A machine-learning model developed by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators may provide clinicians with an early warning of a complication that can occur late in pregnancy. Preeclampsia is a sudden onset condition that involves high blood pressure prior to delivery. A new study, published March 6 in JAMA Network Open, describes a machine-learning-based computer model that provides continually updated predictions of preeclampsia risk based on electronic health record data recorded late in pregnancy. Clinical expertise in obstetrics was provided by Dr. Tracy Grossman, assistant professor of clinical obstetrics and gynecology at Weill Cornell Medicine and a maternal-fetal medicine specialist at NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital. Existing models that assess preeclampsia risk during the first trimester are primarily used as early warnings, allowing clinicians to prescribe aspirin as a preventive medication early in the pregnancy and provide additional monitoring throughout at-risk pregnancies. While these approaches may reduce the risk of early-onset preeclampsia, their predictive accuracy is limited for late-onset and term cases, which account for the majority of preeclampsia diagnoses. As a result, few tools are available to help predict short-term preeclampsia risk during the last trimester of pregnancy when most cases arise. To fill this gap, co-first authors Dr. Haoyang Li, a postdoctoral associate in population health sciences, and Dr. Yaxin Li, a postdoctoral associate in pathology and laboratory medicine, worked with Drs. Wang, Zhao and Grossman to develop and test a preeclampsia modeling tool using deidentified electronic health record data on almost 59,000 pregnancies at three NewYork-Presbyterian hospitals. The team then validated their model using data from 8,664 pregnancies at NewYork-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital and 14,280 at NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital. These laboratory results may suggest that emerging problems with the placenta, which provides nutrients and oxygen to the fetus, could be contributing to preeclampsia at this stage. Later in the third trimester, the patient's age and white blood cell count became more important indicators, suggesting inflammation may be playing a role at this time. The model may help clinicians identify patients in the third trimester of pregnancy most likely to develop preeclampsia and provide them additional lead time to take timely clinical action, including enhanced monitoring, blood pressure management, and decisions around delivery timing. Unlike earlier approaches that provide a single, static risk estimate, this model continuously updates preeclampsia risk with current electronic health record data as pregnancy progresses, aligning prediction with real-world clinical decision-making in late pregnancy. More study is needed to determine if preeclampsia at different stages of the third trimester has distinct causes, like placental dysfunction or systemic inflammation. But if those patterns are confirmed, they may help clinicians develop more targeted preeclampsia interventions that address the root causes. Machine Learning for Dynamic and Short-Term Prediction of Preeclampsia Using Routine Clinical Data. Discover how Bruker is helping drive innovation in cosmetic science through advanced AFM techniques. Discover how Thermo Fisher is shaping the future of plant-based foods through texture innovation and cultural relevance. Brain microphysiological systems are reshaping in vitro neurotoxicity testing through functional validation and advanced disease modeling. News-Medical.Net provides this medical information service in accordance with these terms and conditions. Please note that medical information found on this website is designed to support, not to replace the relationship between patient and physician/doctor and the medical advice they may provide. Hi, I'm Azthena, you can trust me to find commercial scientific answers from News-Medical.net. Registered members can chat with Azthena, request quotations, download pdf's, brochures and subscribe to our related newsletter content. A few things you need to know before we start. While we only use edited and approved content for Azthena answers, it may on occasions provide incorrect responses. Please confirm any data provided with the related suppliers or authors. Your questions, but not your email details will be shared with OpenAI and retained for 30 days in accordance with their privacy principles. Please do not ask questions that use sensitive or confidential information.

Over time, however, a number of side effects associated with hormonal contraceptive methods became apparent, from nausea, weight gain, and breast tenderness to more serious risks such as high blood pressure, liver dysfunction, and thrombosis. According to recent surveys by the German Federal Centre for Health Education, since 2023 fewer women and couples have been using the pill for contraception; among younger adults in particular, the condom has replaced the pill as the number one contraceptive method.A research team led by Dr. Claudia Tredup and Prof. Stefan Knapp from the Institute of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at Goethe University Frankfurt, Prof. Daniel Merk from Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, and Prof. Hubert Schorle from UKB, who is also a member of the Transdisciplinary Research Area (TRA) "Life & Health" at the University of Bonn, and Prof. Jean-Pierre Allam, Head of Andrology at UKB, is now working to develop contraceptives with particularly few side effects that do not rely on hormonal mechanisms. To this end, they have launched the PREVENT project ("Precision Reproductive and Contraceptive Target Discovery Network") and secured three years of project funding from the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space.Active substances for new contraceptive strategiesPREVENT project leader Dr. Claudia Tredup from the Institute of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at Goethe University Frankfurt explains: "Hormonal contraceptive methods such as the contraceptive pill interfere with the body's natural hormone cycle. In PREVENT, we are investigating for alternative non-hormonal approaches for both women and men in order to offer couples additional contraceptive options. "The PREVENT team's research approach focuses on so-called small molecules that specifically block proteins found exclusively in sperm or egg cells. Tredup explains: "Since contraceptives are administered to healthy individuals, they must not only be reliable and reversible, but also safe and highly tolerable. "Given these complex requirements, the search for suitable active substances is highly demanding. The PREVENT team will therefore develop a drug discovery platform to establish technologies and tools for validating non-hormonal contraceptive concepts. Highly selective and effective compounds - so-called "chemical probes" - will enable the targeted testing of new contraceptive strategies and provide a solid foundation for preclinical and later clinical development.Biochemist Tredup adds: "We already know of a number of genes associated with infertility. She is convinced that this is not just a classic pharmaceutical research project: "With PREVENT, we are also addressing key societal goals of reproductive self-determination and global health policy." Discover how Bruker is helping drive innovation in cosmetic science through advanced AFM techniques. Discover how Thermo Fisher is shaping the future of plant-based foods through texture innovation and cultural relevance. Brain microphysiological systems are reshaping in vitro neurotoxicity testing through functional validation and advanced disease modeling. News-Medical.Net provides this medical information service in accordance with these terms and conditions. Please note that medical information found on this website is designed to support, not to replace the relationship between patient and physician/doctor and the medical advice they may provide. Hi, I'm Azthena, you can trust me to find commercial scientific answers from News-Medical.net. Registered members can chat with Azthena, request quotations, download pdf's, brochures and subscribe to our related newsletter content. A few things you need to know before we start. While we only use edited and approved content for Azthena answers, it may on occasions provide incorrect responses. Please confirm any data provided with the related suppliers or authors. Your questions, but not your email details will be shared with OpenAI and retained for 30 days in accordance with their privacy principles. Please do not ask questions that use sensitive or confidential information.

