At time when trust in health information is at unprecedented risk, the American Heart Association today welcomed new findings from the independent Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) at the University of Pennsylvania suggesting that Americans consider the Association the most trusted source of public health information after their personal physician. Per the APPC's news release, Americans place their highest confidence in their personal health care providers, with 86% reporting trust in their own doctor, nurse or primary health care professional to deliver reliable health information. Immediately following personal clinicians, the public expresses strong trust in major professional health and science organizations-including the American Heart Association-affirming the essential role these evidence‑driven associations play in supporting informed health decisions. Public trust in the American Heart Association is earned -one rigorous study, one transparent guideline and one lifesaving action at a time. We are grateful that the Annenberg survey reflects continued strong confidence in public health organizations like ours that remained grounded in science. That trust is never taken for granted and is earned every day by our volunteer scientists, clinicians and leaders who, along with our dedicated professional staff, community volunteers and our donors, uphold the highest standards of evidence and integrity. We are also grateful for our many collaborators who share a desire to overcome health misinformation and work with us every day on behalf of everyone everywhere to educate Americans and ultimately improve heart and brain health for all." Nancy Brown, chief executive officer, American Heart Association The Annenberg Public Policy Center poll released on March 6, was conducted Feb. 3 through 17, 2026 among a nationally representative sample of 1,650 adults. 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.

An effective way to maximize the likelihood of success while significantly reducing the number of required trial enrollees is to pre-stratify potential participants, ensuring that those most likely to respond to the drug are included in the study. In addition to significantly reducing costs and improving the efficiency of the clinical trial process, this aligns with the principles of precision medicine, which involves tailoring medications to specific patient groups. Protein biomarkers that can stratify patients by multiple disease endotypes or prognostic pathways, or even predict responses to a specific treatment, have immense promise for pre-stratification before enrollment. One notable recent example is a study of interstitial lung disease (ILD). The progressive fibrosing form of ILD (PF-ILD) is a devastating and often fatal illness that can result from any of several ILD forms. Previously, there were no predictive indicators to identify high-risk ILD patients, complicating any clinical trials for preventative medicine. A team from the University of California, Davis used Olink to assess ∼350 plasma proteins in ILD patients. They employed machine learning algorithms to identify a 12-protein signature with strong predictive value for PF-ILD, which was verified in an independent patient cohort. With a negative predictive value of 0.91, the scientists projected that pre-stratifying patients with this protein signature before participation in a clinical trial for a possible PF-ILD treatment would reduce the required trial cohort size by 80 %, potentially saving more than $26 million. Olink's mission is to accelerate proteomics together with the scientific community, to understand real-time biology and gain actionable insights into human health and disease. Our innovative solutions deliver highly sensitive and accurate protein quantification, giving scientists the power to investigate complex biological processes with precision. Explore up to 5,400 proteins with high specificity, transparent data, and the flexibility to answer any research question. Meet the next-generation proteomics platform trusted by the scientific community, from small academic research teams through to leading pharma companies. Sponsored Content Policy: News-Medical.net publishes articles and related content that may be derived from sources where we have existing commercial relationships, provided such content adds value to the core editorial ethos of News-Medical.net, which is to educate and inform site visitors interested in medical research, science, medical devices and treatments. Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report: A smarter way to reduce clinical trial size through pre-stratification. "A smarter way to reduce clinical trial size through pre-stratification". "A smarter way to reduce clinical trial size through pre-stratification". A smarter way to reduce clinical trial size through pre-stratification. Decoding complex neurodegenerative diseases with multiplex biomarker platforms What is driving progress in neurological biomarker research today? Why biomarkers are critical in modern drug discovery and trials 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.

