Author: ModernMedia

Categories : Medical Research & TechnologyTags :

Different Liquids Can Impact the Effectiveness of Certain Drugs

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Adrienn Demeter (r), Ph.D. student at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Semmelweis University and first author of the study. Photo: Boglárka Zellei – Semmelweis University

Some alkaline mineral and medicinal waters may weaken the enteric coating of medications within just a few minutes, potentially reducing their effectiveness, according to a new study by Semmelweis University. The study, published in Pharmaceutics, found that if the active ingredient is released too early in the stomach rather than in the intestinal tract, it may reduce – and, in extreme cases, even eliminate – the effectiveness of certain anti-reflux, gastroprotective, psychiatric, or anti-inflammatory pain-relief medications. 

Researchers at Semmelweis University studied how different liquids could affect enteric-coated medications. The study analysed 22 commonly consumed beverages, seven of which – including several mineral and medicinal waters, tap water, filtered water, and apple juice – were examined in detail under laboratory conditions. 

Alkaline bottled waters with high mineral content caused the greatest changes in the protective coating surrounding the active ingredient-loaded particles. According to the researchers, not only the water’s alkalinity but also its high mineral and ion content may have contributed to the faster dissolution of the protective coating, an effect that was particularly pronounced in some medicinal waters. In some cases, the enteric coating began to deteriorate after just five minutes, and after 15–30 minutes of pre-soaking, more than 90 percent of the active ingredient had been released prematurely. 

Enteric-coated medications are designed so that the active ingredient is not released in the stomach but later in the intestines. This is important because some active ingredients are broken down by stomach acid, while others may irritate the stomach lining. Such coatings are commonly used on certain reflux medications, anti-inflammatory pain relievers, and digestive enzyme products.

Acidic liquids are less impactful

By contrast, more acidic liquids caused less damage to the enteric coating of the medications. In apple juice, for example, almost no premature release of the active ingredient was observed at the start of the tests, indicating that the coating remained far more stable than in alkaline waters. 

“The small drug particle does not know whether it is already in the intestine or still sitting in a glass. If the pH of the surrounding environment is similar, the coating may begin to dissolve in the same way. Healthcare professionals generally assume that medications are swallowed with plain tap water, but that is not always obvious to patients today, given the wide variety of mineral and medicinal waters available on the market,” said Dr Nikolett Kállai-Szabó, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Semmelweis University and senior author of the study. 

The researchers also analysed the Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPCs) of 103 enteric-coated medications. In 42 cases, the instructions did not specify what liquid should be used to take the medication. Another 31 mentioned only “liquid,” while 21 referred simply to “water” without further clarification. Only nine SmPCs provided specific guidance on what beverage to take or mix the medication with, such as apple juice or another mildly acidic liquid. 

This may be particularly important for people who open hard capsules because of swallowing difficulties and mix the capsule contents with liquids, yogurt, or applesauce. Older adults, children, and patients with a temporary sore throat or swallowing difficulties are more likely to find themselves in this situation. 

“In the pharmacy, we regularly see that many patients are unaware of how much it matters what they take their medication with. This can also affect whether the treatment works as intended,” said Adrienn Demeter, PhD student at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Semmelweis University and first author of the study. 

The researchers emphasize that the findings do not mean mineral or medicinal waters are inherently problematic. The key takeaway is that enteric-coated medications should preferably be taken with plain tap water, and patients should consult a pharmacist or physician before opening a capsule or splitting a tablet. 

Source: Semmelweis University

Categories : Infection ControlTags :

Africa CDC update on the Bundibugyo Virus Disease Outbreak

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The Bundibugyo ebolavirus outbreak is currently affecting 27 health zones in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and one district in Uganda. A cumulative total of 681 confirmed cases and 126 deaths among confirmed cases have been reported across the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, representing a case fatality ratio of 18.5%.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo remains the main focus of the outbreak, with 662 confirmed cases and 124 deaths reported to date. Ituri Province continues to account for the majority of reported cases. In the last 24 hours, 29 new confirmed cases and five deaths among confirmed cases were reported in Ituri Province. Seven additional confirmed cases from North Kivu were also reported as part of a backlog from 8 June.

Uganda has reported 19 confirmed cases and two deaths to date. No new confirmed cases, deaths, suspected cases or recoveries were reported in Uganda in the last 24 hours. Uganda has now reported no new confirmed cases or deaths for five consecutive days.

Across both countries, 25 recoveries have been reported, and 6,525 contacts have been listed for follow-up. Thirty-four healthcare workers have been infected, including 29 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and five in Uganda.The outbreak is currently affecting 27 health zones in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and one district in Uganda.

