North Korean defectors who resettled in South Korea share genetics but markedly contrasting early-life exposures with South Korean residents. Research published in the Journal of Internal Medicine compared overall and site-specific cancer incidence rates between North Korean defectors and native South Koreans. Defectors had higher risks of infection-related cancers (such as liver and cervical cancers) and lower risks of breast, colon, and prostate cancers (which are more prevalent in developed countries). Over time, though, their cancer profile changed, suggesting adaptation to South Korean society. The study provides a model for understanding how cancer epidemiology evolves in such transitions, offering lessons that may help guide prevention and health planning for other vulnerable groups in transition worldwide." Sin Gon Kim, MD, PhD, corresponding author, Korea University College of Medicine 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 certain blood protein regarded as an early indicator of Alzheimer's disease also appears to play a role in other disorders. Researchers at DZNE and the Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research (HIH) at the University of Tübingen have found that elevated levels of phosphorylated tau protein (pTau) also occur in two lesser-known conditions that primarily affect the heart and kidneys. These findings open up new perspectives for improved diagnostics and were published this week in the journal "Nature Medicine". Similar to Alzheimer's disease, these conditions are characterized by the accumulation of misfolded proteins, known as amyloids. Despite these differences, the Tübingen researchers observed a similar response in the blood: levels of pTau were elevated in affected individuals. Our results underscore that high pTau levels in blood are not specific to Alzheimer's, but can also occur in other amyloid diseases. Our results could open up new possibilities for diagnosis of systemic amyloidosis. The blood marker pTau can be measured relatively easy. It may facilitate earlier detection and help confirm or rule out suspected cases." "Blood levels of pTau are not a specific marker and further data should be considered when diagnosing Alzheimer's disease or assessing its progression. Contrary to some views, pTau should not serve as a standalone diagnostic criterion. This is particularly important in the absence of cognitive deficits when Alzheimer's disease is at an early stage." The findings also have implications for diagnosing polyneuropathy (PNP), a condition that often causes tingling and numbness in the hands and feet. Systemic amyloidosis can be an underlying cause, but there are others. "Our results suggest that pTau could help distinguish amyloidosis-related PNP from forms of PNP with other causes," says Jucker. Jucker suspects that cells release pTau as a stress response to amyloid deposits – a reaction that may occur in many organs, not just the brain. "In some cases, this stress response can be beneficial. "Overall, our findings suggest that elevated pTau could be a fairly common response of the body to certain conditions." Blood phosphorylated tau elevation as a biomarker in immunoglobulin light chain and transthyretin amyloidosis. 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 study in Economic Inquiry reveals how total abortion bans are reshaping public health systems and safety‐net programs in the United States. Using state‐level data from 2017–2023, Lilly Springer, a PhD candidate at the University of Kansas, found that states with full abortion bans (after the Supreme Court overturned the federal right to abortion with the Dobbs decision in 2022) experienced a 1.6% increased birth rate in 2023. These changes led to a $6.9 million increase in WIC food‐assistance costs in 2023, revealing how abortion bans can rapidly increase demand on federally funded nutrition programs. The findings highlight important under‐examined consequences of reproductive policy on state budgets, public health infrastructure, and low‐income families." Lilly Springer, PhD candidate, University of Kansas Springer, L. (2026) Downstream Effects of Post-Dobbs Abortion Bans: Birth Rates and WIC. 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.

Autoscoring home sleep apnoea testing (aHSAT) in primary care centres showed high specificity for diagnosing severe obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) in patients at high risk, effectively supporting diagnosis without specialist intervention. "These results suggest that when aHSAT indicates severe OSA, hospital confirmation may be unnecessary, whereas negative or moderate findings may still require specialist assessment," the authors concluded. The study was led by Ramon Orriols and Eric Rojas of the Respiratory Department at Dr Josep Trueta University Hospital and Santa Caterina Hospital, both in Girona, Spain. It was published online on February 28, 2026, in npj Primary Care Respiratory Medicine. Errors in autoscoring invalidated some valid recordings upon manual review. PSG was not performed for all participants. No specific funding was received for this study. Authors declared having no financial or non-financial competing interests. This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Severe obstructive sleep apnoea can be accurately diagnosed in primary care centres.