Protein biomarkers have tremendous potential for improving the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and multiple sclerosis. Overcoming these barriers is critical to advancing precision medicine in neurology. The pilot phase of the UK Biobank-Pharma Proteomics Project (UKB-PPP), a pioneering endeavor that combined large-scale proteome profiling using the Olink® Explore 3072 platform with genetic and clinical data from over 50,000 UK Biobank participants, marked a significant advancement. This unique dataset has enabled groundbreaking discoveries at the interface of genomics and proteomics, significantly advancing our understanding of complex diseases and paving the way for more personalized medical interventions. The UK Biobank's vastness and richness make it an unrivaled resource for academics, uncovering previously unachievable discoveries. Following the success of the trial phase, in January 2025, it was announced that Olink® Explore HT (which covers over 5,400 proteins) would be used to profile all 500,000 UK Biobank members. This extended dataset is expected to reveal considerably more about the complex relationships between proteins and disease, providing the framework for tailored medicines and improved diagnostic tools. With around 15,000 neurological disorders represented (Table) and approximately 50 related research papers published to date using UKB-PPP data, the discipline has already made substantial advances in biomarker discovery for early diagnosis, patient classification, and disease pathogenesis. Large-scale population health research enabled by the UKB-PPP has improved dementia prediction in healthy people up to 10 years before diagnosis.1 Researchers at Shanghai Medical College used their access to UKB-PPP data to conduct a significant in silico study to uncover predictive risk indicators and signatures for all-cause dementia (ACD), Alzheimer's disease (AD), and vascular dementia (VaD). After identifying 4-11 significant predictive analytes for those disorders, combining GFAP or GDF15 with demographic factors yielded reliable predictions of ACD, AD, and VaD. When evaluating the time to diagnosis from a blood draw, integrating GFAP with demographic data provided an accurate prediction of future dementia over a 10-year period for ACD and AD. GFAP and NEFL levels began to change considerably at least 10 years before incident dementia was identified. “Utilizing a data-driven proteomics strategy, we innovatively identified important plasma biomarkers for future dementia prediction from the largest prospective community-based cohort with long-term follow-up to date. Another study used Mendelian randomization to uncover predictive and causal proteins associated with Parkinson's disease (PD). UKB data identified 38 proteins associated with Parkinson's disease incidence over a 14.5-year follow-up period.2 Six of the top ten most significant proteins were completely replicated in a Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) validation cohort. ITGAV, HNMT, and ITGAM all had significant relationships with incidence PD across three baseline-to-diagnosis intervals. The top 16 related proteins and demographic characteristics predicted incident Parkinson's disease in subgroup analyses of up to 5 years and over 5 years, which were validated in the PPMI cohort. “By characterizing the temporal evolution of sporadic PD, we address key gaps in understanding early-stage pathology, aiding biomarker and therapy development.” - Gan et al. 2025 Blood-based protein biomarkers are promising for the diagnosis, monitoring, and prognosis of multiple sclerosis (MS); yet, they are not widely used in MS research or care. Markers of MS risk and disease severity were assessed in 407 prevalent MS cases from the UKB with well-documented clinical data.3 Seventy-two proteins were linked to MS, several of which had previously been discovered. Pathway analysis revealed enrichment of cytokines, cytokine receptors, and lysosomal processing proteins in MS, as well as a decrease in proteins involved in leukocyte migration, extracellular matrix interaction, actin cytoskeleton regulation, and cell-cell adhesion (Figure). (A) volcano plot of differences in plasma proteins in UK Biobank participants with (n = 407) and without (n = 39,979) MS at the time of sampling. (B) Gene set enrichment analysis of pathway-level differences in the plasma proteome between MS and healthy controls. Ultimately, this avenue of research could yield new drug targets, new insights into disease biology, and provide an adjunct to existing methods for individual-level prognosis in MS.” - Jacobs et al. 2024 Olink's mission is to accelerate proteomics together with the scientific community, to understand real-time biology and gain actionable insights into human health and disease. Our innovative solutions deliver highly sensitive and accurate protein quantification, giving scientists the power to investigate complex biological processes with precision. Meet the next-generation proteomics platform trusted by the scientific community, from small academic research teams through to leading pharma companies. Sponsored Content Policy: News-Medical.net publishes articles and related content that may be derived from sources where we have existing commercial relationships, provided such content adds value to the core editorial ethos of News-Medical.net, which is to educate and inform site visitors interested in medical research, science, medical devices and treatments. Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report: Advances in mapping neurological disease through large-scale proteomics. "Advances in mapping neurological disease through large-scale proteomics". "Advances in mapping neurological disease through large-scale proteomics". Advances in mapping neurological disease through large-scale proteomics. Decoding complex neurodegenerative diseases with multiplex biomarker platforms What is driving progress in neurological biomarker research today? Why biomarkers are critical in modern drug discovery and trials 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.