Africa CDC continues to work closely with national authorities and partners to support surveillance, contact tracing, case management, infection prevention and control, risk communication and cross-border coordination.

Africa CDC and WHO continue to advise against unnecessary restrictions on travel and trade. Public health measures should remain evidence-based and aligned with the International Health Regulations.

Africa CDC urges communities in affected and at-risk areas to remain vigilant, follow guidance from health authorities, report symptoms early and cooperate with trained response teams.

Further updates will be shared as the situation evolves.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Africa Centres for Disease Control and World Health Organization

Categories : Cardiovascular Disease Lab Tests and ImagingTags :

MRI Approach Improves Assessment of Common Valve Disease

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Representative cine-CMR four-chamber image demonstrating severe tricuspid regurgitation. Courtesy of Dr Robert Zhang

A new cardiac magnetic resonance imaging-based measurement may improve how physicians assess a common heart valve condition, according to a study led by Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian investigators. The findings support the broader use and further study of the new metric known as effective right ventricular ejection fraction (eRVEF).

In the study, published in JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging, the researchers analysed deidentified clinical and cardiac imaging data, on nearly 800 patients who had the heart valve condition called tricuspid regurgitation. They found that eRVEF predicted mortality risk better than traditional risk markers for the disorder.

“Our goal in tricuspid regurgitation is to detect disease progression and intervene before irreversible heart dysfunction develops,” said study corresponding and co-senior author Dr. Jiwon Kim, associate professor of medicine in the Division of Cardiology and director of the Cardiovascular Imaging Program at Weill Cornell Medicine and a cardiologist at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. “We believe this new measurement could help cardiologists identify high-risk patients earlier and make more informed treatment decisions.”

The tricuspid valve regulates the flow between the heart’s right atrium, which receives low-oxygen blood from major veins, and the right ventricle, which pumps this blood via the pulmonary artery into the lungs. When the tricuspid becomes dysfunctional, much of the blood pumped by the right ventricle flows back into the right atrium instead of going into the lungs. This loss of efficiency can lead to progressive right-sided heart failure.

“This investigation highlights the expanding role of cardiac MRI in the assessment of patients with valvular heart disease,” said co-senior author Dr Dipan Shah, professor of cardiology at Houston Methodist Research Institute and a professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine. “Its unique ability to precisely quantify valvular heart lesions and the associated cardiac remodeling in both the left and right heart makes it an indispensable tool for comprehensive clinical evaluation.”

Conventional RVEF, a basic measure of the right ventricle’s pumping efficiency, is an estimate of right ventricular volume when filled and when fully compressed during pumping. But this measure cannot distinguish between normal blood outflow to the lungs and abnormal backflow to the right atrium. Thus, in patients with tricuspid regurgitation, RVEF may seem normal until the resulting heart dysfunction is relatively advanced.

“The tricuspid valve was once considered the ‘forgotten valve,’ managed primarily with medical therapy and occasionally treated surgically,” said study co-first author Dr Robert Zhang, an assistant professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine and a cardiologist at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. “Now we have less-invasive, catheter-based treatment options, which is incredibly exciting. But with that comes a new challenge: identifying the patients who are most likely to benefit and determining the right timing for intervention.”

Dr. Pablo Villar-Calle, an instructor of medicine at Weill Cornell, is the other co-first author on the paper.

The new measure, eRVEF, is derived from a more direct, magnetic resonance imaging-based estimate of blood flow from the right ventricle to the lungs. In principle, it enables a more accurate assessment of right ventricle function and the degree of tricuspid regurgitation.

The study covered an initial cohort of 453 patients from NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, plus 316 patients in two independent validation cohorts, 239 from Houston Methodist DeBakey Heart and Vascular Center and 77 from Duke University Medical Center. All patients had at least a moderate degree of tricuspid regurgitation.

The researchers showed firstly that eRVEF is a useful measure in its own right. In all cohorts, patients with impaired eRVEF, defined as less than 25% of right ventricle-filled volume, had strikingly greater risks of adverse outcomes during several years of follow-up, including worse tricuspid regurgitation and mortality, compared with patients who didn’t meet the impaired-eRVEF threshold.

The team also compared eRVEF with RVEF, showing that adding eRVEF to a prediction model that already included RVEF significantly improved mortality prediction, whereas adding RVEF to a model that already included eRVEF did not.

The results suggest that in the context of at least moderate tricuspid regurgitation, eRVEF is better than RVEF for assessing right-side heart function.

The team now hopes to show with forward-looking studies that using eRVEF to select patients for tricuspid valve treatments can improve outcomes.

“We are also interested in understanding how useful eRVEF may be as a marker of treatment response and whether it can serve as a meaningful endpoint for assessing the success of therapeutic interventions,” Dr. Zhang said.