RISE Committee has proposed that designated nonprofessional graduate programs, which include physician associate (PA) programs, have federal student loan caps of $20,500 per academic year — with a lifetime limit of $100,000. With looming healthcare provider shortages, it was unclear how such caps might influence the future PA graduate pipeline. The American Association of Physician Associates (AAPA) quickly fielded a survey to more than 4500 PAs, PA students, and prospective PA students to understand the potential fallout. “It's important to keep in mind that most PA programs are 2 years long. That means students can only get a total of $41,000 in federal student loans under this rule,” she explained. Most people can't work while in PA school, so they also need money to live on. And the reality is, if you have to come up with an extra $30-40,000 each year from your own pocket or from higher-interest private loans, PA school is going to be out of reach for a lot of people.” “Federal student loans were essential for me to become a PA. As a single mother at the time, there is simply no way I could have completed PA education without access to those loans,” she said. “Many students, those who will be most affected by this change, have shared feelings of frustration after working so hard to get into school and become a PA, that their dream may be cut short.” Estelle Yamoah, who is currently completing her master's degree in public health and planned to apply to PA school, is one of those students. “People who were once really excited to be PAs are saying they might not continue on,” she said. “We already can't hire experienced, clinically savvy faculty because we offer salaries much lower than what PAs can make in clinical practice,” she said. “Ultimately, I believe these caps won't do anything but decrease our student numbers and lead to programs closing down. As for protecting students from overwhelming student loan debt, Pickard said many students will have to take out private loans with “super high interest rates” to pay for school. This would ultimately leave them in even more dire financial straits. “There's a legitimate conversation to be had about why tuition is so expensive,” he added. “But even if you do reduce tuition, you cannot reduce those other important costs of attendance like housing, electricity, food, gas, and insurance…so what these caps ultimately do is make it so only those who have the personal means to go into these programs will have the ability to do so. With these survey results in hand — as well as compelling stories from PAs, students, and prospective students — Pickard hopes that the Department of Education will start to understand the impact of these federal student loan caps and reconsider them. Sydney Kasner, a recent PA school graduate, said she would have been one of the people taken “out of the PA applicant pool before I even had the chance to try” had such a rule been in place just a few years ago. She, too, hopes that the Department of Education, as well as other organizations, will find a way forward to better support future PA cohorts to “fill wonderful and well-needed areas of medicine.” “The PA progression has, historically, addressed healthcare shortages all over the United States, filling in gaps in rural communities or other areas where there are primary care provider shortages,” she added. “We should be looking for more resources to cover the cost of PA programs so we can train more people, including people from rural communities and minority communities, so PAs can continue to help provide the kind of quality care that so many people across the country need.” Kayt Sukel is a healthcare and science writer based outside Houston.

Bedfont® Scientific Limited, an innovative med-tech company specializing in medical breath analysis devices, welcomes the new study at University Hospital Southampton exploring whether enhanced asthma check-ups can reduce inhaler use among children. For over 15 years, Bedfont® has supported improved asthma care with its NObreath® Fractional exhaled Nitric Oxide (FeNO) device, which measures airway inflammation through exhaled breath. The quick and easy test provides clinicians with objective insight to guide medication decisions, reduce unnecessary reliever prescriptions, prevent over-reliance on blue inhalers, and help avoid future asthma attacks. Research has found that children using 6 or more blue reliever inhalers a year are 3-5 times more likely to have an asthma attack. Reliever inhalers only treat the immediate symptoms and mask the underlying airway inflammation, which can lead to further exacerbations. The study aims to create a new alert system that automatically notifies general practitioners (GPs) when a child has been prescribed too many inhalers, prompting an immediate check-up. This will allow healthcare professionals to perform a review and help prevent future attacks. We welcome the focus this important study brings to the growing problem of reliever inhaler over-use in children, a clear signal that many young people are still not getting the right support for long-term asthma control. Over-reliance on blue inhalers often reflects unmanaged airway inflammation and missed opportunities for targeted treatment. That's why we continue to advocate for improving the accessibility of FeNO testing in primary care, a guideline-recommended, evidence-based tool that helps clinicians identify and treat underlying inflammation early. With better access to FeNO testing across the UK, we can help reduce unnecessary reliever use, improve outcomes for children, and support GPs in delivering truly personalized asthma care.” Although FeNO testing is now recommended as a first-line test in UK asthma guidelines, access remains inconsistent across primary care. As a result, many children continue to be managed without the benefit of objective airway inflammation testing, increasing the risk of poorly controlled asthma and over-reliance on reliever inhalers. Reliever inhaler overuse in children is a well-recognized marker of uncontrolled asthma and is associated with a higher risk of exacerbations and emergency admissions. Greater investment and targeted funding are urgently needed to support the widespread adoption of FeNO technology in primary care, helping clinicians deliver earlier, more accurate diagnoses and reduce preventable harm. Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report: Study on inhaler overuse highlights urgent need for better objective asthma monitoring. "Study on inhaler overuse highlights urgent need for better objective asthma monitoring". "Study on inhaler overuse highlights urgent need for better objective asthma monitoring". Study on inhaler overuse highlights urgent need for better objective asthma monitoring. 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.