The Buck Institute for Research on Aging today announced the launch of Healthspan Horizons, a new initiative designed to address one of the most urgent challenges in modern medicine: how to measure, understand, and extend healthspan-the years of life spent in good health. A growing body of evidence suggests that many aspects of healthy aging are changeable-and consequential for people, healthcare systems, and economies. Healthspan Horizons is building a new kind of healthspan research infrastructure: a platform that links multi-modal, real-world data from people's everyday engagement with trusted wellness partners-like wearables, sleep, activity, nutrition, and labs-with periodic deep discovery measurements led by the Buck. The goal is to create uniquely powerful, long-term datasets that reveal what actually drives human healthspan over time-and to use responsible AI and the science of aging to turn those signals into interpretable healthspan trajectories and earlier signals of disease prevention. Dense longitudinal datasets matter because their value compounds: when many different signals are measured on the same person over time, the data becomes exponentially more informative. That density makes it possible to detect subtle patterns, understand resilience, and identify early divergence from healthy aging-well before a sudden, life-ending, or life-debilitating disease takes hold. In return, participants gain access to a shared discovery engine: insights that emerge only when diverse data streams are responsibly linked over time-helping validate what works, identify earlier signals of decline, and benchmark outcomes across populations. Over time, the platform aims to translate these discoveries into clearer guidance on what helps people stay resilient-supporting more years of energy, strength, and independence. Used responsibly, AI-grounded in Buck's deep biology of aging-can integrate complex, multi-modal signals into interpretable healthspan trajectories, unlocking more years of energy, function, and independence. But that future is only possible if we can responsibly connect the right kinds of data at scale. Instead of forcing data into a single silo, Healthspan Horizons enables partners to collaborate and learn together while keeping data stewardship where it belongs. Through a federated, privacy-preserving approach, approved analyses can run across partner environments-without requiring ownership or commercialization of individuals' health data. What we need now is the infrastructure to organize and apply that knowledge responsibly. Eric Verdin, President and CEO, Buck Institute of Research on Aging "Most of us don't just want a longer life-we want more years of energy, strength, and independence," said Nathan Price, PhD, Professor, Buck Institute for Research on Aging; Co-Founder, Healthspan Horizons. "What's been missing is a way to bring together deep, long-term health data and apply rigorous AI to understand what truly drives healthy aging-responsibly, interoperably, and at scale. Healthspan Horizons is designed as an open, federated platform that links deep biological data, longitudinal outcomes, and real-world context. By aligning fragmented data ecosystems through shared standards, interpretable intelligence, and ethical governance, the initiative creates the conditions for healthspan to become a practical and trusted unit of value across research, care delivery, and policy. Healthspan Horizons is driven by Buck Institute scientists and systems thinkers with decades of experience at the intersection of aging biology, data science, and translational research. Led by Nathan Price, PhD, and Yi Sherry Zhang, PhD, this initiative launches with engagement from leaders across research, healthcare, philanthropy, and innovation ecosystems, including an advisory group spanning academic medicine, systems biology, precision health, and public health. "To make that transformation real, we must move beyond fragmented data silos toward shared, federated intelligence. The future of healthspan will not be defined by any single dataset, institution, or technology. It will be shaped by how effectively societies choose to organize, govern, and apply scientific knowledge. Healthspan Horizons exists to help make that future possible-by ensuring that healthspan becomes computable, trustworthy, and accessible, while remaining grounded in human dignity and collective benefit. Researchers, clinicians, organizations, and individuals interested in participating are invited to learn more at healthspanhorizons.org/join. Discover how Bruker is helping drive innovation in cosmetic science through advanced AFM techniques. Discover how Thermo Fisher is shaping the future of plant-based foods through texture innovation and cultural relevance. Brain microphysiological systems are reshaping in vitro neurotoxicity testing through functional validation and advanced disease modeling. News-Medical.Net provides this medical information service in accordance with these terms and conditions. Please note that medical information found on this website is designed to support, not to replace the relationship between patient and physician/doctor and the medical advice they may provide. Hi, I'm Azthena, you can trust me to find commercial scientific answers from News-Medical.net. 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Bill Cassidy offered jabs to thousands of inmates at Louisiana's maximum-security prison in the early 2000s. "He got that whole generation immunized in East Baton Rouge," said Holley Galland, a retired doctor who worked with Cassidy vaccinating schoolchildren. About the same time, a lawyer and environmental activist with a famous last name was starting to build the loyal anti-vaccine coalition that, two decades later, would move President Donald Trump to nominate him as the nation's top health official. Today, a year after now-Sen. Cassidy warily cast the vote that ensured Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s ascension to that role, the Louisiana Republican's life's work - in medicine and in politics - is unraveling. Newborn hepatitis B vaccination rates in the U.S. had plunged to 73% as of August, down 10 percentage points since a February 2023 high, according to research published in JAMA last month. In December, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices - remade by Kennedy - voted to revoke a two-decade-old recommendation that all newborns get the shot. The next month, Trump endorsed U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow, a Cassidy challenger in what's shaping up to be a competitive Republican Senate primary. Letlow's foray into politics began in 2021 when she took the seat won by her husband, left vacant after he died from covid. KFF Health News made multiple requests for comment from Cassidy over three months. His staff declined to make him available for an interview or provide comment. Letlow's campaign did not respond to requests for comment. As the May primary nears, some Louisiana doctors are worried they've begun a long trek down a dark road when it comes to vaccine-preventable diseases. Last year, on