Source: Weill Cornell Medicine

Categories : Uncategorized

Four Minutes of Daily Resistance Training Can Quadruple Fitness in Older Adults

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Photo by Mikhail Nilov

By Marina Naumova

Just four minutes of daily strengthening exercise dramatically increases key factors in quality of life for ageing adults, according to a new study led by researchers at Penn State College of Medicine. Results published in PLOS One showed that strength – which impacts fall risk, longevity, independent living and more – significantly improved for adults aged 65 and older in as little as 12 weeks.

Mobility, or physical fitness, is a critical indicator of quality of life for adults ages 65 and above, allowing for completion of daily tasks and movement. Unintentional injuries such as tripping or falling are among the top leading causes of death among adults ages 65 and over, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A lack of physical fitness in aging persists because people believe that they can only reap the benefits of exercise with more extensive resistance training workouts – but that’s not the case, according to lead author Christopher Sciamanna, professor of medicine and of public health at Penn State College of Medicine. He said a short four-minute workout is enough to improve upon several factors of critical mobility indicators.

“The human body is designed to improve very quickly,” Sciamanna said. “And just a few repetitions of an exercise performed regularly can lead to huge improvements. Exercise is about forward thinking – think about what you want to be able to do and train for it.”

While resistance training can greatly increase strength in just a few months, less than one in five older adults exercise for the recommended two days per week of muscle-strengthening activity, partially due to routine length, pain and other limitations.

“Exercise is actually really complicated, because you have to decide how many repetitions, how far, how many sets, how much rest and how many times per week,” said co-author Smita Dandekar, associate professor of paediatrics at Penn State College of Medicine. “It’s hard work, so there’s huge problems with people wanting to do exercise. If we can make it short, we’re part way there.”

Previously, the team had conducted a study called FAST (Functional Activity Strength Training)-1, a smaller-scale experiment where 24 older adults performed 30 seconds of push-ups and squats daily, resulting in improved squat performance over six months. Other studies have also shown that a few sets of exercise per week can lead to nearly the same improvements as longer-length routines. Building off of those findings, Sciamanna’s team decided to test the efficacy of a shorter routine.

In the current study, researchers from Penn Statue tested the effects of a program, called FAST-2, to see if it improved mobility and physical capability in adults older than 65. A total of 97 participants with an average age of 74 years old were randomly assigned to receive either the exercise regimen treatment or no intervention. Prior to the study, participants reported performing an average of about 18 minutes of total exercise each week, which is much lower than the recommended amount of at least 150 minutes’ moderate or 75 minutes’ vigorous exercise for adults, Sciamanna explained.

The FAST-2 program included four exercises: push-ups, chair stands, two-arm rows and stair stepping. Participants performed each movement for 30 seconds followed by a 30-second rest. Participants received four elastic resistance bands and a stepper with an adjustable height. Written explanations and modifications were provided for the exercises, such as performing pushups with hands on a countertop or wall, or chair stands with hands on the knees.

As participants improved, they were encouraged to progress to higher levels of difficulty, like performing the original version of the exercise if they were doing a modified version or increasing step height on the stepper. To measure participants’ progress, the researchers assessed the participants’ ability and speed at standing up and ability to stand on one leg at the beginning, middle and end of the study.

The tests mimic the movements required in everyday activities, making them useful predictors of potential risks and future need for care, the researchers said.

The authors found that this exercise regimen, which included only 60 seconds of lower body resistance training, was enough to give significant improvements in functional performance: 4.2 more repetitions in a 30 second chair stand, 3.6 more seconds in one-legged stand time and a decrease of 2.3 seconds in sit-to-stand time. These changes point to related improvements in daily life fitness, such as standing up from a chair, climbing stairs and walking, Sciamanna explained.

“These indicators predict your future ability to go into a nursing home, your future likelihood of falling and of developing difficulty walking,” Sciamanna said. “They give you a sense of whether or not you’re going to be able to be active in the future.”

One of the additional benefits of a shorter program like FAST-2, Sciamanna explained, is a higher chance that people will stick to the routine. Participants completed the exercise on 81% of days during the study period, demonstrating that the program can fit into days even with time constraints or other concerns that may keep people from continuing an exercise program, even though it could lead to improvements in everyday life.

The findings are a promising indication that resistance training regimens do not have to be long to make a big difference in strength, mobility and quality of life, Sciamanna explained.

“Exercise is the key to freedom,” he said. “Freedom is the ability to be able to do what you want to do, and I would say that if you can’t do what you want to do, you’re not free. I approach exercise by thinking of what I want to be able to do in 20 years, and then I train to do that.”