Building on Eppendorf's established range of benchtop centrifuges, the refrigerated SpinPro 6 R benchtop centrifuge offers additional smart features to streamline workflows, including new rotors with universal adapters. These rotors can be interchanged within various models of the upcoming SpinPro line, reducing inventory and minimizing costs. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chipped rotors enable instant recognition, increasing safety for both samples and users. All new fixed-angle rotors are equipped with Eppendorf QuickLock® Pro lids for fast and easy one-handed operation. Designed with ergonomics in mind, the SpinPro 6 R is simple to use and easily integrated into existing workflows. Its intuitive software and adaptive 7-inch touch-based display ensure straightforward setup, while the one-touch operation electric lid drive allows for ergonomic interaction with the device. The SpinPro 6 R is ACT 2.0 labeled, using CO2-based cooling technology without F-gases and full transparency on consumption, production, and sourcing, to contribute to laboratory environmental targets. The new SpinPro 6 R centrifuge is designed to make tedious centrifugation tasks effortless. Prof. Dr. Johannes Grillari, Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Traumatology, Vienna, Austria, commented: "Our lab is looking to purify extracellular vesicles (EVs) from large volumes of cell culture supernatants and have used the SpinPro 6 R to achieve single-step centrifugations for 1 L conditioned media. In particular, scaling up using the fixed-angle Rotor FA-6x250 ID and swing bucket Rotor S-2xUniversal ID has made our EV isolation protocol less time-consuming." To see the SpinPro 6 R centrifuge in action at its virtual live launch (on demand), go to Effortless Every Time | SpinPro® 6 R Live 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.

Cytotrait's seed funding will enable the Company to build on strong early data from its proprietary Mutant Organelle Selection System (MOSS) technology, initiating new development programs to explore enhanced traits in major crop species. Cytotrait's MOSS technology is uniquely designed to tackle longstanding hurdles in crop engineering and address the growing challenge of global food security and sustainable agricultural practices. In contrast to other methods, MOSS rapidly achieves homoplasmy, delivering genes and gene edits into chloroplasts and mitochondria to ensure the desired genetic changes are engineered across every organelle in a cell or plant. Building on foundational data for developing novel crop traits, Cytotrait will use its seed funding for new research targeting wheat, maize, potato, and canola in European and North American markets. The programs will utilize MOSS to explore potential applications in these crops, including enhancements in yield and resilience, the potential to introduce valuable new food traits, and the ability to drive more sustainable practices through improved carbon sequestration. Cytotrait was previously awarded £498 k funding from the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) to develop MOSS for reliable hybrid seed production in wheat, one of the world's largest food crops. Cytotrait is also a recent graduate of NG Studios, Northern Gritstone's venture building program for deeptech spinouts. We developed MOSS with those challenges in mind – a unique crop engineering solution capable of streamlining regulatory pathways and generating crops with new, enhanced, and more carbon-conscious traits. Thank you to our investors, whose support reaffirms our belief in the potential of MOSS to bring about a new frontier in crop technology." Northern Gritstone is very pleased to be working with Dr Ji and the team and look forward to positive results from this first tranche of new development programs." "MOSS is truly a breakthrough in the field of crop technology, allowing us to precisely engineer characteristics that can not only enhance yield and resilience, but also help to drive a more sustainable future for modern agriculture," said Dr Tim Brears, Executive Chair. He continued: "We're extremely proud of everything our team has already accomplished, and thankful to our investors, whose support will enable us to expand our pipeline and explore the applications of MOSS in some of the world's major crop types." Hassan Mahmudul, Investment Manager, UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund, remarked: "UKI2S invests in companies developing novel engineering biology solutions to tackle large, global challenges. We are delighted to welcome Cytotrait to our growing agritech portfolio, recognizing the strength of its platform technology, which has the potential to unlock high-value trait expression at levels significantly beyond what is achievable through conventional nuclear genome engineering." 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.