Genedata, a Danaher company and the leading provider of enterprise software solutions for biopharmaceutical R&D, today announced that mAbxience has selected the Genedata Bioprocess® enterprise platform to structure and harmonize all bioprocess development data across its operations. mAbxience, majority-owned by the Fresenius Kabi group, is a global Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) specializing in the manufacture of biosimilars. "With our growing biosimilars portfolio and increasing complexity in bioprocess development, we needed a single, integrated platform that connects and analyzes all data across upstream, downstream, cell line, formulation, and analytical development," said Ivan Sánchez de Melo, Ph.D., R&D Director. "Genedata Bioprocess, operated in the Genedata Cloud, automates our processes and ensures full data integrity and traceability across all groups. This foundational system allows us to scale efficiently and prepare for the next step - process modeling - while meeting global demand for high-quality biologics." By implementing Genedata Bioprocess as a SaaS solution, mAbxience gains a unified digital backbone for tracking and automating its end-to-end bioprocess workflows, enabling faster decision-making, streamlined collaboration, improved reproducibility, and documentation. The platform consolidates all experimental and process data into a single source of truth for all CDMO operations. This strategic move positions mAbxience to increase operational efficiency and advance toward AI-driven process optimization. We are delighted to welcome mAbxience to the Genedata community, and to further expand our footprint in the CDMO industry, By centralizing all data in one platform, mAbxience is taking a major step toward automation and data integrity, increasing its AI maturity and readiness. This investment ensures scalability, compliance, and innovation for biosimilar manufacturing. We will continue to invest in the Genedata platform to address the needs of a rapidly growing CDMO industry." Posted in: Drug Discovery & Pharmaceuticals | Cell Biology Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report: mAbxience selects Genedata Bioprocess to automate end-to-end CDMO workflows. "mAbxience selects Genedata Bioprocess to automate end-to-end CDMO workflows". "mAbxience selects Genedata Bioprocess to automate end-to-end CDMO workflows". 2026. mAbxience selects Genedata Bioprocess to automate end-to-end CDMO workflows. 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.

Artificial intelligence is reshaping the journey from ingredient discovery to personalized nutrition, revealing how data-driven food design could transform human health, sustainability, and the future of what we eat. The global human population is expected to reach 10 billion by 2050, which will lead to a 20% increase in food demand that will further strain the global food system. Traditional animal agriculture is a leading contributor of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and biodiversity loss; therefore, it is crucial to identify sustainable alternatives to sustain projected population growth without worsening climate change. Changing any of these parameters can lead to significant variations in the quality of the final product, thus necessitating a trial-and-error approach that is often inefficient and costly. Nevertheless, AI is also being applied to discover new protein sources from extensive datasets on various plants and to predict their taste, texture, and/or behavior when combined with different ingredient combinations. Current AI large-language models (LLMs) have been trained on sufficient data to accurately predict nutritional profiles from a list of weighted ingredients. Specifically, these data will enable AI technologies to better understand the relationships among ingredients, formulations, nutritional profiles, texture, flavor, and taste. For example, if a novel LLM is provided with a list of ingredients and the nutritional profiles of those ingredients, it could be used to estimate ingredient composition using optimization tools. Multivariable optimization expands upon this skill set by optimizing multiple characteristics, prioritizing features based on consumer preferences and product constraints. This provides public health officials and consumers with objective data identifying healthier alternatives.5 AI algorithms are being used to map food deserts by analyzing satellite imagery and socio-economic data. These detailed maps enable the personalization of public health policies and dietary recommendations to specific communities or high-risk demographic groups.2 For example, among older adults at greater risk of malnutrition, AI-assisted nutrition-monitoring tools and predictive models are being developed to identify nutritional risk factors and support earlier dietary interventions. However, many of these systems remain in early research or prototype stages and require further real-world validation before widespread clinical adoption.1,9 The World Health Organization (WHO) emphasizes the urgent need for robust AI governance frameworks that prevent algorithmic bias in health-related technologies and ensure transparency, accountability, and fairness in AI-driven decision-making.6 The lack of standardized AI-driven protocols and limited clinical validation in racially or socially diverse populations remains a major implementation challenge.2 One of the most cited examples of AI's successful integration into industry is the food-tech firm Brightseed, which used its "Forager" AI to analyze over 700,000 compounds to identify