Source: Pennsylvania State University

Categories : VaccinesTags :

Study Finds RSV Vaccination During Pregnancy Cuts Infant Hospitalisations by Nearly 70%

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Source: Pixabay CC0

A study led by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and UPMC published in JAMA Network Open, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Medical Association, found that vaccination against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) during pregnancy reduced the risk of hospitalisation in young infants by nearly 70%.

This study provides early real-world evidence from US clinical care, showing that administering one dose of the maternal RSV vaccine (RSVpreF vaccine) reduces hospitalisation related to RSV in young infants. The results are consistent with findings from RSVpreF vaccine clinical trials. The RSVpreF vaccine was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2023.

Among infants younger than 3 months, maternal vaccination was associated with approximately 68% effectiveness against hospitalisation for respiratory illness caused by RSV, and 69% effectiveness against more severe lung infections also caused by the virus.

“We designed this study to focus on what matters most to families: whether their baby might end up in the hospital,” said lead author of the study, Anne-Marie Rick, MD, PhD, assistant professor of paediatrics and clinical and translational science at Pitt School of Medicine and a physician at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital. “The findings show a significant impact for families and for the health system, and it highlights how effective this intervention can be during the most vulnerable months of life.”

RSV is the leading cause of hospitalisation among infants in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 2 to 3 out of every 100 babies younger than 3 months are hospitalised each year due to RSV, with severe cases sometimes requiring oxygen support or mechanical ventilation. Until the RSVpreF vaccine’s approval, there was no reliable way to protect healthy newborns from RSV starting at birth.

The study analysed health records from infants 90 days old or younger who were hospitalised for respiratory illness in Western Pennsylvania during the 2023–2024 and 2024–2025 RSV seasons. Researchers focused on infants who were tested for RSV and compared outcomes between those whose mothers received the vaccine during pregnancy and those whose mothers did not. Infants who received monoclonal antibody protection – a separate RSV prevention option administered after birth – were excluded.

The results are part of an ongoing four-year study to evaluate the effectiveness of maternal RSV vaccination across multiple seasons. Researchers will continue to follow patients during the 2025–2026 and 2026–2027 RSV seasons, expanding the analysis to include infants up to 180 days old and assessing how long protection lasts.

“We’re continuing to follow patients to understand how well this protection holds over time and across different groups,” said Rick. “These kinds of real-world data are critical for helping families, clinicians, and policymakers make informed decisions about how best to protect infants.”

Source: University of Pittsburgh

Categories : GastrointestinalTags :

Why Midnight Eating Can Be a Gut Punch

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Study finds that intestinal circadian clocks become misaligned by off-schedule eating, causing gastrointestinal issues

A microscopic image shows enteric neurons (orange) and macrophages (green) in the muscularis externa of a mouse small intestine. Muscularis macrophages were among the intestinal cell types that glowed green when a key circadian clock gene called Per2 was active during UT Southwestern investigators’ research.

Eating when the body is normally asleep appears to desynchronise the circadian clocks of different cell types in the intestines, a UT Southwestern Medical Center study suggests. The findings, published in PNAS, could help explain why shift work, jet lag, and other environmental stressors that affect circadian rhythms are associated with irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, constipation, and other gastrointestinal disorders.

“Understanding how intestinal circadian clocks become misaligned may ultimately guide strategies involving meal timing, circadian-based therapies, or dietary interventions to improve gastrointestinal and metabolic health,” said Yuuki Obata, PhD, Assistant Professor of Immunology and Neuroscience at UT Southwestern. Dr Obata co-led the study with Shin Yamazaki, PhD, Professor of Neuroscience.

Research in the 1990s and 2000s showed that a region of the brain known as the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) acts as a master timekeeper for the body, setting various cellular processes to occur rhythmically on a 24-hour period based on cycles of light and darkness. However, in 2000, Dr Yamazaki and his colleagues showed that cells throughout the body have their own autonomous circadian clocks that are influenced both by signals from the SCN and environmental cues.

In line with this idea, research has shown that the intestines have their own rhythms that can be influenced by a variety of factors, such as timing of meals. These findings were made using whole intestinal tissue, Dr Obata explained, but the intestines contain a variety of cell types – including muscle, nerve, and immune cells. It’s been unclear whether each of these populations has its own circadian clock and if they run on the same schedule.

To find out, Drs Obata and Yamazaki monitored novel mice with set 12-hour cycles of light and dark. They were engineered by Joseph Takahashi, PhD, Chair and Professor of Neuroscience at UT Southwestern, and his colleagues in the Takahashi Lab. Five intestinal cell types – enteric neurons, enteric glial cells, interstitial cells of Cajal (ICCs), smooth muscle cells, and muscularis macrophages – glowed green when a key circadian clock gene called Per2 was active. Although food was available at all times, the mice ate about 80% of their meals at night due to their nocturnal nature.