the day Kennedy was sworn in a thousand miles away in Washington, Louisiana's health department stopped promoting vaccines, halting its clinics and advertising. Its communications about an ongoing whooping cough outbreak in the state have nearly ceased. A Louisiana child's death from the flu was confirmed this January, and a couple of cases of measles were reported last year. Spokespeople for the Louisiana Department of Health did not respond to questions. "It's so hard to see children get sick from illnesses that they should have never gotten in the first place," said Mikki Bouquet, a pediatrician in Baton Rouge. "Families are getting sick and people are dying from vaccine-preventable deaths, and that tragedy needs to stop," he wrote on social media last fall. But while it is Cassidy's duty as chairman of the Senate's Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee to conduct oversight of the health department, Kennedy has appeared before the committee just once since he was confirmed. The secretary speaks at a "regular clip" with Cassidy, said Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson Andrew Nixon. And Kennedy handpicked Evelyn Griffin, a Baton Rouge OB-GYN who later replaced Abraham as the state surgeon general, for an appointment to ACIP. Griffin has suggested the covid vaccine had dangerous side effects for young patients. Cassidy "has really not had an outspoken chorus of policy supporters" when it comes to inoculating people, said Michael Henderson, a professor of political communication at Louisiana State University. "Why don't you just leave a prescription for the dangerous Covid shot at your district office and anyone can swing by and get one!" But when Brown suggested a covid vaccine, the girl's mother quickly declined, noting she had never gotten the shot either. Many of Brown's young patients - seen through Nest Health, which offers in-home visits covered by Louisiana's Medicaid program - are current with their vaccines. Brown said home visits make parents more comfortable immunizing their children, but she's still spending more time these days explaining what they're getting in those shots. "After covid vaccines, that's when some people just decided, 'I don't know if I trust vaccines, period,'" she said. The New Orleans Health Department has tried to step up with a $100,000 immunization campaign of its own, with clinics and billboards, during this year's flu season, said Jennifer Avegno, the department's director. Other parishes across Louisiana have not taken similar action, leaving doctors largely on their own to promote immunizations. In the waiting room, parents could thumb through a handmade book that offers scientific facts to counter fears about vaccines. Bouquet said she's experimenting with ways to educate parents about vaccines without seeming overbearing. She still hasn't figured out a surefire formula. Some parents now shut down any vaccine talk, and she worries others skip scheduling appointments to avoid the topic entirely. "And maybe these discussions can come up in future visits." Children's Health Defense, the nonprofit that Kennedy helmed, worked to erode vaccine trust during the pandemic - falsely claiming, for instance, that covid shots cause organ damage and that polio vaccines were at fault for a rise in the disease. When Kennedy came before Cassidy's committee in January 2025 as Trump's nominee for health secretary, the senator-doctor saw risks if the prominent anti-vaccine lawyer was confirmed. The young woman had acute hepatitis B, an incurable disease that is spread primarily through blood or bodily fluids and can lead to liver failure. It was "the worst day of my medical career," he said, addressing Kennedy at the witness table in front of him. "Because I thought, $50 of vaccines could have prevented this all." When he first ran for the U.S. Senate, in 2014, he charmed Louisiana voters with campaign ads showing him dressed in scrubs and a white lab coat, talking about his work with Hurricane Katrina evacuees and patients at Baton Rouge's public hospital. But some Republicans soured on Cassidy after he voted to convict Trump on an article of impeachment charging him with inciting the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. The impeachment vote has hampered Cassidy's reelection bid this year in a state where Trump captured 60% of the vote in 2024. "Cassidy has things that are associated with his name: the impeachment vote in 2021," Henderson said. Cassidy's loyalty to Trump was tested again with Kennedy's nomination. Former Texas congressman Michael Burgess served for years with Cassidy in the House, where they were founding members of the GOP Doctors Caucus, started in 2009. He said Cassidy's discomfort with some of Kennedy's actions is palpable. "You got cases to nearly zero on hepatitis B. Retired Baton Rouge nurse practitioner Elizabeth Britton has switched her party affiliation so she can vote in the closed Republican primary for Cassidy, with whom she vaccinated inmates decades ago. She doesn't quite understand the "mess" in Washington that resulted in the senator voting to confirm a vaccine critic. Watching Kennedy and others promulgate doubts about shots she once administered has made her "profoundly sad" and "angry," she said, but most of all worried. Discover how Bruker is helping drive innovation in cosmetic science through advanced AFM techniques. Discover how Thermo Fisher is shaping the future of plant-based foods through texture innovation and cultural relevance. Brain microphysiological systems are reshaping in vitro neurotoxicity testing through functional validation and advanced disease modeling. News-Medical.Net provides this medical information service in accordance with these terms and conditions. Please note that medical information found on this website is designed to support, not to replace the relationship between patient and physician/doctor and the medical advice they may provide. Hi, I'm Azthena, you can trust me to find commercial scientific answers from News-Medical.net. Registered members can chat with Azthena, request quotations, download pdf's, brochures and subscribe to our related newsletter content. A few things you need to know before we start. While we only use edited and approved content for Azthena answers, it may on occasions provide incorrect responses. 