A major study of US veterans suggests that GLP-1 diabetes medications may influence addiction-related outcomes, revealing a surprising connection between metabolic treatments and substance use risk. Study: Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists and risk of substance use disorders among US veterans with type 2 diabetes: cohort study. A recent study published in the British Medical Journal suggests that medications commonly prescribed for type 2 diabetes (T2D) may also be associated with a reduced risk of substance use disorders (SUDs). These findings point to an unexpected link between diabetes treatment and addiction risk. Researchers examined the effects of initiating glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists (RAs) among United States (US) veterans with T2D. They found that people starting these drugs had a lower risk of incident SUDs. Among those already living with such conditions, the medications were also linked to fewer adverse outcomes, including SUD-related hospitalizations, overdose, and suicidal ideation or attempt. The findings highlight a potential new role for these diabetes treatments. However, further research is needed to confirm their broader clinical impact. SUDs remain a major health challenge among veterans. GLP-1 RA medications are widely prescribed to treat T2D. Growing evidence suggests that these drugs may also affect brain pathways linked to addiction. Preclinical research suggests that these medications may cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and act on regions involved in reward, motivation, and impulse control. Preclinical studies indicate that GLP-1 RAs may reduce the reinforcing effects of substances such as nicotine, alcohol, opioids, and cocaine. Observational human studies have also reported lower risks of certain SUDs following treatment initiation. However, evidence for broader benefits remains limited. Large-scale studies evaluating the GLP-1 receptor agonist drug class's potential role in preventing or improving SUD outcomes are scarce. In this cohort study, researchers examined the association between GLP-1 RAs and SUD among T2D patients receiving care through the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare system, including over 1,000 outpatient clinics and 170 medical centers. The study population included veterans with and without a prior history of SUDs. All participants were actively using VA healthcare services, defined as having at least two clinical encounters and one pharmacy record in the year before enrollment. The researchers excluded individuals who previously used GLP-1 RAs, and those with drug contraindications, such as gastroparesis, diabetic ketoacidosis, thyroid cancer, pancreatitis, severe hypoglycemia, or severe renal impairment. The investigators emulated eight parallel target trials within an active-comparator framework. One analysis focused on outcomes among 81,617 individuals with a prior history of SUD. In total, the team analyzed electronic health record data obtained from 606,434 participants. The dataset included information on outpatient visits, hospitalizations, pharmacy records, vital signs, laboratory results, and Medicare data. The researchers also estimated the Area Deprivation Index (ADI) derived from participants' residential addresses to assess socioeconomic status. Among participants living with SUD, researchers evaluated adverse outcomes such as SUD-related hospitalizations, emergency department (ED) visits, overdose, suicidal ideation, and SUD-related mortality. They compared these outcomes with those observed after initiating sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT-2) inhibitors. They used inverse probability-weighted Cox survival models to estimate the hazard ratios (HRs) and three-year net risk differences (NRD) per 1,000 individuals for statistical analysis. In comparison with SGLT-2 inhibitor use, initiating GLP-1 RAs was linked to a decreased risk of alcohol use disorder (HR, 0.82; NRD, −5.57). The composite study outcome, including all new-onset SUDs, showed similar results (0.86; −6.61). Among individuals living with SUD, GLP-1 RA initiation was linked to reduced SUD-associated ED visits (0.69; −8.92), hospitalizations (0.74; −6.23), overdose events (0.61; −1.49), suicidal ideation (0.75; −9.95), and SUD-related mortality (0.50; −1.52). Findings on treatment adherence aligned with those observed for treatment initiation in new-onset SUDs and related adverse events among individuals with SUD. Sensitivity analyses using sulfonylurea initiators as controls, multiple lookback periods, overlap weighting, average treatment effects on controls, truncation cut-offs, and trimmed propensity score thresholds yielded similar results, supporting the robustness of the findings. The findings suggest that initiating GLP-1 RAs may offer benefits beyond glucose control for T2D patients. The medications were associated with a lower risk of new-onset SUDs and with fewer related adverse outcomes, including overdose, hospitalizations, and suicidal ideation, among those living with SUDs. Clinically, the findings may inform treatment considerations, particularly for diabetic individuals who are also at risk for or experiencing SUDs. However, clinicians must weigh potential benefits against known adverse effects, underscoring the need for further research and individualized clinical decision-making. Because this was an observational study conducted in a predominantly older male veteran population, the findings cannot establish causation, may not fully generalize beyond the VA healthcare system, and residual confounding cannot be excluded despite statistical adjustment. Her academic background is in Oral Medicine and Radiology. Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report: Large veteran study points to potential benefit. Large veteran study points to potential benefit". 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.

A 12-year national study reveals that aging need not mean decline. Researchers show that many older adults maintain or even improve their cognitive and physical abilities, and that positive beliefs about aging are linked to better long-term health trajectories. Study: Aging Redefined: Cognitive and Physical Improvement with Positive Age Beliefs. In a recent study published in the journal Geriatrics, a group of researchers determined whether older adults can experience improvements in cognitive and physical functioning over time and whether positive beliefs about aging predict such improvements. Many people assume that growing older inevitably means worsening memory, slower movement, and declining independence. Health care professionals often share similar assumptions about aging trajectories among their patients. There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that some aspects of aging-related decline may be less inevitable than previously believed. It is possible that an individual's cultural attitudes toward aging, combined with their personal beliefs about aging, shape their physical and mental functioning as they age. Understanding these influences is essential for promoting healthier aging worldwide. Further research is needed to clarify how beliefs about aging shape long-term health trajectories. The study is funded by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) and collects health, social, and economic data every two years. Individuals included in the analyses had baseline measurements of age beliefs and at least one follow-up assessment of cognitive or physical functioning. Cognitive performance was assessed using the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS), and physical functioning was evaluated using walking speed measured during a 2.5-meter walking test. A faster walking speed indicated better physical function, and participants were followed for up to 12 years. Age beliefs were measured using the Attitude Toward Aging subscale of the Philadelphia Geriatric Center Morale Scale, with higher scores indicating more positive beliefs about aging. Cognition was measured among participants aged 50 to 99 years, whereas walking speed was assessed among participants aged 65 years and older at baseline and final follow-up. Statistical analyses examined whether participants improved in cognition or walking speed from baseline to the final follow-up. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine whether positive attitudes toward aging predicted improvement in both cognition and walking speed while controlling for demographic, health, and psychosocial factors. A substantial proportion of participants showed improvements in either cognitive or physical functioning during the follow-up period. Overall, 45.15% of participants experienced improvements in cognition or walking speed over time, demonstrating that positive health changes are not rare in later life. These rates greatly exceeded the benchmark established by the United States Healthy People 2030 initiative, which the study used as a reference threshold for defining a “meaningful” proportion of improvement, set at at least 11.5% of older adults. The results also showed that stability itself was common. When individuals whose functioning remained stable were added to those who improved, 51.06% of participants showed stable or improved cognitive function, and 37.56% demonstrated stable or improved walking speed. These findings highlight that many older adults maintain or enhance their abilities rather than experiencing continuous decline. Some individuals improved in memory but not mobility, while others walked faster without significant cognitive gains. Among participants who improved in cognition, approximately 44% also improved their walking speed, showing that these health domains may develop somewhat independently. Further analyses explored whether beliefs about aging influenced these improvements. Positive age beliefs significantly predicted better outcomes in both domains. Individuals with more optimistic attitudes toward aging had higher odds of experiencing improvements in cognitive functioning and walking speed, even after accounting for age, education, health conditions, sleep problems, depressive symptoms, and other factors. For example, statistical models