In some severe cases of COVID-19, the lungs undergo extreme damage, resulting in a range of life-threatening conditions like pneumonia, inflammation, and acute respiratory distress syndrome. The root cause of those wide-ranging reactions in the lungs has until now remained unclear. A new study by researchers at Columbia and the Columbia University Irving Medical Center sheds light on this mystery. The study found that ferroptosis, a form of cell death first named and identified at Columbia in 2012, is the major cell death mechanism that underlies COVID-19 lung disease. The finding indicates that deliberately halting ...

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have succeeded in delivering targeted cancer treatment via small membrane bubbles that our cells use to communicate. A new study published in Nature Biomedical Engineering shows that the treatment reduces tumour growth and improves survival in mice. When our cells communicate, they send out small membrane bubbles known as extracellular vesicles which contain various signalling molecules. Interest in these tiny bubbles, sometimes referred to as the body’s ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – A quarter of parents report that caffeine is basically part of their teen’s daily life, according to a national poll. Two in three parents think they know whether their teen’s caffeine intake is appropriate and which products have too much caffeine. Yet a third aren’t able to identify recommended caffeine limits, according to the University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health. “Our report suggests parents may not always be aware of how much they should be limiting caffeine consumption for teens,” said poll co-director and Mott ...

Compartments of consistently sized, tightly packed microspheres are what makes some brown algae shimmer like opal. The Kobe University discovery not only sheds light on the mechanism behind the alga’s structural coloration, it is also the first to spot the effect in an order of brown algae other than the two where it was known to occur. Most brown algae are indeed yellowish-brown, but scuba divers noticed that a species resembling Sporochnus in the order Sporochnales shimmers like peacock feathers in yellow, ...

Decarbonization of automobiles not only requires a shift from gasoline engines to electric motors, but also quality steel parts that help the motors run while lessening the weight of vehicles. High-performance steel materials can offer quieter rides and resist the wear and tear from high-speed rotation in motors. To create them, the process of modifying the steel surface with carbon, nitrogen, and alloy elements needs to be optimized. To understand the interactions between elements in steel, a systematic investigation ...

Dr. Hyuk-June Moon from the Bionics Research Center at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), in collaboration with Prof. Olaf Blanke’s team at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), has successfully induced self-location illusions with multi-sensory virtual reality (VR) in the MRI scanner and observed corresponding changes in the human brain's grid cell activity. The brain is known to contain grid cells and place cells, which perform global positioning system (GPS) functions that allow us to recognize where we are. While ...

WASHINGTON, DC (May 20, 2024) — Gallbladder cancer rates have been stable or declining for most Americans over the last two decades, but cases have steadily risen among Blacks, with growing numbers not being diagnosed until later stages, according to a study scheduled for presentation at Digestive Disease Week® (DDW) 2024. “Gallbladder cancer diagnosis at late stage can be highly detrimental,” said lead author Yazan Abboud, MD, internal medicine resident at Rutgers University New Jersey Medical School. “This could be due to a lack of timely ...

Washington (May 14, 2024) — Cancer-related studies, including a diagnostic tool for gastric cancer and trends in gallbladder and colorectal cancers, will be presented this week at Digestive Disease Week (DDW) 2024. Abstracts are available to registered media, and press releases are available where noted. Studies are embargoed until 12:01 a.m. EDT the day of presentation, unless otherwise noted. Here are summaries of the new research on the schedule: Oral microbiome signatures as potential biomarkers for gastric cancer risk assessment, Abstract 949, will be presented Monday, May 20, at 4:15 p.m. EDT.  (A press release is available upon request. Embargoed until 12:01 a.m. EDT ...

Washington (May 14, 2024) — Studies featuring endoscopic and laparoscopic procedures, including patient views on artificial intelligence in endoscopy and hazards to healthcare personnel of smoke-producing procedures, will be presented this week at Digestive Disease Week (DDW) 2024. Abstracts are available to registered media, and press releases are available where noted. Research is embargoed until 12:01 a.m. EDT the day of presentation, unless otherwise noted. Here are summaries of the new research: Patients’ sentiments ...