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But the motivation for doing so, and why it sometimes breaks down, has been poorly understood. UCLA Health researchers sought to better understand this in a new study published in Nature that uncovered the brain circuitry in mice linking two seemingly distinct social behaviors: caring for vulnerable offspring and comforting distressed peers. Scientists have long speculated that prosocial behavior, the actions to help and console others, may have evolved from neural systems first developed to support care for helpless offspring. But until now, the specific brain circuits that might link these two behaviors had never been identified. This study provides concrete neurobiological evidence for that evolutionary connection, and in doing so, offers a new framework for understanding the roots of empathy and social motivation - and why they can be disrupted in conditions such as depression, autism spectrum disorder, and other psychiatric conditions marked by social withdrawal. This relationship was specific and did not reflect general sociability or other self-directed behavioral tendencies. By monitoring neural activity, the researchers found that specific neurons in the medial preoptic area (MPOA) - a region known for its role in parenting - were activated when animals encountered stressed adults. They then showed that silencing neurons recruited during pup interactions caused animals to reduce helping behavior toward stressed adults, demonstrating a direct causal link between the circuits supporting parenting and prosocial behavior. Both comforting and parenting triggered dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens, the brain's "reward center, suggesting that helping others is intrinsically rewarding - and that this reward is mediated by the same circuit that makes parental care motivating. Together, these findings support the idea that evolution did not build prosocial behavior from scratch. Instead, the neural systems evolved for offspring care may have provided a scaffold for the emergence of broader prosocial support between adults. The MPOA, once thought of primarily as a parenting center, emerges from this study as a more general hub for other-directed care. Future research aims to understand why some individuals are more prosocial than others. The researchers are also exploring whether disruption of this circuit contributes to the social deficits seen in animal models of neuropsychiatric disorders, and whether restoring its activity could offer a therapeutic target. We show that the same circuits that enable animals to care for their offspring also drive helping and comforting behaviors toward distressed adults, highlighting a common neural basis that may shape empathy, cooperation, and the formation of supportive social communities." Shared neural substrates of prosocial and parenting behaviours. Discover how Bruker is helping drive innovation in cosmetic science through advanced AFM techniques. Discover how Thermo Fisher is shaping the future of plant-based foods through texture innovation and cultural relevance. Brain microphysiological systems are reshaping in vitro neurotoxicity testing through functional validation and advanced disease modeling. News-Medical.Net provides this medical information service in accordance with these terms and conditions. Please note that medical information found on this website is designed to support, not to replace the relationship between patient and physician/doctor and the medical advice they may provide. Hi, I'm Azthena, you can trust me to find commercial scientific answers from News-Medical.net. Registered members can chat with Azthena, request quotations, download pdf's, brochures and subscribe to our related newsletter content. A few things you need to know before we start. While we only use edited and approved content for Azthena answers, it may on occasions provide incorrect responses. Please confirm any data provided with the related suppliers or authors. Your questions, but not your email details will be shared with OpenAI and retained for 30 days in accordance with their privacy principles. Please do not ask questions that use sensitive or confidential information.

Researchers at the National University of Singapore (NUS) have identified a protein called tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) as a potential "switch" that can modulate a type of cancer cell death known as immunogenic cell death (ICD). ICD is a special type of regulated cell death that activates the body's adaptive immune system against the dying cells. ICD-causing agents not only kill cancer cells directly but also help to develop long-term protection against them. This dual benefit has made ICD inducers and their drug mechanisms an increasingly important area of cancer research. While this has fuelled the search for these drugs in recent years, the specific molecular targets involved in ICD remained poorly understood. A research team led by Professor ANG Wee Han from the NUS Department of Chemistry has discovered two platinum-containing compounds, namely Pt-NHC and PlatinER (Pt-ER), that can trigger ICD. In their research model study, tumour cells treated with these compounds were effective in helping to develop immunity protection against colorectal cancer. This work was carried out in collaboration with Associate Professor Maria BABAK from the City University of Hong Kong. To understand how Pt-ER works inside cancer cells, the researchers designed several light-activated probes based on Pt-ER that could "tag" the proteins it attaches to. By combining advanced protein analytical methods and statistical analyses, the team identified PTP1B as a direct protein target linked to ICD. The team showed that both Pt-ER and Pt-NHC directly bind to PTP1B and block its enzymatic activity, leading to ICD induction in cancer cells. Furthermore, they also found that interfering with PTP1B, either by switching off the gene or using other PTP1B-blocking compounds, could similarly increase ICD in cancer cells. The results also agreed with the analysis of public datasets, suggesting that PTP1B is involved in tumour growth and immune regulation in colorectal cancer. Overall, the study revealed for the first time that PTP1B plays an important role in regulating ICD and may be a promising target for cancer chemoimmunotherapy. The next step is to understand how these molecules interact with PTP1B and trigger cell responses. Moving forward, we plan to follow up with a more detailed structural and molecular dynamics study of PlatinER with PTP1B." Discover how Bruker is helping drive innovation in cosmetic science through advanced AFM techniques. Discover how Thermo Fisher is shaping the future of plant-based foods through texture innovation and cultural relevance. Brain microphysiological systems are reshaping in vitro neurotoxicity testing through functional validation and advanced disease modeling. News-Medical.Net provides this medical information service in accordance with these terms and conditions. Please note that medical information found on this website is designed to support, not to replace the relationship between patient and physician/doctor and the medical advice they may provide. Hi, I'm Azthena, you can trust me to find commercial scientific answers from News-Medical.net. Registered members can chat with Azthena, request quotations, download pdf's, brochures and subscribe to our related newsletter content. A few things you need to know before we start. While we only use edited and approved content for Azthena answers, it may on occasions provide incorrect responses. Please confirm any data provided with the related suppliers or authors. Your questions, but not your email details will be shared with OpenAI and retained for 30 days in accordance with their privacy principles. Please do not ask questions that use sensitive or confidential information.

