Author: healthadmin

Deep sleep doesn’t just make you feel rested. It actively rebuilds the body, strengthens muscles, supports bone growth and helps burn fat. For teenagers, it is also essential to reach their full height potential. At the heart of all this is growth hormone, which surges during sleep. But scientists have long been puzzled as to why sleep deprivation, especially the early deep stage known as non-REM sleep, leads to decreased levels of this important hormone. Scientists discover the brain circuit behind it Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley have revealed the answer. In a study published in the journal…

ORLANDO, Fla.—A massive conference to help local residents prepare for hurricane season opened Monday without an agency coordinating the federal disaster response. Representatives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency blamed the absence from the National Hurricane Conference on the partial government shutdown. The conference is one of the largest aimed at helping communities prepare for the Atlantic hurricane season, which begins June 1st. More than 1,800 local and state emergency managers signed up to participate, as did representatives from other federal agencies, nonprofits such as the Salvation Army, and businesses such as Publix and Home Depot. The meeting ends on…

Women use higher pitched voices when talking to strange dogs than they do when talking to their own pets. The tone of the human’s voice and facial expressions also change depending on the size of the dog and the type of activity they do together. These results were recently published in the journal Animal Cognition. To understand this research, it is helpful to understand the concept of prosody. Prosody refers to the rhythm, tone, and pitch of spoken language, as well as the facial expressions that accompany spoken words. Acoustic prosody involves audio features such as pitch range, while visual…

A new study examining how scientists share knowledge on social media reveals that different digital platforms and scientific topics require distinct communication styles to reach a wide audience. The study found that snappy, objective videos performed best on TikTok, while detailed and slightly sarcastic explanations received more attention on YouTube. These findings were recently published in the journal Computers in Human Behavior. In our highly digitalized society, the way scientific knowledge reaches the public relies heavily on social media networks. Online platforms allow experts to speak directly to the public without having to filter their messages through traditional news media.…

Following high-profile moves by Eli Lilly and other major drug companies to pause investment in the UK last year, the Indianapolis-based drug giant is clarifying its wishes and sharing updates on negotiations there. Patrick Jonsson, Lilly’s head of international operations, told the Financial Times that the company is asking the country’s leaders to increase NHS drug prices and phase out a multibillion-pound rebate scheme in return for Lilly to continue investing in the UK. Lilly’s investment in the UK has stalled since last autumn. David Rix, chief executive of Eli Lilly, told the FT in September that the UK was…

O. Rose Broderick reports on health policy and technology governing the lives of people with disabilities. Before coming to STAT, she worked at WNYC’s Radiolab and Scientific American. Her article debunking false theories about transgender children was nominated for a 2024 GLAAD Media Award. You can access Rose On Signal at rosebroderick.11.Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made headlines in February when he suggested that schizophrenia could be “cured” by changing one’s diet. His comments sparked a wave of backlash from researchers, who called his comments “baseless.” Although current scientific consensus suggests that schizophrenia cannot be cured with diet,…

Inhaling common disinfectant chemicals known as quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) can be far more harmful than swallowing them, according to a mouse study by researchers at the University of California, Davis. This study found significant lung damage at blood QAC exposure levels similar to those measured in humans. The findings raise questions about whether airborne infections from disinfectant sprays and cleaning products can contribute to respiratory diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The study was published in the journal Environment Science and Technology. The study’s surprising results were that inhaling these compounds caused 100 times…

Irregular bedtimes in midlife may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. A new study from the University of Oulu suggests that large variations in bedtime can double the risk of serious cardiac events, especially for people who sleep less than eight hours. Researchers found that irregular bedtimes and high variability in sleep timing were strongly associated with a higher risk of serious cardiovascular events, especially when sleeping for less than 8 hours. The risk for this group was about twice that of people with more regular sleep patterns. In contrast, irregular wake times showed no clear association with cardiac events.…

With Tivaso’s second Phase 3 victory in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), United Therapeutics is inflating its expansion lawsuit and adding more color to its plans to file with the FDA. After a series of “overwhelmingly positive” late-stage results, several analysts echo United’s optimism that Tivaso (treprostinil) has the potential to change the treatment landscape for the lung scarring disease, which is estimated to affect more than 100,000 people in the United States. In the late-stage TETON-1 trial, nebulized Tivaso outperformed a placebo in terms of change in forced vital capacity (FVC, a measure of the amount of air a patient…

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) affects up to 18% of all women of childbearing age. This condition occurs when a woman’s body produces too much of a group of hormones called androgens, primarily testosterone. It can lead to irregular menstruation, obesity, and even infertility. The first line of treatment is usually hormonal birth control, said Krista Varady, a professor of nutrition at UIC. But it can have negative side effects on mood, sex drive and metabolism, and may even increase the risk of stroke in some people, Varady said. We are looking for other ways to lower testosterone levels in…