showed that participants with stronger positive age beliefs had increased odds of cognitive improvement and faster walking speed during the follow-up period. These relationships remained significant even when stricter criteria for improvement were applied, such as requiring larger gains in cognitive test scores or walking speed. Additional analyses examined participants who already had normal baseline levels of cognitive or physical function. Even among these individuals, positive age beliefs predicted future improvements. This suggests that the relationship between beliefs and health is not limited to people recovering from impairment but also applies to individuals who begin with relatively good functioning. Overall, the results demonstrate that improvement in later life is both possible and common. They also indicate that psychological and cultural factors, such as beliefs about aging, may influence how individuals age physically and cognitively. The study builds on the framework of stereotype embodiment theory, which proposes that people internalize societal beliefs about aging over the life course and that these beliefs can later influence health outcomes when they become self-relevant. The findings show that aging does not inevitably lead to decline. Many adults experienced increases in their physical and cognitive abilities over time, contrasting with common assumptions about aging. More positive beliefs about aging were associated with a higher likelihood of improvement, suggesting that mindset and cultural attitudes toward aging may influence health trajectories in later life. Promoting more positive attitudes toward aging may therefore have implications for healthcare practices, policies, and personal behaviors, with the goal of supporting aging populations in maintaining or improving health and functioning. The authors also note that many aging studies average health changes across participants, which can mask improvement occurring within subgroups of older adults. His academic journey has allowed him to delve deeper into understanding the intricate world of microorganisms. He has worked on diverse projects in microbiology, biopolymers, and drug delivery. His contributions to these areas have provided him with a comprehensive understanding of the subject matter and the ability to tackle complex research challenges. Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report: Can aging bring improvement instead of decline? "Can aging bring improvement instead of decline? "Can aging bring improvement instead of decline? 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 massive new multimodal AI system trained on tens of millions of medical images could help unify fragmented radiology tools and assist doctors in interpreting scans and generating reports more efficiently. Study: MedVersa: A Generalist Foundation Model for Diverse Medical Imaging Tasks. In a recent study published in the journal NEJM AI, researchers introduced “MedVersa”, a generalist artificial intelligence (AI) model capable of ingesting and interpreting a wide range of medical imaging modalities and task types. Unlike traditional AI models trained for specific, limited tasks, MedVersa was built on tens of millions of medical imaging instances, allowing it to detect pathologies and generate reports within a unified analytical framework. Encouragingly, when MedVersa's performance was compared with that of a human radiologist in a blinded evaluation of chest radiograph reports, the model produced reports that were judged clinically comparable to human-written reports in many cases, particularly for scans with normal findings, while significantly reducing the time human radiologists spend documenting their findings. Together, these results posit MedVersa as a promising step toward developing a new generation of unified, multimodal foundation models that may help consolidate the currently fragmented ecosystem of AI tools currently used in clinical care settings. While recent advances in computational power and artificial intelligence (AI) model logic have allowed several of these tools to be approved for use in the medical field, their use is often fragmented. Models trained on X-ray datasets can accurately detect pneumonia in patient chest X-rays, but cannot use MRI or ultrasound data for holistic patient evaluation. Computational biologists sought to address this discrepancy by introducing the concept of Generalist Medical Artificial Intelligence (GMAI). Their goal was to create a "foundation model" (similar to the “agentic” technology adopted by ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and other large language models [LLMs]) that can process multimodal inputs and outputs. Unfortunately, previous attempts to realize this concept largely focused on text-based inputs and proved incapable of elucidating the complex visual tasks indispensable in radiology. The present study aimed to address this functional gap by engineering “MedVersa,” a radiology-focused generalist AI model capable of ingesting, annotating, diagnosing, reporting, and documenting multimodal clinical imaging data. The model was