In time for Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month in March, the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology has launched a new clinical study aimed at helping improve how patients with colorectal cancer share information about the genetic risks to their family members. Many people don't realize that colorectal cancer can run in families. In fact, about 30% of colorectal cancer cases are linked to genetics, and around 15% of newly diagnosed patients have a gene change (called a pathogenic germline variant) that increases cancer risk. Our study aims to improve communication between patients and families about the genetic risks of cancer in the hopes of catching or preventing colorectal cancers early when they are most easily treated." Heather Hampel, M.S., CGC, study co-chair and genetic researche, City of Hope cancer center in Duarte, Calif. When it comes to colorectal cancer, when one person in a family is found to have an inherited gene change, close relatives, including parents, children and siblings, may also carry the same gene. Knowing this can help families get earlier screening, take preventive steps, and catch cancer sooner when it's easier to treat. This trial will compare two ways of sharing genetic test results with a patient's close relatives: "Sharing genetic information can be stressful and confusing, especially right after a cancer diagnosis," said Frank Sinicrope, MD, study co-chair and a gastroenterologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. "Some patients aren't sure how to explain test results, while others worry about upsetting loved ones. This study hopes to identify a clear, helpful approach that makes it easier for families to understand their risks and take preventive action." Discover how Bruker is helping drive innovation in cosmetic science through advanced AFM techniques. Discover how Thermo Fisher is shaping the future of plant-based foods through texture innovation and cultural relevance. Brain microphysiological systems are reshaping in vitro neurotoxicity testing through functional validation and advanced disease modeling. News-Medical.Net provides this medical information service in accordance with these terms and conditions. Please note that medical information found on this website is designed to support, not to replace the relationship between patient and physician/doctor and the medical advice they may provide. Hi, I'm Azthena, you can trust me to find commercial scientific answers from News-Medical.net. Registered members can chat with Azthena, request quotations, download pdf's, brochures and subscribe to our related newsletter content. A few things you need to know before we start. While we only use edited and approved content for Azthena answers, it may on occasions provide incorrect responses. Please confirm any data provided with the related suppliers or authors. Please do not ask questions that use sensitive or confidential information.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health specialists started using telemedicine much more frequently. Despite many benefits, a new study finds that virtual visits did not make it easier for psychiatrists, psychologists and therapists to reach significantly more people in areas where access to care has long been limited. By analyzing Medicare billing records from providers practicing across the country, researchers from the Brown University School of Public Health, Harvard Medical School and McLean Hospital showed that greater use of telemedicine among mental health specialists did not substantially change whether they were seeing patients from rural or underserved areas. According to data published in JAMA Network Open, mental health specialists who used telemedicine the most treated only slightly more patients from rural and underserved areas compared with specialists who used it far less. "We had thought the dramatic shift from in-person care to telemedicine among mental health specialists would lead to them caring for substantially more patients in rural communities," said study author Drew Wilcock, a lead research scientist at Brown's School of Public Health. The team looked at Medicare billing records from 2018 to 2023 for 17,742 mental health specialists and grouped them into categories based on how much they used telemedicine to deliver care. They found that compared with specialists who used telemedicine less, those who used telemedicine heavily only saw about 0.9 percentage points more rural patients, 0.1 percentage points more patients from areas that lack reliable access to mental health care providers, and 2.6 percentage points more patients located 20 miles or more from the provider. Researchers also found that those modest increases primarily reflected existing patients who moved to areas far from their providers and continued care via telemedicine. The results also highlighted an unintended consequence of telemedicine use. Specialists using telemedicine more actually saw 3.6 percentage points fewer new patients overall. That finding suggests that while telemedicine may help specialists maintain long-term relationships with existing patients, it can reduce their capacity to take on new patients at the same time. By changing how states license clinicians and making it easier for them to practice across state lines, this could help specialists reach more patients in rural communities." "The potential of telemedicine can't be ignored," said study author Ateev Mehrotra, a professor of health services, policy and practice at Brown. "But simply offering telemedicine will not address the barriers that many rural patients face in obtaining mental health care. Improving how we license physicians is a critical first step." Mental Health Specialist Telemedicine Uptake and Patient Location. Discover how Bruker is helping drive innovation in cosmetic science through advanced AFM techniques. Discover how Thermo Fisher is shaping the future of plant-based foods through texture innovation and cultural relevance. Brain microphysiological systems are reshaping in vitro neurotoxicity testing through functional validation and advanced disease modeling. News-Medical.Net provides this medical information service in accordance with these terms and conditions. Please note that medical information found on this website is designed to support, not to replace the relationship between patient and physician/doctor and the medical advice they may provide. Hi, I'm Azthena, you can trust me to find commercial scientific answers from News-Medical.net. Registered members can chat with Azthena, request quotations, download pdf's, brochures and subscribe to our related newsletter content. A few things you need to know before we start. While we only use edited and approved content for Azthena answers, it may on occasions provide incorrect responses. Please confirm any data provided with the related suppliers or authors. Your questions, but not your email details will be shared with OpenAI and retained for 30 days in accordance with their privacy principles. Please do not ask questions that use sensitive or confidential information.