hemp hulls as a rich natural source of two bioactive compounds that support gut barrier function.10 Clinical studies evaluating personalized nutrition programs have demonstrated improvements in several cardiometabolic indicators, including body weight, triglycerides, and diet quality, although some biomarkers such as LDL cholesterol may not show significant changes.3 Recently, the Food Plus application developed by Samsung has been developed to recognize over 40,000 food ingredients and provide personalized recipes with real-time adjustments to users across 104 countries.2 AI-driven New Approach Methods (NAMs) are being explored to support food safety assessments by analyzing molecular structures, biochemical datasets, and toxicity databases to identify potential hazards earlier in the development process.8 These approaches aim to complement traditional toxicology methods and regulatory evaluation rather than replace them. In clinical and public health contexts, ML models are also being investigated to screen for malnutrition risk in older adults by analyzing combinations of demographic, clinical, and nutritional indicators. While early studies show promising predictive performance, broader clinical validation is still needed.9 The present article highlights how AI-designed foods and precision nutrition platforms have the potential to transform human health by improving nutrient quality and food system sustainability. Future progress will depend on expanding high-quality datasets, validating AI systems across diverse populations, and implementing responsible governance frameworks to ensure that AI-enabled food innovation benefits global health without exacerbating existing inequalities.2,6,8 Further ReadingAll Artificial Intelligence ContentHow Artificial Intelligence Is Revolutionizing Emergency MedicineWhat does ChatGPT mean for Healthcare?The Pros and Cons of Healthcare ChatbotsThe Medical Industries That Are Most Likely to Be Impacted by AiMore... Hugo Francisco de Souza is a scientific writer based in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. 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. 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: AI in Food: How Artificial Intelligence is Designing Healthier and More Sustainable Foods. "AI in Food: How Artificial Intelligence is Designing Healthier and More Sustainable Foods". "AI in Food: How Artificial Intelligence is Designing Healthier and More Sustainable Foods". AI in Food: How Artificial Intelligence is Designing Healthier and More Sustainable Foods. 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. 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.

An insightful mini-review published in Genomic Psychiatry synthesizes the rapidly expanding landscape of molecular genetic research on common epilepsies, assembling evidence from genome-wide association studies, whole-exome sequencing projects, and advanced statistical modeling to illuminate the polygenic architecture that underpins these heterogeneous neurological disorders. The synthesis, led by Dr. Olav B. Smeland of the Centre for Precision Psychiatry at Oslo University Hospital and the University of Oslo, draws a detailed portrait of a genetic landscape far more intricate than early twin studies ever suggested. It is a constellation of seizure disorders that affects approximately 50 million people globally and carries increased mortality, psychiatric comorbidity, and, for roughly one-third of patients, resistance to existing medications. Those questions have driven genetic research along two parallel tracks for decades. One track has yielded dramatic results: studies of severe monogenic epilepsies, such as developmental and epileptic encephalopathies, have identified over a thousand implicated genes. The other track, focused on common epilepsies including genetic generalized epilepsy and focal epilepsy, has moved more slowly, hindered by the sheer complexity of polygenic inheritance. But the numbers diverge further when epilepsy subtypes are examined separately. For genetic generalized epilepsy, monozygotic concordance reached 77% and dizygotic concordance was 35%; for focal epilepsy, those figures dropped to 40% and 3%, respectively. How can two broad categories of the same disorder exhibit such profoundly different inheritance patterns? That question animates much of what follows in the review. Modern molecular methods have quantified this heritability in a different currency. The SNP-heritability, the fraction of phenotypic variation attributable to common genetic variants, is estimated to be approximately three times larger for genetic generalized epilepsy than for focal epilepsy. Specific subtypes such as juvenile myoclonic epilepsy and childhood absence epilepsy show even higher heritability estimates, underscoring that diagnostic precision matters enormously in genetic research. The review describes how rare genetic variants, those with a minor allele frequency below 1%, also contribute to epilepsy risk, although they are present in only a minority of cases. Recurrent deletions at the 15q13.3 locus emerged as the strongest risk factor for genetic generalized epilepsy, with an odds ratio of 36.04. The answer appears to be yes, but only for a small fraction of patients. Whole-exome sequencing studies have identified protein-truncating ultrarare variants in genes encoding components of the GATOR1 complex, a negative regulator of the mTORC1 pathway, as robust contributors to non-acquired focal epilepsy risk. What makes these findings especially compelling, as the review authors note, is the convergence between