trained using “MedInterp”, a massive dataset aggregating 91 public datasets that together comprised over 29 million medical instances, including images, bounding-box annotations, segmentation masks, captions, and other vision–language supervision signals used across diverse imaging tasks. The model features a unique architecture that uses a trained LLM as an “orchestrator”, evaluating users' requirements (e.g., "Where is the patient's tumor?") and dynamically selecting appropriate internal vision modules within the MedVersa framework for request execution. Unlike previous GMAIs, which were primarily text-based, MedVersa was designed to either generate a text response or deploy specialized "vision modules" for object detection or segmentation. MedVersa can consequently process inputs as diverse as 2D X-rays, 3D CT and MRI scans, and patients' clinical history text simultaneously. Following model training, MedVersa's performance was validated against two separate traditional competitors across nine distinct imaging tasks: 1. Performance evaluation required the expert (an AI model or a human radiologist) to review reports generated by humans, ChatGPT-4o, and MedVersa for chest X-rays. Crucially, experts were blinded to the data source. Performance was scored based on the clinical accuracy of expert output and evaluation efficiency (time taken to complete the evaluation and generate a report). Study findings revealed that MedVersa's GMAI architecture was competitive with and frequently exceeded traditional “gold standard” specialist models across many object-detection and segmentation evaluation metrics. When evaluating model report generation, in the BLEU-4 test (higher is better, measures text similarity), MedVersa achieved a score of 17.8, compared with MAIRA's 14.2, BiomedGPT's 12.0, and Med-PaLM M's 11.5. In the RadCliQ test (lower is better, measures deviation from human clinical reporting), MedVersa achieved a score of 2.71 versus MAIRA's 3.10 and BiomedGPT's 3.25. While Med-PaLM M reported a slightly better RadCliQ score (2.67), this was statistically indistinguishable from MedVersa. For scans with normal findings, this equivalence increased to 91%. However, for scans with abnormal findings involving more complex pathology, equivalence was substantially lower, and human-written reports were more often preferred by reviewing radiologists. Researchers also demonstrated that using MedVersa as an assistant enabled doctors to complete report-drafting workflows more quickly. It reduced report-writing time and, crucially, resulted in fewer "urgent" discrepancies (errors requiring immediate attention) than reports drafted by GPT-4o (a 20% reduction in the 5-to-10-minute reporting interval). The present study reveals that MedVersa represents an important step toward developing a unified clinical assistant rather than relying on traditionally fragmented AI tools. Its architecture, which leverages an LLM to orchestrate specialized vision tools, enabled this novel model to achieve performance competitive with or exceeding specialized AI models across several tasks while significantly streamlining and accelerating expert human radiologists' workflows. However, the study emphasizes that while MedVersa excelled at routine cases, board-certified radiologists remain preferred for complex, abnormal cases involving intricate pathologies, underscoring the importance of expert supervision. The authors also note that broader generalizability across imaging modalities remains an ongoing challenge because several non–chest X-ray datasets in the study were dominated by segmentation tasks rather than full diagnostic interpretation. Consequently, while the present study validates MedVersa as a powerful proof-of-concept, future GMAI models should be trained with expanded datasets that include more modalities (e.g., genetic information and electronic health records [EHRs]) to fully realize the potential of AI-assisted, human expert-mediated patient care. Hugo Francisco de Souza is a scientific writer based in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. His academic passions lie in biogeography, evolutionary biology, and herpetology. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. from the Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, where he studies the origins, dispersal, and speciation of wetland-associated snakes. Hugo has received, amongst others, the DST-INSPIRE fellowship for his doctoral research and the Gold Medal from Pondicherry University for academic excellence during his Masters. His research has been published in high-impact peer-reviewed journals, including PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases and Systematic Biology. When not working or writing, Hugo can be found consuming copious amounts of anime and manga, composing and making music with his bass guitar, shredding trails on his MTB, playing video games (he prefers the term ‘gaming'), or tinkering with all things tech. Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report: 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. 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