Health & Fitness

The hormone estrogen regulates binge drinking in females, causing them to 'pregame' -- consume large quantities of alcohol in the first 30 minutes after it's offered, according to a preclinical study. The study establishes -- for what is thought to be the first time -- that circulating estrogen increases binge alcohol consumption in females and contributes to known sex differences in this behavior.

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A study of nearly 10,000 adolescents has identified distinct differences in the brain structures of those who used substances before age 15 compared to those who did not. Many of these structural brain differences appeared to exist in childhood before any substance use, suggesting they may play a role in the risk of substance use initiation later in life, in tandem with genetic, environmental, and other neurological factors.

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Researchers have shown that people 60 years or older with weakened immunity do not respond as strongly to vaccines against the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) as people in the same age group with normal immune function.

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Digital healthcare consultations are not enough for a safe assessment of tonsillitis, according to a new study. Reliability will not be sufficient, thus increasing the risk of over- or under-treatment of a sore throat.

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Pediatric cardiologists have implanted a dual chamber leadless pacemaker in a child.

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Researchers have developed nanodiamond sensors with nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers, offering exceptional brightness and spin properties for quantum sensing and bioimaging. These nanodiamonds outperform commercial options, requiring 20 times less energy and maintaining quantum states 11 times longer. Enhanced sensitivity to magnetic fields and temperature enables precise applications, including disease detection, battery analysis, and thermal management of electronics, marking a significant advancement in nanotechnology-driven quantum sensing for biological and industrial innovations.

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A drug recently approved to prevent migraine may start working right away, according to a new study. The study looked at the drug atogepant, which is a calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) receptor antagonist taken by mouth.

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Scientists have developed an innovative therapeutic platform by mimicking the intricate structures of viruses using artificial intelligence (AI).

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A choice was made to include each word in this sentence. Every message, even the most mundane, is crafted with a specific frame in mind that impacts how the message is perceived. The study of framing effects is a multidisciplinary line of research that investigates when, how, and why language influences those who receive a message and how it impacts their response.

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Researchers have uncovered important insights that could improve how mental health conditions are treated with brain stimulation therapy -- a treatment where electrical signals are used to stimulate specific parts of the brain.

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Researchers may have found a new target in fighting malaria -- a cholesterol-managing protein called PfNCR1.

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Inflammation in the hippocampus -- the brain's memory center -- significantly alters motivation and behavior in mice, according to new research.

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Researchers have revealed some of the precise mechanisms by which erroneous cells are recognized, marked for removal, and eliminated via apoptosis in developing zebrafish. Notably, they found that the protein Foxo3 may be a universal marker of cell competition in zebrafish and mice. These findings have important implications for congenital disorders, cancer, and aging, and may lead to novel treatments.

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By taking advantage of a 'giving up' behavior exhibited by zebrafish, the ability to image the fish's entire brain, and a unique virtual reality system, a team of researchers found where ketamine acts in the zebrafish brain: at supporting cells called astroglia, rather than neurons.

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A new study raises the possibility that jobs that require frequent spatial processing -- such as figuring out a taxi route or the best way to navigate to a hospital -- could lead to lower rates of death from Alzheimer's disease. Researchers investigated this possibility by using national data on the occupations of people who had died to evaluate risk of death from Alzheimer's disease across 443 professions. They found that taxi driving and ambulance driving were associated with a lower rate of death from Alzheimer's disease compared to other professions.

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It's that time of the year when most of us get the chance to sit back and enjoy some well-deserved down time. But whether you reach for the TV controller, or a favorite book, your choice could have implications for your long-term brain health, say researchers.

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People who started playing video games at an early school age developed problematic gaming more quickly compared to those who started playing a few years later.

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Detection of nitric oxide (NO) is important for monitoring air quality because the NO released in the combustion of fossil fuels contributes to acid rain and smog. In medicine, NO is an important messenger molecule and serves as a biomarker for asthma. A research team reports a material that can detect NO reversibly, with low power, and with high sensitivity and selectivity: a copper-containing, electrically conducting, two-dimensional metal--organic framework.

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Wildfire smoke has long been known to exacerbate health problems like heart disease, lung conditions, and asthma, but now a new study finds that smoke from these fires can lead to poor health thousands of miles away. Researchers found that medical visits for heart and lung problems rose by nearly 20 percent during six days in June, 2023, when smoke from Western Canadian wildfires drifted across the country, leading to very poor air quality days in Baltimore and the surrounding region.

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A new study of plant-based drinks reveals a common issue: they are lacking in proteins and essential amino acids compared to cow's milk. The explanation lies in their extensive processing, causing chemical reactions that degrade protein quality in the product and, in some cases, produce new substances of concern.

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A new study shows that long-term exposure to air pollution contributes to millions of deaths in India. The research emphasizes the need for stricter air quality regulations in the country.

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People around the globe are living longer -- but not necessarily healthier -- lives, according to new research. A study of 183 World Health Organization (WHO) member countries found those additional years of life are increasingly fraught with disease.

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A newer vaccine against hepatitis B virus was clearly superior to an older vaccine type in inducing a protective antibody response among people living with HIV who didn't respond to prior vaccination.

