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Editor's Pick
Harassment of US public health officials widespread in pandemic – Johns Hopkins
More than a third of local and state public health officials in the US who resigned or were fired in the first 10 months...
Microplastics found in human blood for first time – Dutch study
Microplastic pollution has been detected in human blood for the first time, with Dutch scientists finding the tiny particles in almost 80% of the...
Ketamine for the treatment of mental health and substance use disorders – Meta-analysis
An Anglo-Canadian study found “strong evidence” that iketamine provides rapid and robust anti-depressant and anti-suicidal effects, but the effects were relatively short-lived. “However, repeated...
ALTAR trial supports antibiotic alternative for recurrent urinary tract infections
The results of the ALATAR randomised clinical trial in the UK suggest a non-antibiotic antiseptic treatment may be as good as antibiotics for preventing...
Firearms overtake car crashes as cause of years of potential life lost in US trauma deaths
Firearms are now the leading cause of years of potential life lost (YPLL) in US trauma deaths, overtaking motor vehicle crashes (MVC) since 2017,...
Muscle-strengthening associated with lower NCD incidence and mortality risk – Meta-analysis
Muscle-strengthening is associated with lower risk of all-cause mortality and major non-communicable diseases (NCDs) including cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and lung cancer, found a...
Height should be considered a risk factor for colorectal screening – Meta-analysis
A meta-analysis by Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers adds to evidence that taller adults may be more likely than shorter ones to develop colorectal cancer...
Pet ownership associated with slower cognitive decline, reduced disabilities in older people
Owning a pet, especially for five years or longer, may be linked to slower cognitive decline in older adults, according to a preliminary study...
Optimal number of daily steps to reduce all-cause mortality varies by age – Meta-analysis
A meta-analysis of 15 studies involving nearly 50,000 people from four continents offers new insights into identifying the amount of daily walking steps that...
Obesity in women significantly increases risk for airway obstructive diseases
A population-based cohort study in Korea has suggested that obesity may put women at a higher risk for airway obstructive diseases like chronic obstructive...
Supplementation: Vitamin D3, but not D2, stimulates human immune system
Contrary to widely held views, there are significant differences between the two types of vitamin D, with D3 appearing to boost the immune system...
Dentistry: No endocarditis increase with end to antibiotic prophylaxis – Karolinska Institutet
Sweden is one of few countries to have removed the dental health recommendation to give prophylactic antibiotics to people at a higher risk of...
Norwegian study: More confirmation of soccer headers’ effect on brain activity
Repetitive ‘headers’ and accidental head impacts in soccer lead to changes in blood patterns linked to brain signalling pathways and potential alterations, shows a...
Study of 4m people shows statin intolerance is over-estimated and over-diagnosed
As many as one in two patients stop taking statins, reduce the dose, or take them irregularly because they believe the cholesterol-lowering drugs cause...
Social isolation and loneliness linked to 27% higher CVD risk in older women
Social isolation and loneliness were associated with substantially increased risk of incident cardiovascular disease (CVD) among older women in the US, found a study...
Sustained dietary change can add almost a decade to lifespan – Norwegian study
A sustained dietary change may give substantial health gains for people of all ages, adding up to 9 years to lifespan, a Norwegian modelling study...
Five ways to optimise treatment and tackle in-hospital stroke – AHA scientific statement
Although hospitalised patients are in a monitored environment, stroke evaluation and treatment are often delayed when compared with patients arriving with a stroke at...
Australian trials suggest greater need for paediatric stroke thrombectomies
The poor natural history of large vessel occlusion (LVO) stroke in children in Australia has added to the growing impetus for endovascular therapy (EVT)...
Strokes in COVID-19 patients associated with higher disability and death risk
Patients with COVID-19 who suffer acute ischaemic stroke (AIS) appear to be at significantly higher risk of severe disability and death compared with stroke...
Decade-long leukaemia remissions with CAR T-cell therapy – Landmark study
Two of the first human patients treated with a therapy that engineers immune cells to target specific types of cancer still possess cancer-killing cells...