Findings from a study led by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James) support the potential of new therapies that could improve clinical outcomes for patients with squamous and adenocarcinoma non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC) that don't respond to immunotherapy.Reporting in the journal Science Translational Medicine, the researchers say their study provides strong evidence for the possible effectiveness of therapies that target both lysosomes – or particles in cells that help maintain cellular stability and nutrient availability – and a protein called SREBP-1 that increases glucose uptake and helps tumors resist current therapies that inhibit lysosomes.Corresponding and senior author for the study was Deliang Guo, PhD, founding director of the Center for Cancer Metabolism at the OSUCCC – James. Yaogang Zhong, PhD, a senior researcher in Guo's lab, was first author. These fundings reveal a previously unrecognized mechanism by which tumors withstand lysosomal inhibition, providing a strong rationale for combination strategies targeting lysosomal function alongside glucose and lipid metabolism to more effectively treat NSCLC. This approach may also be applicable to other cancers with high metabolic demands for glucose and lipids that would present an even broader strategy for enhancing therapeutic outcomes." Deliang Guo, PhD, founding director, Center for Cancer Metabolism, OSUCCC – James The scientists say that functional lysosomes are critical for tumor growth, but multiple efforts to inhibit lysosomes in several cancer types with a drug called chloroquine (CQ) in combination with radiation, chemotherapy and targeted agents have yielded only modest or partial responses in clinical trials.This preclinical study, which involved cell lines and animal models, sought to learn how tumor cells evade lysosomal suppression, and also identify strategies for overcoming this resistance.Researchers also demonstrated that inhibiting glucose transport overcomes tumor resistance to CQ treatment by inducing mitochondrial damage, oxidative stress and tumor cell death. "Our study is the first to reveal a previously unrecognized mode in which glucose and lipid metabolism are coupled to form a positive feedback regulatory loop," said Guo. "This study provides clear mechanistic guidance and a feasible drug-combination strategy to markedly enhance the antitumor efficacy of lysosomal inhibitors," said Zhong, adding that this work proposes that simultaneous targeting of lysosomal function and the glucose-lipid metabolic positive feedback loop represents an efficient antitumor strategy. "This approach is particularly suitable for patients with lung squamous cell carcinoma and subsets of lung adenocarcinoma who lack actionable driver mutations and have limited treatment options," said Zhong.Notably, CQ and simvastatin are both clinically approved, repurposed drugs. Discover how Bruker is helping drive innovation in cosmetic science through advanced AFM techniques. Discover how Thermo Fisher is shaping the future of plant-based foods through texture innovation and cultural relevance. Brain microphysiological systems are reshaping in vitro neurotoxicity testing through functional validation and advanced disease modeling. News-Medical.Net provides this medical information service in accordance with these terms and conditions. Please note that medical information found on this website is designed to support, not to replace the relationship between patient and physician/doctor and the medical advice they may provide. Hi, I'm Azthena, you can trust me to find commercial scientific answers from News-Medical.net. Registered members can chat with Azthena, request quotations, download pdf's, brochures and subscribe to our related newsletter content. A few things you need to know before we start. Please check the box above to proceed. While we only use edited and approved content for Azthena answers, it may on occasions provide incorrect responses. Please confirm any data provided with the related suppliers or authors. Your questions, but not your email details will be shared with OpenAI and retained for 30 days in accordance with their privacy principles. Please do not ask questions that use sensitive or confidential information.

Improving the gap between your biological age and your chronological age is associated with a lower risk of stroke and improvements in signs of damage in the brain, according to a preliminary study released March 5, 2026, that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 78th Annual Meeting taking place April 18-22, 2026, in Chicago and online. Lifestyle habits that support cardiovascular and metabolic health, like a healthy diet, regular exercise, adequate sleep and good blood pressure control, may help narrow the biological age gap, though we did not evaluate lifestyle programs in this study." They measured 18 biomarkers in the blood, such as cholesterol, average red blood cell volume and white blood cell count, to determine biological age at the start of the study and again six years later for a subset of participants. After an average of 10 years, researchers identified participants who had a stroke. People with a biological age older than their chronological age had less favorable brain scans by the end of the study, as well as worse scores on the cognitive tests. They also had a 41% higher risk of stroke. Those with improvements also had a lower volume of white matter hyperintensities, which is a sign of damaged white matter tissue, by the end of the study than those who did not improve their biological age gaps. Their total volume of damage was 13% lower for each standard deviation in improvement. These results took into account other factors that could affect the risk of stroke and brain damage, such as high blood pressure and other vascular conditions and socioeconomic factors. "More research is needed, testing whether lowering people's biological age gap can be demonstrated to reduce the risk of stroke and later-life brain injury," Rivier said. A limitation of the study was that while it found links, it was not designed to prove cause and effect. Also, only a smaller group had repeat blood tests, which limits what researchers could conclude about changes over time, particularly regarding cognitive tests. The study was supported by the American Academy of Neurology/American Heart Association Ralph L. Sacco Scholarship in Brain Health, which was awarded to Rivier in 2024. Discover how Bruker is helping drive innovation in cosmetic science through advanced AFM techniques. Discover how Thermo Fisher is shaping the future of plant-based foods through texture innovation and cultural relevance. Brain microphysiological systems are reshaping in vitro neurotoxicity testing through functional validation and advanced disease modeling. News-Medical.Net provides this medical information service in accordance with these terms and conditions. Please note that medical information found on this website is designed to support, not to replace the relationship between patient and physician/doctor and the medical advice they may provide. Hi, I'm Azthena, you can trust me to find commercial scientific answers from News-Medical.net. Registered members can chat with Azthena, request quotations, download pdf's, brochures and subscribe to our related newsletter content. A few things you need to know before we start. While we only use edited and approved content for Azthena answers, it may on occasions provide incorrect responses. Please confirm any data provided with the related suppliers or authors. Your questions, but not your email details will be shared with OpenAI and retained for 30 days in accordance with their privacy principles. Please do not ask questions that use sensitive or confidential information.