Washington (May 14, 2024) — Studies exploring the hunger hormone, weight-loss drugs, sauerkraut and antibiotic weight gain, the impact of physician gender on care, and the relationship between sleep patterns and digestive diseases will be presented this week at Digestive Disease Week (DDW) 2024. Abstracts are available to registered media. Embargos lift at 12:01 a.m. EDT on the day they are presented unless otherwise noted. Here are summaries of the new research: Performance of a machine-learning gene ...

Peer-reviewed – Proof-of-concept study  University of East Anglia researchers have made a significant breakthrough in ocular device technology with the introduction of a novel resin for 3D printing intraocular devices. This innovation has potential to enhance the manufacture of eye implants universally used in cataract and refractive surgeries.   An artificial intraocular lens (IOL) is primarily required for people with cataracts, a condition where the eye’s natural lens becomes cloudy, obscuring vision.  They can also be also used to correct refractive errors such as myopia (nearsightedness), ...

Experts have released robust research to show that phonics should be taught hand-in-hand with reading and writing to encourage true literacy and a love of reading, not through narrow synthetic phonics. There is widespread disagreement globally across academic and educational spheres about the best way to teach children to learn to read and write. Despite a growing international trend towards a narrow approach to synthetic phonics, experts suggest there is a ‘better way’ to teach reading and writing. In England, the system is among the most prescriptive in the world with ‘synthetic phonics’ being the ...

EMBARGOED UNTIL MONDAY, 20 MAY 2024, 01:01 CEST (00:01 BST/London Time) Meerkats use two different types of vocal interactions to stay in touch with their group mates. Sometimes the call simply broadcasts information, whereas other times meerkats engage in a call exchange with their neighbours, as researchers from the Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour at the University of Konstanz and the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior present in a new publication published on 20 May in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. What does it sound like ...

EMBARGOED UNTIL:  2:15 p.m. PT, May 19, 2024   Session:  A95 – Climate Change and Health Disparities in Lung Disease Extreme Heat and Asthma Hospitalizations in Children in California (2017-2020) Date and Time: Sunday, May 19, 2024, 2:15 p.m. PT Location:  San Diego Convention Center, Room 24A-C (Upper Level)   ATS 2024, San Diego – For children seeking care at a California urban pediatric health center, extreme heat events were associated with increased asthma hospital visits, according to research published at the ATS 2024 International Conference.   “We found ...

EMBARGOED UNTIL: 2:15 p.m. PT, Sunday, May 19, 2024   Session:  Session A96 – Improving the Care of Patients with Diverse Pulmonary Conditions and Sleep Disordered Breathing The State of Home Health Nursing for Medically Complex Children in the United States Date and Time: Sunday, May 19, 2024, 2:15 p.m. PT Location:  San Diego Convention Center, Room 8 (Upper Level) ATS 2024, San Diego – For American families with medically-complex children, access to home health nursing is often inadequate and the families face major financial burdens, according to research published ...

EMBARGOED UNTIL:  2:15 p.m. PT, May 19, 2024 Session:  A97 – It’s (Not) a Small World: Molecular and Physiologic Epidemiology in PAH The Impact of Reproductive History on Pulmonary Hypertension: Insights from the Pvdomics Study Date and Time: Sunday, May 19, 2024, 2:15 p.m. PT Location:  San Diego Convention Center, Room 6D (Upper Level)   ATS 2024, San Diego – The use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may be associated with improved pulmonary hypertension in women, according to research presented at the ATS 2024 International Conference. Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a type of pulmonary vascular ...