Early onset comorbidities linked to higher risk of later dementia – 30-year study
People with two or more chronic conditions in midlife had a substantially higher risk of subsequent dementia, a prospective cohort study analysing data from...
Physical activity 72 hours post-concussion is safe for children – PedCARE trial
Resuming non-contact physical activity three days after a concussion is safe and may reduce symptoms, as well as the risk of delayed recovery, found...
Calorie restriction associated with altered T cells and metabolic markers in MS
A small first-of-its-kind study from Johns Hopkins University found that intermittent calorie-restricted diets is associated with reduced memory T cell subsets in people with...
Wine drinking associated with lower COVID risk, but not beer, cider and spirits – UK Biobank analysis
Consumption of red wine, white wine and champagne above the guidelines protected against COVID-19, while consumption of beer, cider and spirits increased the risk,...
Oral immunotherapy to induce peanut allergy remission in young children – IMPACT trial
In children with a peanut allergy, initiation of peanut oral immunotherapy before age-four was associated with an increase in both desensitisation and remission, found...
Maternal COVID infection increases preterm/low birth/stillbirth rate in unvaccinated women
Unvaccinated pregnant women with COVID-19 are more likely to have poor birth outcomes, including preterm birth, small for gestational age, low birth weight, and...
Pharmacotherapy more effective than lifestyle change for weight loss – Systematic review
Of all the available medications for treatment of overweight and obesity, phentermine–topiramate and GLP-1 receptor agonists proved the best drugs, found a systematic review...
More olive oil, less butter, reduces risk of CVD mortality – large Harvard analysis
Consuming more than 7g (>1/2 tablespoon) of olive oil daily has been linked to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease mortality, cancer mortality, neurodegenerative...
Moderate alcohol use associated with lower CVD risk and all-cause mortality – ASPREE
Moderate drinking of alcohol is associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and a lowering of mortality from all causes, when compared with...
Academic education may retard brain degeneration – Swiss study
A Swiss long-term study found that certain degenerative processes are reduced in the brains of academics, with their brains better able to compensate for...
AHA names 2021’s top heart disease and stroke research advances
A major funder of heart- and stroke-related research, the American Heart Association (AHA) compiles an annual recap of noteworthy scientific studies. Here is an...
Severe outcomes in vaccinated cancer patients with breakthrough COVID
The first study to evaluate the clinical characteristics and outcomes of fully vaccinated patients with cancer who had breakthrough COVID-19 infections indicates they remained...
A 60 second delay in cord-clamping cuts relative mortality by 30%
Clamping the umbilical cord at least 60 seconds after birth reduced the risk of death or major disability at 2 years by 17%, reflecting...
High resting heart rate linked to increased dementia risk and faster cognitive decline
Higher resting heart rate (RHR) was linked to significantly greater dementia risk and faster cognitive decline independent of cardiovascular disease in a study of...
Self-administered test predicts early signs of Alzheimer's and dementia sooner
A simple, self-administered test developed by researchers at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, College of Medicine and College of Public Health can...
Acceleration of biological ageing by stress can by modulated by developing psychological resilience
Measuring biological age by tracking DNA changes through an epigenetic clock, a Yale study stress does indeed make life’s clock tick faster, but people...
Higher yoghurt intake associated with lower BP in hypertensives — Longitudinal Study
Yoghurt intake is associated with lower blood pressure for those with hypertension, according to research from the universities of South Australia and Maine.
Globally, more...
Emotional upset and heavy physical exertion as stroke triggers — Interstroke study
The study found that one in 11 survivors experienced a period of anger or upset in the hour leading up to it. It also...
Viagra as a candidate drug for Alzheimerʼs disease — US prescription analysis
The erectile dysfunction drug Viagra may be linked to a 69% lower risk of Alzheimerʼs disease, found a US analysis of medical insurance data...
San Diego Wisdom Scale successfully abbreviated to just 7 questions
An abbreviated, seven-item scale can help determine, with high validity, a person’s level of wisdom, a potentially modifiable personality trait that has been shown...