After about a week in this environment, the researchers observed intestinal cells glowing green at approximately the same times, suggesting the different cell populations had their own autonomous circadian clocks that cycled in sync. But when the researchers made food available only for four hours in the daytime – forcing the mice to eat at abnormal times – Per2 activity shifted to match this new rhythm in every cell population except for the ICCs. These cells resisted changes to their circadian clock, staying out of sync with the other cell types for weeks.

Such asynchrony may also occur in people who eat outside the body’s usual circadian rhythms, such as night shift workers or those who fly to different time zones. Because ICCs play a key role in intestinal motility, their resistance to adapt to a changed circadian clock could affect digestive and metabolic function.

Finding a way to synchronise the different intestinal cell populations through diet, probiotics, or drugs could eventually help ease the gastrointestinal problems associated with altered circadian timing, the researchers said.

Source: UT Southwestern Medical Center

Categories : Lab Tests and ImagingTags :

Tiny Wearable Auscultation Sensor Aims to be a Doctor’s Stethoscope for Every Home

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The AusculPatch is a tiny wearable sensor that weighs just 3.2 grams.

Australian researchers have developed a lightweight wearable sensor that could continuously check on people with heart and breathing problems, potentially reducing hospital visits and allowing doctors to detect problems earlier. 

The flexible sensor patch, which attaches to the chest or over peripheral arteries using medical adhesive tape, is designed to continuously capture subtle vibrations produced by the heart, lungs and, blood flow, and pulse waves. 

Researchers hope the technology could eventually help people with chronic heart and respiratory conditions track their health remotely and alert clinicians when something may be wrong before symptoms become severe.

The proof-of-concept work, led by researchers from UNSW in collaboration with clinicians and biomedical engineers, has been published in Nature Communications. 

Lead researcher and corresponding author of the paper, Scientia Associate Professor Hoang-Phuong Phan, says the goal is to create a wearable device which patients can use themselves – as a home alternative to the traditional doctor’s stethoscope.

“What we have developed is a tiny wearable device that can attach onto the human chest and hear heart sound and respiration,” A/Prof. Phan says.

“Technically, it aims to replace the stethoscope, which is normally used in clinic centres to assess cardiovascular or respiration disease.”

Addressing a growing healthcare challenge

Heart disease and chronic respiratory illnesses remain among the leading causes of death worldwide, but many patients only receive brief assessments during occasional medical appointments. A/Prof. Phan says this can create major challenges for people living in regional and remote areas, or patients reluctant to repeatedly visit hospitals and clinics.

“Normally, when patients are assessed by a doctor, they have to go to a clinic centre, and it’s not very convenient for those who live in remote areas,” he says. “Sometimes people are hesitant to go to hospital, so they wait until symptoms are clearly developed.”

By the time symptoms become serious enough to seek medical care, diseases may already have significantly worsened.

“At that stage, the disease may already have worsened, leaving poorer outcomes for patients even when treated,” says Dr Anthony Sunjaya, a medical doctor and Program Lead for Chronic Respiratory Disease at UNSW’s School of Population Health, who co-authored in this work.  “When they go to a clinic, patients often only have a 15-minute window for assessment. The danger is that the abnormalities experienced will not be fully recognised during that short period of time they are being seen.” 

How the patch works

The device, known as ‘AusculPatch’, is smaller and lighter than many existing wearable monitoring systems, weighing only 3.2 grams and measuring roughly 20x47x3 millimetres. At the centre of the patch is an ultra-thin silicon sensing element that detects tiny mechanical vibrations travelling through the skin from the heart, lungs and blood vessels.

“The heart sound propagates through the body fluid and tissue generates an acoustic pressure that vibrates the sensing element,” Tran Bach Dang, the first author and a PhD candidate from the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering says. “What the patch is doing is picking up that vibration.”

The new sensor can detect extremely low-frequency vibrations that are difficult to capture with current wearable technology. The device can detect a remarkably broad range of physiological signals, including breathing patterns, pulse waves, heart sounds and blood flow vibrations.

In tests, the AusculPatch was able to continously monitor a range of physiological markers while the wearer was undertaking regular daily tasks. Importantly, researchers say the patch was designed to minimise interference from surrounding environmental noise — a major challenge for wearable acoustic sensors.

“The sensor element is designed to shield the sound coming from one direction, typically from the human body,” Dang says. “In that way, it is less susceptible to ambient sound.”