EMBARGOED UNTIL:  2:39 P.M. PT, May 19, 2024   Session:  A93 - CRITICAL CARE AND ACUTE CARE MEDICINE: DISPARITIES, QUALITY IMPROVEMENT, AND OUTCOMES Examining the Association Between Hospital Environments and Intersectional Disparities in Mechanical Ventilation Outcomes Date and Time: Sunday May 19, 2024, 2:39 p.m. PT Location:  San Diego Convention Center, Room 7A-B (Upper Level)   ATS 2024, San Diego – The odds of death for patients receiving mechanical ventilation for pneumonia or sepsis  increase along with the diversity of hospitals’ patient populations, suggesting more systemic factors such ...

  EMBARGOED UNTIL:  9:15 a.m. PT, May 19, 2024   Session:  A27 – Emerging Treatments and Therapeutic Strategies in COP: Results of Clinical Trials and Observational Studies Impact of Race-Neutral Spirometry Reference Equations on Eligibility for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Clinical Trials Date and Time: Sunday, May 19, 9:15 a.m. PT Location:  San Diego Convention Center, Room 33A-C (Upper Level)   ATS 2024, San Diego – Equations that don’t use racially and ethnically adjusted spirometry results to help determine eligibility for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) ...

Finding and treating people with undiagnosed asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) improved their health and reduced their healthcare visits for respiratory symptoms in the year after diagnosis, according to a world-first clinical trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine. "It's estimated that 70 per cent of people with asthma or COPD go undiagnosed." said study lead Dr. Shawn Aaron, a senior scientist and lung specialist at The Ottawa Hospital and professor at the University of ...

A National Institutes of Health (NIH)-supported clinical trial has found that intravenous acetaminophen reduced sepsis patients’ risk of having organ injury or developing acute respiratory distress syndrome, a serious condition that allows fluid to leak into the lungs. Sepsis is the body’s uncontrolled and extreme response to an infection. While the trial did not improve mortality rates in all patients with sepsis regardless of severity, the researchers found that acetaminophen gave the greatest benefit to the patients most at risk for organ damage. With the therapy, those patients needed less assisted ...

About The Study: Among people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) at high risk of exacerbation, treatment with the β1-selective β-blocker bisoprolol did not reduce the number of self-reported COPD exacerbations requiring treatment with oral corticosteroids, antibiotics, or both. Quote from corresponding author Graham Devereux, M.D.: “People with COPD are at increased risk of cardiovascular conditions that benefit from treatment with beta-blockers. However, there is a well-documented ...

About The Study: Among patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis treated with pamrevlumab (a fully human monoclonal antibody that binds to and inhibits connective tissue growth factor activity) or placebo, there was no statistically significant between-group difference for the primary outcome of absolute change in forced vital capacity from baseline to week 48.  Quote from corresponding author, Ganesh Raghu, M.D.: “Current treatment with the two drugs approved by regulatory agencies ...

About The Study: In critically ill sepsis patients, treatment with intravenous acetaminophen for 5 days was safe but did not improve the primary end point of days alive and free of any organ support (dialysis, assisted ventilation, and vasopressors) to day 28 compared with placebo.   Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Lorraine B. Ware, M.D., email Lorraine.ware@vumc.org. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jama.2024.8772) Editor’s Note: Please see the ...

Removing race from equations that estimate lung function will shift the categorization of disease severity across patient populations, moving more Black individuals into an advanced disease category, according to new research led by scientists at Harvard Medical School. At the same time, more white and Hispanic people would be reclassified as having less advanced illness. The findings, the research team said, suggest that adjusting lung function tests to include race — as has been the case historically — likely normalized worse lung function and downplayed disease severity among Black people. The work, to be published May 19 in the New England Journal ...

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common form of arrythmia or irregular heartbeat worldwide, impacting millions of people in the U.S. alone. In a new study published in Heart Rhythm,  researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a founding member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system, analyzed real-world clinical data to measure the impact of evidence-based best-practices on patient outcomes for the most common AF procedure: radiofrequency (RF)-based ablation. One year after the procedure, 81.6 percent ...