rare and common variant signals. The largest genome-wide association study of common epilepsies to date, conducted by the International League Against Epilepsy with 29,944 cases and 52,538 controls, identified 26 genome-wide significant loci. Twenty-two loci were associated with genetic generalized epilepsy from only 7,407 cases, while focal epilepsy, despite more than twice as many cases at 16,384, yielded no genome-wide significant associations. This asymmetry is not merely a matter of sample size, the review authors argue, but reflects fundamental differences in genetic architecture between subtypes. Our power projections suggest that a modestly larger GWAS for genetic generalized epilepsy could capture approximately 50% of its common genetic variance, making it remarkably cost-efficient compared with other complex brain disorders." Among the 29 potential causal genes prioritized from those 26 loci, ten are established monogenic epilepsy genes, including ion channel subunits such as SCN8A, SCN1A, CACNA1I, and KCNN2, along with neurotransmitter receptor components GABRA2 and GRIK1. This genetic convergence between monogenic and polygenic forms of epilepsy is perhaps the review's most striking integrative insight. The genome-wide genetic correlation between focal epilepsy and genetic generalized epilepsy is 0.61, indicating that many common variants jointly increase risk for both. But the overlaps extend far beyond epilepsy subtypes. Both focal and generalized epilepsies show moderate negative genetic correlations with cognitive ability, consistent with the well-documented cognitive impairment seen in epilepsy patients. Using the bivariate MiXeR model, the review authors demonstrate that most variants associated with genetic generalized epilepsy are also associated with major psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia, major depression, bipolar disorder, and anxiety. This overlap is substantial even when genome-wide genetic correlations are modest, because many shared variants exert effects in mixed directions. "The extensive genetic overlap between epilepsy and psychiatric disorders provides a molecular explanation for what clinicians have long observed at the bedside," said Naz Karadag, first author and researcher at the Department of Molecular Medicine, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo. "Understanding these shared genetic foundations may eventually help identify epilepsy patients at elevated risk for psychiatric comorbidities." The review also highlights a less intuitive finding: approximately 30% to 40% of the common variants contributing to epilepsy risk overlap with variants influencing cortical thickness and cortical surface area, despite the absence of significant genome-wide genetic correlations between these phenotypes. What does it mean when two traits share genetic variants but not correlated effects? It means the relationship is more tangled than simple directional associations can capture. Genetic testing is currently established for severe early-onset or syndromic epilepsies, where identifying a pathogenic variant may guide treatment. But for common epilepsies, with their complex inheritance and the fact that only a minority of cases harbor rare pathogenic variants of large effect, routine genetic testing remains premature. The lifetime risk of epilepsy increases by a hazard ratio of 1.73 per standard deviation increase in a genetic generalized epilepsy polygenic risk score, a figure comparable to polygenic risk prediction in cardiology. Yet the discriminative performance remains insufficient for population screening. "Polygenic risk scores for epilepsy show promise in specific clinical contexts, such as risk stratification after a first unprovoked seizure," said Dr. Smeland. Current scores should not be used for routine clinical decision-making, and broadening ancestral diversity in our study populations is essential before any implementation can be considered equitable." At current sample sizes for genetic generalized epilepsy (effective N of approximately 23,000), only about 1.5% of SNP-heritability is explained by genome-wide significant variants. By comparison, a stroke GWAS with an effective sample size more than ten times larger (278,000) explains a similar fraction of heritability at 2.0%. Existing datasets are predominantly European and drawn from a narrow range of sources. The role of somatic mosaicism in common epilepsies remains largely unexplored. The statistical power for focal epilepsy GWAS is currently insufficient for reliable MiXeR analysis, leaving a significant portion of the epilepsy landscape unmapped. "We are still at an early stage of genetic discovery for common epilepsies," said Julian Fuhrer, co-author and researcher at the Centre for Precision Psychiatry, Oslo University Hospital and University of Oslo, who generated all data analyses and figures for the review. What we need now is the coordinated effort to make it happen." Looking forward, the review envisions a future in which genetics is integrated with other data modalities, including clinical and cognitive variables, other omics data, electronic health records, neuroimaging, electrophysiology, and sensing device phenotypes, to construct genuinely multimodal prediction models. Large biobanks with longitudinal data, such as the UK Biobank and the All of Us Research program, will be essential platforms. Rapidly advancing artificial intelligence and machine-learning algorithms may provide the computational means to integrate these diverse data streams effectively. 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.