Although tested on only a small number of healthy participants, the research paper showed the device could continue capturing clear heart sounds even in noisy environments, including during conversation and under simulated background noise conditions. 

Beyond smartwatches and fitness trackers

While consumer devices such as smartwatches and sleep trackers can already monitor heart rate and blood oxygen levels, the research team says AusculPatch captures more direct mechanical information about how the heart and lungs are functioning.

The researchers believe the technology could eventually have applications ranging from chronic disease management to sleep monitoring and general wellbeing.

The paper also highlights potential use in monitoring blood pressure, pulse waves and subtle heart valve abnormalities that are difficult to continuously track outside hospital settings. 

In laboratory and early human testing, the device showed strong agreement with clinical tools including electrocardiograms (ECGs), ultrasound scans, blood pressure monitors and digital stethoscopes. 

Researchers were also able to continuously record cardiorespiratory data over extended periods while participants walked, worked, ate meals and climbed stairs. 

AI-powered monitoring

One of the most promising aspects of the technology is the possibility of combining continuous monitoring with artificial intelligence.

Because the patch collects large amounts of physiological data over time, researchers hope machine learning systems could eventually identify patterns linked to worsening disease or emerging health problems.

“We can potentially apply machine learning to identify abnormal signal and warn the patients, and also notify their doctor,” Dr. Chi Cong Nguyen, an Associate Lecturer and a corresponding author of the paper says.

“The goal is to create a system that can automatically flag concerning changes before patients experience severe symptoms.”

Potential future applications

Beyond cardiorespiratory monitoring, the researchers also demonstrated that the patch could detect vocal cord vibrations from the throat. In proof-of-concept experiments, the team used machine learning to recognise spoken words and wirelessly control a robotic arm. While those experiments are still early-stage, the researchers say the technology could eventually support people with speech disorders or physical disabilities.

Although the technology is still in the research and testing phase, larger clinical studies are already being planned.

The team, which also includes Associate Professor Thanh Nho Do, Scientia Professor Nigel Lovell, and Professor Tracie Barber, as well as external partners, hopes to begin testing the device on around 200 patients this year.

That group is expected to include people with heart valve disease or implanted heart assist devices. Researchers then hope to scale up studies to around 1000 patients over the following years to further develop AI-assisted diagnostic tools. Regulatory approval for a medical-grade device would still take time, with A/Prof. Phan estimating a timeline of around four to five years before possible clinical deployment. However, consumer-focused wellness versions of the technology could potentially become available sooner.

Source: University of New South Wales

Categories : Mental HealthTags :

Head Cooling May Temporarily Relieve Depression Symptoms

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People who wore a cooling cap for 30 minutes experienced multiple changes that could affect their mental health, according to a pilot study by Penn State researchers


Co-authors Owen Griffith, standing, and Maddie McLaughlin demonstrate the head cooling cap used in the study.  Credit: Jaydyn Isiminger / Penn State. Creative Commons

Wearing a cooling cap for 30 minutes may improve a person’s sense of well-being, according to a new study by Penn State researchers.

In a recent publication in Acta Psychologica, the researchers demonstrated that head cooling may reduce depressive symptoms and alter the types of brain waves people produce. While no medical recommendations can be derived from this small, exploratory study, the results indicate head cooling may provide mental health benefits for the general population.

The work was inspired by lead author and Penn State Professor of Kinesiology Semyon Slobounov’s prior research, which found that athletes with concussions heal faster and experience fewer symptoms when their head is regularly cooled.

“A person’s mood is tied to their cognition and general brain function,” said Owen Griffith, assistant teaching professor of kinesiology at Penn State and co-author of the study. “In this study, results suggested that people enjoy the sensation of head cooling. This, in turn, improved their mood, which altered their brain activity.”

The researchers recruited 24 college students between the ages of 18 and 26. At the beginning of the study, all participants completed questionnaires that measured their mental health and cognitive abilities and underwent an electroencephalogram (EEG) to measure brain activity.

Following the EEG, participants spent 30 minutes sitting in a dimly lit room listening to ocean sounds. Half of participants wore a fitted cooling cap, which uses liquid circulating close to the head to maintain a temperature of 33 degrees Fahrenheit. The other participants wore nothing on their heads. Immediately after the cooling or sitting session, participants repeated the questionnaires and EEG.

Participants repeated the same sitting or cooling session without testing every day for one week. The day after the last session, participants repeated the questionnaires and EEG again. This design allowed the researchers to observe both the short- and longer-term effects of head cooling.

“The brain produces different types of waves that are associated with different levels of excitement or brain activation,” said Laura Cooney, co-author of the study who graduated from Penn State’s Schreyer Honor College in 2025 and based her undergraduate thesis on the research. “Alpha waves are associated with calmness. More specifically, they are indicative of less brain activity overall, so this finding suggests that there was an immediate calming effect of head cooling.”

