Author: healthadmin

Listen to the audio version of this article (generated by AI).Federal regulators are giving chemical manufacturers and oil refiners more time to provide data on a range of chemicals linked to human health risks as officials consider tightening regulations. US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the deadline has been extended The compliance period for health and safety data reporting rules will run for one year until May 2027, with an extension necessary to provide “regulatory certainty”. The agency said it would use the extension to decide whether to revise the rule, in part because of “legitimate concerns” raised by industry groups…

Garner Health, a digital care navigation company for employers, has secured $100 million in Series E funding, bringing the total valuation to $2.74 billion. Index Ventures led the startup’s Series E round, which was also supported by Kleiner Perkins, Redpoint, Thrive, Sequoia, Founders Fund, and Kaiser Permanente Ventures. This comes just three months after the company announced a $118 million Series D funding round in February. “The American health care system pays doctors to do things for you, not for you. Mr. Garner is quietly trying to fix that problem,” Index Ventures partner Jahanbi Saldana said in a statement. “By…

Millions of Americans live with blurred vision, nearsightedness, or more severe vision problems. While glasses and contact lenses help many people, millions of people are turning to corrective procedures like LASIK to sharpen their vision. But scientists are now exploring a completely different approach that could one day change the shape of the eye without lasers, cutting or invasive surgery. Researchers at Occidental College and the University of California, Irvine are developing an experimental technique called electromechanical reshaping (EMR). Rather than removing tissue as in LASIK, this method temporarily softens the cornea and allows it to be gently molded into…

Recent research published in Journal of Health Psychology Our results suggest that identifying as a feminist may paradoxically increase certain body image concerns among college women. This finding provides evidence that feminist beliefs can sometimes encourage the pursuit of a materialistic lifestyle, which tends to reinforce unrealistic beauty standards and digital photo editing behaviors. In modern culture, media exposure constantly presents women with a narrow definition of physical attractiveness. This continued exposure can lead to self-objectification, a mental state in which individuals begin to view their bodies simply as objects to be evaluated by others. Recognizing these pressures, many are…

When a person loses a limb, a prosthesis often helps restore a significant degree of mobility. But when neurological conditions such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), spinal cord injury, or stroke impair movement and communication, there are currently few options for those affected. To address this challenge, Rice University, in collaboration with Baylor College of Medicine (BCM), will join Braingate, a consortium of universities and academic medical centers working to develop brain-computer interface (BCI) technology. A BCI, as the name suggests, is a system that links the brain with external systems such as robotic arms or computers. These allow individuals…

Scientists say climate change is causing large-scale and permanent changes in the Arctic Ocean, fundamentally disrupting the marine food chain. The rapid decline in Arctic sea ice is sharply reducing levels of nitrate, a nutrient essential for the growth of plankton that forms the basis of the region’s ecosystems, according to a new study. Researchers warn that this change could affect everything from fish and seabirds to marine mammals, while also weakening the Arctic Ocean’s ability to absorb carbon from the atmosphere. The study found that large areas of the Arctic’s shallow waters that were once protected by sea ice…

House Republicans’ Interior Department spending bill includes massive new fees that could be another blow to the struggling offshore wind industry. The fiscal year 2027 environmental spending bill proposed by the House Appropriations subcommittee last week would impose various fees on offshore wind projects. These are divided into annual membership fees and physical inspection fees. Annual fees range from $7,300 for an onshore inspection visit to an offshore wind project’s control center to $15,400 for a visual inspection of a wind turbine. Further physical inspection of the wind turbine or substation will cost $72,800. The new fees largely reflect the…

Diagnostic interviews are widely used by mental health professionals to identify conditions such as anxiety, bipolar disorder and depression in adults, but new research led by McMaster University shows that the long-held “gold standard” may not be as consistent as previously thought. Meta-analysis published in JAMA network open May 28 found that standardized diagnostic interviews are only moderately consistent when the same person is evaluated multiple times. In some cases, repeated interviews just a few days apart identified individuals with different diagnoses. Furthermore, this consistency varies widely depending on which disease is being evaluated. The study’s conclusions are particularly concerning…

A Mount Sinai-led research team has demonstrated that autoimmunity, when the body’s immune system attacks its own tissues, is responsible for the often debilitating and disorienting symptoms of long-term COVID-19 infections in some people. The research results are cell The May 28 announcement could lead to important new approaches to treating patients with long-term COVID-19 infection, including already validated treatments for autoimmune management and new ways to clinically identify which patients are most likely to benefit from these treatments. Although it has long been known that the novel coronavirus involves a variety of phenotypes, rather than just one, it…

Chronic oral inflammation can cause a systemic immune response that affects the ovaries and impairs female fertility. New research shows this can lead to oxidative damage, reduced egg quality, inhibited follicle development, and reduced birth rates. These findings point to a potential biological link between oral health and unexplained infertility and provide new directions for future treatments. A new study led by Professor Michael Kurstein of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Professor Asaf Wilensky of the Hebrew University Hadassah Medical Center, and led by students Dr. Paz Krez and Dr. Steven Amejo, reveals a striking biological link between chronic…