Learning French, reading the latest Andy Weir novel, hanging out with friends for St. Patrick's Day - language is central to all these everyday activities. Cognitive neuroscientists are now using a diverse arsenal of tools, including novel genetic analyses and AI, to gain insights into both healthy and disordered communication across individuals. "We still tend to study language one level at a time - genes, brain pathways, neural activity, behavior, computation - without fully connecting those levels into a coherent mechanistic account," says Tamara Swaab, who is chairing a symposium on language at the annual meeting of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society (CNS) in Vancouver, B.C. "Now, however, we can study those connections at multiple levels and in far more detail." This relatively novel, integrated approach is already yielding results, from AI-based models that can test, and potentially predict, language development in children, to genetics research that links rhythm disorders and dyslexia. These studies mark a dramatic shift from traditional research about where language happens in the brain to how it occurs and why it differs so vastly across people, says Swaab of the University of California, Davis, and University of Birmingham in the UK, who studies how various factors affect how language is processed and understood. The question, he says, is how do humans acquire language so efficiently - with orders of magnitude less exposure to words than today's large language models (LLMs) - while other species cannot reach similar competence? These AI models learn, and thus follow a specific learning trajectory, which provides a new source of hypotheses and ideas for how children effectively acquire language." In a new study, King and colleagues found that LLMs can effectively account for the neural representations of language in both adults and children as young as 2 years old. Working with the Rothschild Foundation Hospital's pediatric epileptology unit, the researchers investigated neural activity recorded from more than 7,400 electrodes implanted in the brains of 46 children, teenagers, and adults who have intractable epilepsy and are thus temporarily implanted with stereotactic electrodes prior to surgery. "We discovered that their brain responses to an audiobook can be accurately modeled using AI," as King will present at the CNS meeting in Vancouver. They found that high-level language features, such as grammar, compared to low-level features, such as fast phonetic building blocks, continue to mature between ages 2 and 10 years old. For cognitive neuroscientist Stephanie Forkel of Radboud University Nijmegen in The Netherlands, better understanding how language develops uniquely in different individuals means taking a different approach: studying the brain's wiring that connects language regions. But after working with stroke patients who had different types of brain damage and varying language challenges, Forkel quickly realized that language is "not a single 'thing' in the brain - it is a system." The answer was "no," says Forkel, who will present this new work at CNS. "Instead of distinct categories, we found that language is not binary in the brain; it forms a continuum. This challenges long-standing categorical models of hemispheric dominance and reframes how we think about individual differences." Forkel's team now has funding for a new five-year project to understand the emergence of language from its biological foundations. The hope is to not only understand how language is created but also how it can be protected from, or restored after, injury or disease. Whether from genetic sites such as 23andMe or government funded organizations like the U.S. National Institutes of Health, these databases, combined with innovative new genetic analyses, are giving researchers brand new insights into the "polygenic" nature of language, says Reyna Gordon of Vanderbilt University Medical Center. While researchers cannot pinpoint in single individuals how much of their language skills derive from genetics versus the environment, large populations of people can reveal significant patterns. She and her team are triangulating data about the functions of specific genes with questionnaires and other types of data specific to language and music development to show how genetic variation contributes to individual differences in language skills. They found multiple genes associated with dyslexia, which might contribute to earlier diagnosis and treatment for the language disorder. Crucially, these approaches allow researchers to combine insights from multiple large datasets, rather than relying on a single group of participants, something not previously possible in traditional neuroscience research. "Using new methods, we can actually do this data integration across data streams, which allows us to formulate basic science hypotheses, as well as potential clinical applications," Gordon says. In another study, Gordon and colleagues showed that there is a shared biological underpinning between language and music that maps all the way back to the genome. They identified 16 separate regions of the genome that are common to rhythm impairments and dyslexia. "We've also looked at the overlap epidemiologically in large samples, so rhythm impairments may actually be a risk factor for language problems and reading disorders," she says. Indeed, says session chair Swaab: "Language comprehension is a form of fast, adaptive cognition. 