Author: healthadmin
Martha Lillard was diagnosed with polio when she was just 5 years old and relied on an iron lung to survive. She was the last American polio patient to use the device, and died on June 26 in Oklahoma, according to her sister. She was 78 years old. “They told her she shouldn’t live past 20,” Lillard’s sister, Cindy McVeigh, told The Associated Press on Friday. “She had a passion and drive to continue living and make the most of life.” McVeigh believes her sister’s death was due to the long-term effects of COVID-19. The death certificate listed chronic lung…
Scientists have proposed a new way to describe black holes that could overcome major limitations in one of Stephen Hawking’s most influential ideas. The study introduces a modern approach to black hole thermodynamics that works even when black holes are changing over time, and could yield new insights into how black holes form, coalesce, and slowly evaporate. Black holes are one of the most extreme objects in the known universe. It forces enormous amounts of mass into an incredibly small area, creating a gravitational force so strong that not even light can escape. To understand these cosmic objects, physicists rely…
Recent research published in psychological report suggest that a state’s socioeconomic status and air pollution levels are the strongest predictors of autism spectrum disorder prevalence. The study provides evidence that higher average wealth and education tend to be associated with more fine particle pollution and higher autism diagnosis rates across the United States. These findings provide a new perspective on how a wide range of environmental factors interact with local health trends. Autism spectrum disorder, commonly referred to as ASD, is a developmental disorder that affects the way people communicate, learn, and interact with the world. Over the past two…
Novogene Europe, a multi-omics research services partner, today announced that it has strengthened its position as a multi-omics partner with the launch of untargeted metabolomics services through the Cambridge Omics Center. This new capability will help researchers in the UK and Europe connect molecular data with biological function by adding metabolite-level insights to genomics, transcriptomics, microbiome, and broader life sciences research. Untargeted Metabolomics supports discovery-driven research by profiling small molecule changes close to the phenotype, allowing researchers to explore the biochemical activities underlying complex biological systems. A new liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) workflow is built combining Thermo Scientific™ Vanquish™ UHPLC…
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…