Author: healthadmin

A new study from Boston Children’s Hospital found that annual prescription rates increase nonlinearly as a child’s level of underlying medical complexity increases. Frequent use of antibiotics carries risks, including increased likelihood of antibiotic-related complications (such as C. difficile) and development of antibiotic resistance. The results of the study will be presented at the Pediatric Society of America (PAS) 2026 Conference, April 24-27 in Boston. Overuse or misuse of antibiotics contributes to the growing global threat of antibiotic resistance. Children with medical complexity (CMC) are particularly susceptible to frequent infections, but knowledge regarding antibiotic use for this group is limited.…

Coal ash excavated at Duke Energy’s Sutton Steam Plant in Wilmington was placed in a landfill on the site, which was completed in 2019. Photo: Duke Energy Energy providers wasted no time last year in urging the Trump administration to rescind the 2024 federal standards for coal ash disposal. Five days before President Donald Trump returned to the White House for a second term on January 20, 2025, 10 electric power companies, including Duke Energy, sent a letter to Lee Zeldin, then President Trump’s nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency, urging him to “decline to defend these illegal regulations.”…

A major global study suggests that eating with others may be a simple, measurable sign of stronger social connections and better well-being, but rising rates of eating alone in the United States are raising new concerns about everyday isolation. Research: Sharing meals can improve your sense of well-being. Image credit: BrightGridVisuals / Shutterstock Large-scale global study published in journal scientific report It suggests that something as simple as sharing a meal can play a powerful role in well-being. Researchers found that the frequency of eating with others, an indicator of social connectedness, was associated with improved well-being and had similar…

Background and purpose Metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MASLD) affects approximately 32% of the U.S. adult population. This study aimed to simultaneously assess the effects of seven metabolic risk factors (MRFs), ethnicity and age, and clinical symptoms of MASLD, utilizing a large cohort linked to All of Us electronic health records. method This study included a MASLD group (n = 15,060) and a frequency-matched control group (n = 75,300). Multivariate analysis was performed to compare the frequency of MRF and clinical outcomes between the two groups. Type 1 diabetes was not included in the multivariate analysis. Subgroup analyzes were conducted…

Glioblastoma remains a very difficult malignant tumor with a marked tendency for recurrence. Hypoxic microenvironment is a major cause of treatment resistance. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), which increases tissue oxygen tension and reverses hypoxia, has a “dual effect” in the management of glioblastoma. On the other hand, HBOT increases radiosensitivity through the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), enhances the efficacy of chemotherapy by enhancing cytotoxicity and improving vascular perfusion, remodels the tumor microenvironment by normalizing blood vessels and modulating immune cells, and weakens the properties of cancer stem cells. On the other hand, HBOT may also promote tumor progression.…

McMaster University researchers have developed a new generative artificial intelligence (AI) model that can significantly speed up drug discovery, and have already designed an entirely new antibiotic in early tests. This discovery demonstrates how AI can dramatically improve the time-consuming and costly search for new antibiotics as bacteria and other microorganisms continue to evolve resistance to the current array of drugs. The new model, called SyntheMol-RL, is trained to explore a vast chemical space of up to 46 billion possible compounds. This is far beyond what can be realistically tested in a laboratory, where even large screens reach about 1…

Scientists have mapped in unprecedented detail the structure of Vibrio bacteria, which can cause life-threatening infections linked to antibiotic resistance. The team at King’s College London who supported this research; nature communicationssaid this discovery could provide new targets for life-saving treatments. This new study comes amid global concerns about infections caused by Vibrio bacteria. Cholera kills thousands of people a year, and vibriosis, a serious infection that is increasingly resistant to antibiotics, is on the rise in southern Europe and the southern coast of the United States, where the bacteria thrives in warm coastal waters. This level of detailed understanding…

Use of psilocybin, a psychedelic compound found in “magic mushrooms,” is on the rise in the United States, paralleling decriminalization efforts in several states and local governments and growing public concern. Researchers are also interested in the drug as a potential treatment for depression. A new study by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and the New York University Grossman School of Medicine found that about 2.8% of U.S. residents over the age of 12, or about 8 million people, have used psilocybin in the past year. The research team analyzed data from the 2024…

“A plague is upon us” may have been a familiar cry in ancient Jordan, where a mysterious disease killed large numbers of people and left a lasting mark on society and history. Now, researchers are uncovering new details about the crisis. An interdisciplinary team at the University of South Florida is studying the Justinian plague and its far-reaching impact. The group, led by Associate Professor Reyes HY Zhang from the College of Public Health, published the third paper in an ongoing series investigating what is believed to be the first bubonic plague outbreak recorded in the Mediterranean. Their latest study,…

Researchers from Cairo University and the Technical University of Munich (TUM) working on the ScanPyramids research project have discovered two hidden air-filled anomalies inside the third largest pyramid at Giza. Scientists have suspected for years that there is an undiscovered entrance on the east side of Menkaure’s pyramid. New research using radar, ultrasound, and electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) confirms the existence of two hidden cavities beneath the east façade, providing the first hard evidence to support the idea. The eastern face of Menkaure’s pyramid, which is more than 60 meters high, has long puzzled researchers. Some of the granite blocks,…