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A groundbreaking piece of navigation technology that uses the ability to sense information through touch can help people with visual impairment perform a location task as well as sighted people, according to new research.

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Research shows that HPV accounts for 70% of all throat cancers, but only one-third of the public is aware that HPV causes throat cancer.

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Researchers have published two studies in which they surveyed readers on their thoughts about AI in journalism. When provided a sample of bylines stating AI was involved in producing news in some way or not at all, readers regularly stated they trusted the credibility of the news less if AI had a role. Even when they didn't understand exactly what AI contributed, they reported less trust and that 'humanness' was an important factor in producing reliable news.

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Loneliness and isolation among older Americans have mostly returned to pre-pandemic rates, but that still means more than one third of people age 50 to 80 feel lonely, and nearly as many feel isolated, a new national study shows.

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Bucking conventionality, boys in Norway are making early gains in reading English as a second language and even outperforming girls at age 10 and 13 -- a new a study of more than one million students suggests.

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Researchers have unraveled how immune cells called microglia can transform and drive harmful processes like neuroinflammation in Alzheimer's disease. The study also integrates drug databases with real-world patient data to identify FDA-approved drugs that may be repurposed to target disease-associated microglia in Alzheimer's disease without affecting the healthy type.

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Many recent studies assume that elderly people are at particular risk of dying from extreme heat as the planet warms. A new study of mortality in Mexico turns this assumption on its head: it shows that 75% of heat-related deaths are occurring among people under 35 -- a large percentage of them ages 18 to 35, or the very group that one might expect to be most resistant to heat.

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The U.S. is forecasted to fall in its global rankings below nearly all high-income and some middle-income countries. Drug use disorders, high body mass index, high blood sugar, and high blood pressure are driving mortality and disability higher across the U.S. Future scenarios for health outcomes identify the states that are forecasted to gain ground, face stagnation, or grow worse. Scientific evidence underscores the urgent need to prioritize public health to prevent the economic consequences of sickness, disabilities, and premature mortality in the U.S.

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New research has found that women who have had both ovaries surgically removed before the age of 50 and carry a variant of the apolipoprotein gene, the APOE4 allele, are at high risk of late-life Alzheimer disease (AD). Use of hormone therapy mitigates this risk.

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Researchers uncovered a population of cells that may provide protection from brain injury following cardiac arrest, leading them to examine a drug that can activate these cells to improve neurological outcomes.

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New research identifies an association between glyphosate exposure in mice and symptoms of neuroinflammation, as well as accelerated Alzheimer's disease-like pathology. This study tracks both the presence and impact of glyphosate's byproducts in the brain long after exposure ends, showing an array of persistent, damaging effects on brain health. The findings suggest the brain may be much more susceptible to the damaging effects of the herbicide than previously thought. Glyphosate is one of the most pervasive herbicides used in the U.S. and worldwide.

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A new study finds that owning a home in early adult life adds approximately four months to the lives of male Americans born in the early twentieth century.

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Today, women with estrogen-sensitive breast cancer receive anti-hormonal therapy. Researchers now show that postmenopausal women with low-risk tumors have a long-term benefit for at least 20 years, while the benefit was more short-term for younger women with similar tumor characteristics who had not yet gone through the menopause.

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Researchers have linked a specific type of body fat to the abnormal proteins in the brain that are hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease up to 20 years before the earliest symptoms of dementia appear, according to a new study. The researchers emphasized that lifestyle modifications targeted at reducing this fat could influence the development of Alzheimer's disease.

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The consumption of milk products, eggs and fish has a positive effect on childhood development in Africa. This has been demonstrated in a recent study. The researchers used representative data from five African countries with over 32,000 child observations. If the children had a diet containing animal products, they suffered less from malnutrition and related developmental deficiencies.

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Beta-blocker drugs -- commonly used to treat heart and blood pressure issues -- may slow the progression of Huntington's disease (HD), according to a new study.

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As muscles age, their cells lose the ability to regenerate and heal after injury. Now, researchers have created the most comprehensive portrait to date of how that change, in mice, unfolds over time.

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For pregnant women, exposure to fine particulate air pollution (PM2.5) was associated with altered immune responses that can lead to adverse birth outcomes, according to a new study. The study is among the first to examine the relationship between PM2.5 and maternal and fetal health on a single-cell level and highlights the health risk of PM2.5 exposure for pregnant women.

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Researchers have created the smallest walking robot yet. Its mission: to be tiny enough to interact with waves of visible light and still move independently, so that it can maneuver to specific locations -- in a tissue sample, for instance -- to take images and measure forces at the scale of some of the body's smallest structures.

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Each brain is unique, not only in its connections but also in the molecular composition of its neurons, particularly ion channels. Despite their variability, the brain functions reliably -- a paradox known as 'neuronal degeneration' (distinct from pathological degeneration). Researchers used mathematical tools to uncover two distinct mechanisms enabling this robustness. These mechanisms ensure reliable neuromodulation, even with variations in ion channels, offering insights into how the brain adapts its activity to internal and external signals.

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