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. 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Led by Shan Zhu - with corresponding author Yan Y Sanders from the Department of Biomedical and Translational Sciences, Eastern Virginia Medical School (Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at Old Dominion University) - the study examines how the stress-activated kinase p38 MAPK contributes to persistent profibrotic gene expression in replicative (passage-driven) senescence of human lung fibroblasts and in primary fibroblasts from patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Using IMR90 lung fibroblasts at low and high population-doubling levels and primary IPF fibroblasts, the authors show that TGF-β1 upregulates profibrotic genes (α-SMA and Col3A1) in both young and near-senescent cells, but that high-PDL (near-senescent/senescent) fibroblasts exhibit a delayed but sustained p38 MAPK response to TGF-β1. Pharmacological inhibition of p38 MAPK (SB202190) blunted profibrotic transcription and reduced H4K16 acetylation (H4K16ac) enrichment at α-SMA and Col3A1 promoters, indicating an epigenetic mechanism linking p38 signaling to fibrotic gene activation. "These findings suggest that a p38 MAPK–dependent epigenetic mechanism is involved in fibroblast activation, supporting the therapeutic potential of p38 MAPK inhibition for treating age-related fibrotic diseases such as IPF." The authors place these molecular results in a clinical context: persistent fibroblast activation and senescence are features of IPF and other age-associated fibrotic disorders, and the data here support targeting p38 MAPK to interrupt an epigenetically reinforced profibrotic program. The study used multiple readouts (western blot, RT-qPCR, ChIP for H4K16ac) and included primary IPF cells to strengthen translational relevance, while also noting that further work is required to test safety and efficacy in vivo. The paper outlines clear next steps: determine the upstream triggers that sustain p38 signaling in near-senescent fibroblasts, map the chromatin-level events downstream of p38 that maintain H4K16ac at profibrotic promoters, and evaluate p38 inhibition in animal models of age-related pulmonary fibrosis. The authors also recommend exploring whether epigenetic modulators that reverse H4K16ac enrichment can synergize with kinase inhibition to restore repair capacity without impairing normal tissue healing. 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.

Analysis of a large, nationally representative survey shows that stroke survivors under age 50 have more problems concentrating and running errands and experience more poor mental health days than older stroke survivors do. Younger survivors who were not working faced the greatest challenges in their recovery. The study comes as stroke rates among younger people have increased rapidly in recent years, driven in part by sedentary lifestyles and rising obesity rates. The researchers behind the study say that younger stroke survivors deserve and require unique support services that meet their needs and help them reintegrate into their work, family and social spheres. With the growing rate of stroke among individuals under 50, the medical establishment has to acknowledge that young stroke survivors require age-specific rehabilitation strategies that include different components than they do for older stroke survivors." Jacobs and UF professor Charles Ellis Jr., Ph.D., published their findings March 4 in the journal Geriatrics. Younger survivors were almost twice as likely to report difficulty concentrating or remembering and experienced nearly double the number of poor mental health days in a given month compared to older adults. However, younger adults faced fewer physical difficulties, such as walking or climbing stairs. People experiencing worse mental and physical health probably have a harder time resuming employment because poor health makes it more difficult to perform many job-related tasks. At the same time, re-engaging with work could provide physical and psychosocial benefits while increasing access to health insurance, which could further support recovery. While the onus should be on the health care system to better recognize and treat the unique challenges facing younger stroke survivors, Jacobs acknowledges that patients and their families may need to advocate to obtain the rehabilitative services they require. "Without those support systems, you're not going to feel like you have a full recovery from this devastating health event." 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.