A recent research study found that a combination of the GLP-1 receptor agonist semaglutide and bimagrumab, an antibody that blocks activin signaling pathways, results in greater weight loss while also preserving lean mass, such as skeletal muscle and connective tissue. In the paper "Bimagrumab and semaglutide alone or in combination for the treatment of obesity: a phase 2 randomized clinical trial," published Monday in the journal Nature Medicine, Dr. Steven Heymsfield of Pennington Biomedical Research Center describes the results of the BELIEVE study, which showed that the therapy combination addressed lean mass loss associated with GLP-1-based therapies.GLP-1-based therapies have been highly successful in reducing weight, but up to 40% of weight lost may come from lean mass. Patients with obesity who are at risk for low muscle mass, affecting both physical and metabolic function, may benefit from treatments that maximize fat mass reduction while preserving skeletal muscle," said Heymsfield, who is an LSU Boyd Professor and director of the Metabolism and Body Composition Laboratory. "Bimagrumab and semaglutide work through distinct biological pathways, and when combined, we observed not only a preservation of lean mass but also an additive reduction in fat mass that exceeded what either therapy achieved alone. Participants receiving only bimagrumab saw an average weight loss of 10.8%, with all weight loss attributable to fat mass and lean mass increasing by 2.5%. These various combinations and doses resulted in nine randomized groups. Bimagrumab doses were administered every 12 weeks while semaglutide doses were administered weekly.In addition to weight loss, participants demonstrated up to an 83% decrease in high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), a key marker of inflammation linked to cardiovascular risk, and a substantial increase in adiponectin, a protein hormone that supports insulin sensitivity, fat metabolism and anti-inflammatory processes. In a subgroup of participants with indicators of prediabetes, some of the two-drug combination therapy groups had 100% reversion to normoglycemia among participants with prediabetes at baseline, essentially moving them to a nonprediabetes status.The drug combination was generally well tolerated, with side effects consistent with the known profiles of the individual drugs. The trial demonstrated positive results in terms of both lean mass retention and weight loss, but researchers recommend continued clinical development and refinement of the drug combination to better understand the common adverse events observed in the bimagrumab groups, such as mild-to-moderate acne and muscle spasms. The study also points to a need for researchers to shift focus from weight and body mass index to other measurements such as body composition as more informative indicators of optimal obesity management.Eli Lilly and Company funded the study, which was designed by Versanis Bio, a wholly owned subsidiary of Eli Lilly and Company. Versanis Bio oversaw the clinical trial and partially funded the study before its acquisition by Lilly. Bimagrumab plus semaglutide alone or in combination for the treatment of obesity: a randomized phase 2 trial. Discover how Bruker is helping drive innovation in cosmetic science through advanced AFM techniques. Discover how Thermo Fisher is shaping the future of plant-based foods through texture innovation and cultural relevance. Brain microphysiological systems are reshaping in vitro neurotoxicity testing through functional validation and advanced disease modeling. News-Medical.Net provides this medical information service in accordance with these terms and conditions. Please note that medical information found on this website is designed to support, not to replace the relationship between patient and physician/doctor and the medical advice they may provide. Hi, I'm Azthena, you can trust me to find commercial scientific answers from News-Medical.net. To start a conversation, please log into your AZoProfile account first, or create a new account. Registered members can chat with Azthena, request quotations, download pdf's, brochures and subscribe to our related newsletter content. A few things you need to know before we start. Please check the box above to proceed. While we only use edited and approved content for Azthena answers, it may on occasions provide incorrect responses. Please confirm any data provided with the related suppliers or authors. Your questions, but not your email details will be shared with OpenAI and retained for 30 days in accordance with their privacy principles. Please do not ask questions that use sensitive or confidential information.