People in the head cooling group displayed an increase in alpha brain waves during the EEG immediately following the first cooling session. They experienced a 4% increase in alpha waves while participants whose heads were not cooled displayed a .5% decrease in alpha waves.

In contrast, there was no significant difference in the alpha wave levels of the sitting and cooling groups when measured on the day after the final cooling session, suggesting cooling does not have a longer-term impact on brain wave activity, the researchers said.

Over the course of the week, both groups of participants reported a decrease in depression symptoms, but individuals in the head cooling group reported a larger decrease than those in the sitting group.

“The reduction of depression symptoms among healthy people suggests that this might be a promising treatment,” Griffith said.

The researchers said they had hypothesised head cooling affected people through changes in neural electrical activity, but the EEGs did not show evidence of that. Now, the researchers suspect the effects are psychosomatic, meaning that mental and emotional factors, rather than physiological changes, are causing people’s reduced depression symptoms and increased alpha brain wave activity.

“Anecdotally, most people who come into the lab agree that head cooling is relaxing and enjoyable,” Griffith said. “This may not be surprising. A cold compress or a bag of ice have been home treatments for migraines for many years.”

Overall, the study suggests that widespread head cooling could be useful, the researchers said.

“Head cooling shows some potential as an acute calming therapy,” Cooney said. “Not as a replacement for any current therapy, but as another tool in the toolbox.”

Slobounov, senior author of the study, agreed.

“Our previous research demonstrated that head cooling is useful for athletes recovering from concussions,” Slobounov said. “This research suggests it may be more useful to a wide group of people. It is low risk, does not involve any drugs or chemicals, and people enjoy it.”

Other Penn State researchers who contributed to this work include Zach Napora, graduate student in kinesiology and first author of the publication, Maddie McLaughlin, graduate student in kinesiology, and Elle McNally, 2025 graduate in biobehavioral health and current physician assistant graduate student.

Source: Penn State University

Categories : Allergies Respiratory DiseasesTags :

No Worsening in Children’s Asthma when Living With Cats

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Photo by Prince Abid on Unsplash

Children with asthma and allergies who live with one or more cats do not experience worse asthma outcomes than children without cats at home. This is according to a comprehensive Swedish registry study from Karolinska Institutet, published in Frontiers in Allergy.

Many families with asthmatic children are advised to avoid keeping furry pets in the home. At the same time, previous studies on how cats as pets affect children with asthma and allergies have often been small and produced conflicting results.

The new study covers over 30 000 children in Sweden aged 4–17 with diagnosed asthma and allergies. The researchers followed the children for two years, comparing those living in households with cats with those who did not. Data on cat ownership was obtained from the national cat register and combined with data from several Swedish health and quality registers.

“We found no evidence that living with cats worsens asthma in children who already have asthma and allergies,” says Resthie R. Putri, postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet. “Unfortunately, however, we had no information on the specific allergies the children had, so we do not know whether they were allergic to cats or not.” 

Individual advice is needed

The researchers analysed asthma exacerbations leading to emergency care, asthma severity based on medication use, asthma control, and lung function in the children. Children living with one or more cats experienced similar asthma outcomes to those without a cat. Nor could the number of cats in the home, or the age or sex of the cat, be linked to differences in asthma outcomes.

One strength of the study is the large number of participants from across Sweden. However, differences between countries may limit the applicability of the results to other contexts. As the Cat Register is relatively new, some cat exposure may not have been captured in the study. Furthermore, there was no information on how long the children had been exposed to cats for, or how much time the cats spent indoors. The researchers also cannot rule out the possibility that families with children suffering from more severe allergies may have chosen not to keep a cat.

“Clinical advice always needs to be tailored to the individual, and our study can contribute to the evidence base in discussions with families about pets and asthma,” says Catarina Almqvist Malmros, professor at the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, and paediatrician at Astrid Lindgren Children’s Hospital.

Will continue to follow the children

The researchers now plan to continue studying how different types of allergies may affect the outcome, and whether it makes a difference if the child is allergic to cats. They also plan to follow the children for a longer period to see how cat ownership may affect asthma over time.

Source: Karolinska Institutet

Categories : Diet and NutritionTags :

Tobacco Firms Used Cigarette-selling Tactics to Globally Market Ultra-processed Foods, Study Shows

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Photo by Erik Mclean

A new study from the University of Kansas details how US tobacco corporations expanded into global food markets from the mid-1980s to the mid-2000s, using strategies honed through cigarette sales to market ultra-processed foods, which are industrially processed and contain ingredients and additives that maximise their appeal. The research appears in the American Journal of Public Health.

