Author: healthadmin

Researchers identified gut microbiome characteristics associated with severity of frailty in older women and found that microbial changes were associated with poorer physical function, fall injuries, and death. Research: Gut microbiota is associated with frailty in older women. Image credit: In Green/Shutterstock.com Recent articles published in journals nature communications We found that in older women, increased frailty severity was associated with distinct gut microbiota characteristics that differed from those previously seen in healthy aging. Existing frailty tools lack important health aspects Frailty is a multifaceted age-related syndrome characterized by decreased physiological resilience and depletion of reserves. Frail people are more…

Scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have discovered evidence that could change the way researchers think about both the brain and artificial intelligence. Their findings suggest that decision-making begins much earlier in the brain than traditional theory suggests, and provide new ideas for designing future AI systems that are higher-performing and much more energy-efficient. The study, led by Yury Vlasov, professor of electrical and computer engineering at Granger Institute of Technology, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The study points to an unexpected role for the brain’s early sensory regions in decision-making and challenges the long-held…

On a busy morning at Gulf Coast Medical Center in Fort Myers, interpreter Maria Marin bounces from cardiology to urology to oncology. “There’s not a room in this hospital that I haven’t been in,” she says. Her clinical needs change from encounter to encounter, but her purpose remains the same. “It is the patient’s right to know and understand everything that is going on.”This belief is at the heart of how Lee Health, a community-based nonprofit founded in 1916, incorporates language access into the fabric of daily care. Serving a rapidly growing and increasingly diverse Southwest Florida region, the system…

To realize the potential of AI in incidental finding management, trust must be built directly into the system itselfAcross the healthcare industry, conversations about artificial intelligence are rapidly moving from possibility to urgency. Imaging volumes are increasing. Clinical documentation is becoming increasingly complex. There are no signs that restrictions on staffing will be eased. AI systems that can interpret narrative clinical texts are increasingly being looked at as part of the solution.However, there are real risks to introducing generalized AI tools into clinical practice without strict oversight. There is a big difference between what an AI system appears to be…

People with high levels of social anxiety tend to perceive individuals and groups as walking straight towards them, even when the actual movement is diagonally away. The study, published in Cognition and Emotion, reveals that these perceptual biases occur at both the individual and crowd level. The results suggest that social anxiety sensitizes the brain to potential social threats by changing how basic spatial logic is applied to moving objects. People with social anxiety have a strong fear of being judged by others. Psychological models suggest that these people have perceptual biases related to threat. They naturally prioritize information that…

Written by Deborah Brennan, CalMatters YMCA Camp Surf campers walk towards the ocean at Mission Beach in San Diego on July 2, 2026. Photography: Adriana Heldiz, CalMatters This article was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for our newsletter. Last week at YMCA Camp Surf in Imperial Beach, a group of middle school students spent the morning skateboarding, climbing a climbing tower and practicing archery. Then, at noon, campers boarded buses for the 40-minute drive to Mission Beach along the coast and jumped into the waves for the camp’s eponymous activity: surfing. Founded in 1969, Camp Surf has introduced generations…

Brain abscesses, located deep in the brain, can quickly become life-threatening and are often difficult to treat with traditional surgery. In a single patient case report, researchers describe how to use robot-guided stereotaxic surgery to drain six intracranial abscesses through four carefully planned trajectories during one surgery. A minimally invasive approach, combined with targeted antimicrobial therapy and controlled edema management, resulted in rapid neurological recovery and full functional recovery with no evidence of recurrence. Brain abscesses are one of the most serious infections encountered in neurosurgery. When multiple abscesses develop deep in the brain, they can cause severe swelling, dangerous…

Want to stay up to date on the science and politics driving biotech today? Sign up to receive our biotech newsletter in your inbox. good morning. In case you missed it, on Friday my friend Bob Herman was treated to Joe Kernan on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” to talk about his excellent new series “Out of Pocket, Out of Reach.” Mr. Kernan grilled Democrats and Obamacare, but Mr. Bob continued to make non-political comments. Truly professional! Caregivers brace for pay cuts and possible homelessness States are scrambling to cut their budgets in the face of a key provision of the Republican…

Knowing how the virus changes during the first few weeks of infection provides important information about its adaptability. Researchers from the Department of Molecular and Medical Virology and the Department of Translational Computer Infection Research at Ruhr University Bochum in Germany took a closer look at the early stages of hepatitis E infection. To do this, they worked closely with the blood donation service of the NRW Heart and Diabetes Center in Bad Einhausen, a hospital of the Ruhr University Clinic Bochum. The research team analyzed samples taken from 80 blood donors who were found to be infected with HEV…

Brief exposure to the odor of dark chocolate allowed fasting men to increase the number of resistance exercises they performed while reducing hunger, providing early evidence that food-related odors can influence training performance without burning calories. Study: Chocolate odor improves resistance exercise performance through appetite suppression in the fasted state: an exploratory study. Image credit: Beats1/Shutterstock.com recent Frontiers in physiology This study investigated whether exposure to chocolate-related odors alters appetite perception, odor pleasantness, and resistance exercise performance in moderately trained fasted men. Chocolate smell may affect hunger and athletic performance Resistance exercise is widely used to build strength and muscle,…