Mayo Clinic researchers have identified a drug-and-supplement combination therapy that is capable of reducing the harmful effects of senescent cells – also known as "zombie cells" – in diabetic kidney disease. Diabetic kidney disease affects more than 12 million people in the U.S. and is the leading cause of kidney failure. While newer treatments can delay loss of kidney function, there is currently no cure. Our study found that the combination therapy, given over a short period of time, reduced the abundance of senescent cells in a preclinical model of diabetic kidney disease and also improved kidney function." LaTonya Hickson, M.D., nephrologist at Mayo Clinic in Florida and principal investigator of the study The treatment approach involves senolytics, natural and designed substances that together selectively target senescent cells. In a previously conducted, pilot clinical trial, Dr. Hickson and Mayo Clinic researchers found that the combination of dasatanib and quercetin reduced senescent cells in skin and fat tissues in patients with diabetic kidney disease. "It was important to prove that this one-time, short-course treatment has an effect on the kidneys, and we wanted to do so without invasive procedures in patients," says Xiaohui Bian, M.D., Ph.D., a nephrologist who conducted the work as a postdoctoral fellow at Mayo Clinic and is lead author on the study. In a preclinical model of diabetic kidney disease, the team found that the combination therapy improved kidney function and protective factors while reducing injury, senescent cells, and inflammation. "The results show this combination treatment holds potential to help reduce and halt kidney damage from diabetes," says Dr. Hickson. "Promising findings from these two investigations now suggest that larger scale studies using senolytics should be pursued in patients to improve kidney health." Senolytics, dasatanib plus quercetin, reduce kidney inflammation, senescent cell abundance, and injury while restoring geroprotective factors in murine diabetic kidney disease. Discover how Bruker is helping drive innovation in cosmetic science through advanced AFM techniques. Discover how Thermo Fisher is shaping the future of plant-based foods through texture innovation and cultural relevance. Brain microphysiological systems are reshaping in vitro neurotoxicity testing through functional validation and advanced disease modeling. News-Medical.Net provides this medical information service in accordance with these terms and conditions. Please note that medical information found on this website is designed to support, not to replace the relationship between patient and physician/doctor and the medical advice they may provide. Hi, I'm Azthena, you can trust me to find commercial scientific answers from News-Medical.net. Registered members can chat with Azthena, request quotations, download pdf's, brochures and subscribe to our related newsletter content. A few things you need to know before we start. Please check the box above to proceed. While we only use edited and approved content for Azthena answers, it may on occasions provide incorrect responses. Please confirm any data provided with the related suppliers or authors. Your questions, but not your email details will be shared with OpenAI and retained for 30 days in accordance with their privacy principles. Please do not ask questions that use sensitive or confidential information.

Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) researchers have used a form of artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze anatomical changes in the brain and predict Alzheimer's disease with nearly 93% accuracy. Their research, published in the journal Neuroscience, also revealed that the anatomical changes, involving loss of brain volume, differ by age and sex. We found that machine-learning technologies, however, can analyze large amounts of data from scans to identify subtle changes and accurately predict Alzheimer's disease and related cognitive states. Benjamin Nephew, assistant research professor, Department of Biology and Biotechnology Alzheimer's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that impairs mental functions and ultimately leads to death. An estimated 6.9 million Americans age 65 and older are living with Alzheimer's disease. Healthy brains contain billions of neurons, the cells that process and transmit signals needed for thought, movement, and other bodily functions. Nephew, PhD student Senbao Lu, and Bhaavin Jogeshwar, MS '24, conducted their research with MRI scans of brains from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, a multicenter project that built a library of brain scans from people age 69 to 84. Analyzing data-rich MRI images can require substantial computing power and time. To focus their investigation, the WPI researchers first used machine learning to analyze 815 MRI scans for volume measurements in 95 brain regions. Then they deployed an algorithm to make predictions based upon differences in the measurements between healthy individuals and those with mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer's disease. Results showed that the method was 92.87% accurate in detecting Alzheimer's disease among normal brains and brains of people with mild cognitive impairment. Volume loss in the hippocampus, amygdala, and entorhinal cortex were top predictors of Alzheimer's disease across age and sex categories. The amygdala, which is made up of two almond-shaped structures, controls emotions. Both males and females age 69 to 76, the youngest age group studied, showed loss of brain volume in the right hippocampus. "The critical challenge in this research is to build a generalizable machine-learning model that captures the difference between healthy brains and brains from people with mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer's disease," Nephew says. "A generalizable model means that the biomarkers we found are not unique to this dataset but could be universal to all patients with mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer's." The degree of these differences was surprising, Nephew says, and may be related to interactions between the progression of Alzheimer's disease and changes in sex hormones. Some researchers have connected the risk of Alzheimer's disease to the loss of estrogen in women and testosterone in men as they age. Nephew and WPI students are following up on their Neuroscience publication by evaluating the use of deep leaning models and examining other factors that may impact the brain and Alzheimer's disease, such as diabetes. The research has attracted WPI students from disciplines ranging from biology and biotechnology to neuroscience, psychology, computer science, and bioinformatics. "This research exemplifies the strength of neuroscience at WPI, which is interdisciplinary and computational," Nephew says. Neuroanatomical-based machine learning prediction of Alzheimer's Disease across sex and age. Discover how Bruker is helping drive innovation in cosmetic science through advanced AFM techniques. Discover how Thermo Fisher is shaping the future of plant-based foods through texture innovation and cultural relevance. Brain microphysiological systems are reshaping in vitro neurotoxicity testing through functional validation and advanced disease modeling. News-Medical.Net provides this medical information service in accordance with these terms and conditions. Please note that medical information found on this website is designed to support, not to replace the relationship between patient and physician/doctor and the medical advice they may provide. Hi, I'm Azthena, you can trust me to find commercial scientific answers from News-Medical.net. Registered members can chat with Azthena, request quotations, download pdf's, brochures and subscribe to our related newsletter content. A few things you need to know before we start. While we only use edited and approved content for Azthena answers, it may on occasions provide incorrect responses. Please confirm any data provided with the related suppliers or authors. Your questions, but not your email details will be shared with OpenAI and retained for 30 days in accordance with their privacy principles. Please do not ask questions that use sensitive or confidential information.