“We’d previously published on US tobacco company activities in relation to the US food system,” said lead author Tera Fazzino, associate professor of psychology at the University of Kansas. “In that prior study, I noted that tobacco-owned food company activities extended far beyond the United States. They had an extensive international business development strategy. Given the global conversation about ultra-processed and hyperpalatable foods saturating food systems, it felt important to investigate that international dimension. This study contributes to understanding the origin and nature of these foods and how they became widespread globally.”

For two decades, tobacco firms heavily invested in food companies, applying marketing, distribution and product-engineering strategies developed in the tobacco business.

“The scale was massive,” said Fazzino, who also serves as associate scientist at the KU Life Span Institute’s Cofrin Logan Center for Addiction Research and Treatment. “For Philip Morris, its food business, for a substantial period of time, generated sales comparable to its tobacco business – roughly a 50–50 split. A significant portion of those food revenues came from international markets.”

Meanwhile, Fazzino said, R.J. Reynolds had closer to 30% of its portfolio in food sales.

“But it also maintained a very large international food presence,” she said. “In many of the regions where these companies operated, their food subsidiaries were among the largest players in those markets at the time.”

Fazzino’s co-authors were KU graduate students Sydney Kong and Gayeon Lee, along with undergraduate research assistant Madison Stewart.

The researchers found that tobacco companies applied their long-established business strategies directly to their food operations.

“On the business development side, they aggressively expanded and acquired local companies to build infrastructure within regions,” Fazzino said. “This allowed them to distribute their primary products efficiently. They also created coordinated product distribution and sales systems that integrated both tobacco and food operations.”

On the product-development side, tobacco companies used strategies similar to those previously applied to cigarettes.

“For example, they manipulated product size,” Fazzino said. “Just as they had introduced ‘king-size’ cigarettes to increase consumption occasions, they later used similar size strategies in food products – king-size sugary drinks, cookies and other items.”

Fazzino said tobacco firms also developed products that maintained “full flavour” while being marketed as lighter or healthier.

“In tobacco, this meant ‘low-tar’ or ‘low-nicotine’ cigarettes,” she said. “In food, it meant ‘low-fat’ or ‘light’ versions of products designed to appeal to health-conscious consumers while retaining strong flavour profiles.”

The researchers found that different tobacco firms developed their food businesses in different geographic areas, even if their marketing and product-formulation strategies were similar. According to Fazzino, the data indicate tobacco companies held leading market shares in multiple regions.

“Philip Morris expanded rapidly into Canada, where it held leading market positions in many product categories as early as the late 1980s,” she said. “Its entry into the Canadian market was swift and aggressive. The company also expanded significantly into Europe and secondarily into parts of Asia and the Asia-Pacific region. R.J. Reynolds primarily focused on Central and South America, and Mexico, and also expanded into parts of Europe and Asia. Collectively, this meant that from the late 1980s through the mid-2000s, large portions of the globe were covered by one or both companies.”

The public health implications of increased ultra-processed and hyperpalatable foods in the world’s food supply are substantial, Fazzino said.

“Globally, there is ongoing discussion among scientists, policymakers and citizens about the shift toward ultra-processed and hyperpalatable foods,” she said. “There is now strong evidence that these foods carry significant health risks. Their risk profile parallels other major contributors to morbidity and mortality, including smoking. As these products were disseminated internationally using highly refined and efficient business strategies, the potential for global health harm was significant.”

Fazzino cited rising rates of obesity and related metabolic and cardiometabolic diseases in many parts of the world.

“These increases have paralleled shifts in food systems toward more ultra-processed and hyperpalatable foods,” she said.

Although tobacco companies divested from food businesses in the early to mid-2000s, Fazzino said their influence in disseminating ultra-processed foods globally leaves a lasting legacy.

“The food companies continued operating under profit-maximizing models that had already proven successful for other addictive products,” she said. “It’s likely other food companies observed these strategies and adopted similar approaches. As a result, these practices appear to have spread across the global food industry.”

According to Fazzino, today at least 70% of the US food supply is composed of hyperpalatable foods, and their presence globally is elevated. The KU researcher said policymakers could apply lessons from tobacco regulation, including labelling, marketing restrictions and litigation.

“However, food presents unique challenges because people must eat,” Fazzino said. “In food systems saturated with ultra-processed and hyperpalatable products, such as in the US, stronger regulation of the nutrient profiles and properties that drive addictive qualities may be necessary. In contrast, South American countries, which have not experienced saturation of their food supplies, have implemented warning labels and other measures with demonstrated public health benefits.”

Source: University of Kansas