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Epidemiology
Vitamin D in pregnancy helps children’s bones – UK analysis
Children whose mothers had taken extra vitamin D during pregnancy continue to have stronger bones at age seven, say researchers from University of Southampton...
Early morning, evening activity could cut bowel cancer risk – German study
Being more active in the morning and evening may reduce the risk of bowel cancer by 11%, according to a study that suggests the...
Impact of severe Covid on brain’s ‘control centre’ – UK study
British researchers have suggested that severe Covid infections may drive inflammation in the brain’s “control centre”, causing damage that could explain the long-term breathlessness,...
The cost of lockdown on children’s eyesight – Chinese study
One in every three children is now short-sighted as a result of Covid lockdowns, suggest researchers, who found not only that myopia tripled between...
Virus causing paralysing illness spikes in US wastewater
A respiratory virus that sometimes paralyses children is spreading across America, raising concerns about another possible rise in polio-like illnesses, according to US health...
Prescription amphetamine tied to higher psychosis risk – US study
Amphetamine use has risen steadily in the US over the past few years – up 70% between 2011 and 2021 – with a recent...
Scientists hope metabolic data may ultimately predict SIDS – US study
Metabolic data from babies who died of sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDs, could help predict the devastating condition, research has revealed, with scientists hoping...
WHO issues guidance to limit antibiotic-makers’ pollution
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has released new guidance on what it calls an “important but neglected challenge” in efforts to tackle antimicrobial resistance...
Processed meat a high risk factor for type 2 diabetes – UK analysis
Meat consumption, particularly of processed meat and unprocessed red meat, is associated with a higher type 2 diabetes risk, suggests an analysis of data...
Surge in children's sugary drink intake – global study
Worldwide, children and adolescents drank, on average, 23% more sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) in 2018 than they did in 1990, according to a recent study,...
Time to rethink how we treat obesity
Although the tide of therapies targeting glucagon-like peptide receptor agonists (GLP-1 RA) – like semaglutide, and di- and triagonists, like tirzepatide and retatrutide –...
Cheaper obesity drugs in Indian and Chinese pipelines
As the patents on various weight-loss drugs near expiry, Indian and Chinese companies are racing to produce biosimilar versions, in efforts to widen affordable...
Post-menopause CKD tied to tooth loss – South Korean study
There's an association between chronic kidney disease (CKD) and increased tooth loss in post-menopausal women, particularly those aged 66-79, according to a South Korean...
Tattoos may boost lymphatic cancer risk – Swedish study
Swedish scientists have called for urgent in-depth research after their recent study, the first of its kind, suggested that tattoo ink might increase the...
Is pre-diabetes over-diagnosed?
Some experts have disagreed on whether or not pre-diabetes is over-diagnosed, and how and when to screen for this potential precursor to type two...
Ultra-processed food linked to higher death risk – 30-year study
A three-decades’ long study has concluded that although higher consumption of most ultra-processed foods is linked to a slightly higher risk of death, it...
Can consuming olive oil help reduce dementia?
Harvard University researchers recently suggested that adding just a spoonful of olive oil to your diet every day not only provides powerful health benefits...
Smokers more likely to carry belly fat linked to disease risk – Danish study
Smokers may have more belly fat – particularly visceral fat – than non-smokers, even if they tend to generally have lower body weight than...
Sugary drinks make boys more prone to diabetes than girls – US study
A long-term study of women and their children by Harvard University found sugary drinks increased insulin resistance and blood glucose levels in boys, but...
Schoolchildren’s obesity legacy from Covid – UK study
Researchers say that lockdown measures during the Covid-19 pandemic have led to skyrocketing numbers of obese and overweight primary-schoolchildren in England, which could lead...
Tirzepatide beats semaglutide in glucose control, weight loss
A meta-analysis of 22 randomised controlled trials – with data from nearly 19 000 patients – across Medline and the Cochrane Library, has suggested...
‘Night owls’ at higher risk for diabetes than ‘early birds’ – US analysis
People who go to bed late and wake up late have more chance of developing diabetes than those who are “early to bed and...
UFS team probes deadly fungi that kill millions of people
South African researchers are working to combat diseases caused by fungal infections, which affect more than 3m people a year in this country, and...
Vegetarians have higher risk of bone fracture – UK study
While not eating meat is a popular dietary choice and may offer several health benefits, researchers are still seeking to understand the potential risks...
For full exercise benefits, middle-aged people need good sleep – London study
Middle-aged people not getting enough sleep have less chance of seeing see the benefits of exercise when it comes to protection against a decline...
Daily 11-minute walk reduces early death risk – UK meta-analysis
One in 10 early deaths could be prevented if everyone managed at least half the recommended level of daily physical activity, with just 11...
Those who move gradually from adult normal to overweight live longest
People who start adulthood with a body mass index (BMI) in the normal range and move later in life to being overweight – but...
An new malaria vector in urban African populations
A species of mosquito originally from Asia threatens to put tens of millions of city-dwellers in Africa at higher risk of catching malaria as...
Childhood adversity increases risk of early death more than 4x
A population-based cohort study of 1m Danish children shows that adversity in childhood increases the risk of premature death in early adulthood (16-36 years...
Century-old lessons from the Spanish flu
Dr Stefan E Pambuccian, a Loyola Medicine cytologist, surgical pathologist and professor and vice chair of the department of pathology and laboratory medicine at...
Novel coronavirus imaging features overlap with SARS and MERS
Although the imaging features of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are variable and nonspecific, the findings reported thus far do show "significant overlap" with...
Drug meant for Ebola may also work against coronaviruses
A group of University of Alberta researchers who have discovered why the drug remdesivir is effective in treating the coronaviruses that cause Middle East...
Improved handwashing at airports could slow spread of viral diseases by 70%
Improving the rate of handwashing at just 10 major airports could significantly slow the spread of a viral disease, researchers estimate, The findings, which...
SA's listeriosis outbreak fuelled by HIV and lack of awareness
The listeriosis outbreak that killed more than 200 people in South Africa between 2017 and 2018 was fuelled by HIV and a lack of...
Quantifying the intensity of the coronavirus outbreak and its pandemic potential
A number of groups have estimated R0 for the new coronavirus, meaning that it will die out. But scientists from the Chinese Academy of...
Chinese research that coronavirus passed from pangolins questioned
Independent scientists have questioned research that suggested that the outbreak of coronavirus disease spreading from China might have passed from bats to humans through...
Virus hunters of Sierra Leone pursue the next deadly coronavirus
A team of medical scientists in Sierra Leon, part of the Predict international network, is in search of a holy grail to virus hunters:...
Three-pronged approach could eliminate cervical cancer within 100 years
More than 74m cervical cancer cases and 62m deaths could be averted in the next 100 years if 78 of the world’s poorest countries...
Sepsis associated with 1 in 5 deaths globally, double previous estimate
Twice as many people as previously believed are dying of sepsis worldwide, according to an analysis, published in The Lancet.
Among them are a...
5 healthy habits at middle age may mean up to 9 extra years free of chronic disease
Maintaining five healthy habits – eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly, keeping a healthy body weight, not drinking too much alcohol, and not smoking...