white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets. HSCs play a key role in our understanding of complex biological processes and are involved in life-saving treatments such as bone marrow transplants and emerging gene therapies. As a cornerstone of regenerative medicine, HSCs hold immense promise for treating blood disorders, cancers, and immune system diseases.

A clinical trial led by London Health Sciences Center Research Institute (LHSCRI) and Western University has found that a knee surgery called high tibial osteotomy (HTO) can slow the progression of osteoarthritis. The study, published in Annals of Internal Medicine, showed that HTO reduced knee joint damage and improved pain and function among patients with knee osteoarthritis and bowed legs.

Most Americans know that it's important for someone to take care of their health before getting pregnant and during pregnancy to increase their chance of having a healthy baby. Many people know, for instance, that smoking or drinking alcohol can have detrimental effects during pregnancy, increasing the likelihood that a baby is delivered early, is underweight, or has birth defects.

Imagine you're a molecular biologist wanting to launch a project seeking treatments for a newly emerging disease. You know you need the expertise of a virologist and an immunologist, plus a bioinformatics specialist to help analyze and generate insights from your data. But you lack the resources or connections to build a big multidisciplinary team.

A study led by investigators at the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center found that while blood-based tests offer a more convenient option for colorectal cancer screening, only 49% of patients completed a follow-up colonoscopy within six months, and just 56% did so at any point during the two-year study period.

Of the 3.6 million babies born in the United States each year, about 80% begin breastfeeding in their first month of life. Breastfeeding has known benefits for both mother and child, reducing maternal risk of breast and ovarian cancers, type 2 diabetes, and high blood pressure, while simultaneously supporting the baby's nutrition and immune system. But because pregnancy and lactation have been historically understudied, we still don't understand the science behind many of these benefits.

A team of Canadian scientists has discovered a surprising new way to improve blood sugar levels and reduce liver damage: by trapping a little-known fuel made by gut bacteria before they wreak havoc on the body.

A Loughborough University student has designed a digital instrument to empower older adults through music.

A new swallowable device called PRIM (Pill for ROS-responsive Inflammation Monitoring) could someday make tracking inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)—a chronic condition that causes inflammation in the digestive tract—as simple as checking the color of your stool. Researchers from Mass General Brigham and the University of Toronto designed and tested the device in preclinical models.

An AI algorithm for breast cancer screening has the potential to enhance the performance of digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT), reducing interval cancers by up to one-third, according to a study published today in Radiology.

Renowned physician-scientist Eric J. Topol, M.D., and Harvard artificial intelligence (AI) expert Pranav Rajpurkar, Ph.D., advocate for a clear separation of the roles between AI systems and radiologists in an editorial published in Radiology.

Children who develop deep wrinkles, stunted growth, and rapidly aging bones and blood vessels as early as 1 to 2 years of age may be suffering from Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome (HGPS), a rare and incurable genetic disorder that affects approximately one in eight million people. The average life expectancy for patients is just 14.5 years, and to date, no curative treatment exists.

As school returns, parents and teachers might each be faced with the familiar chorus of "I can't find my school jumper" and "I left my hat at home." For parents of older kids, the stakes may be even higher: lost mobile phones or laptops left on the bus.

There are about 70 million baby boomers in the United States, many now over the age of 65. As people age, rates of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases rise, leading to more use of blood thinners such as warfarin. At the same time, older adults face a higher risk of head injuries and brain bleeding, especially after falls.

Scientists studying a hard-to-treat form of blood cancer called acute myeloid leukemia (AML) have found that a type of treatment—immunotherapy—may help change the environment where cancer cells live, possibly helping the immune system respond more effectively.

A multidisciplinary team at UT Southwestern Medical Center has developed an AI-enabled pipeline that can quickly and accurately extract relevant information from complex, free-text medical records. The team's novel approach, published in npj Digital Medicine, could dramatically reduce the time needed to create analysis-ready data for research studies.

U.S. investment in new treatments is often driven by market potential rather than medical necessity, deepening health disparities and costing lives. Researchers say these recommendations could help.