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Swimming sends wrist-worn heart rate monitors off track

Researchers created an open-access dataset comparing two wrist-worn heart rate monitors with a chest-strap reference during dry-land exercise and swimming. Both smartwatches performed substantially worse underwater, highlighting the challenges water poses to optical heart rate monitoring and providing a resource for future research on aquatic wearables.

12 Aug 2026

Huge philanthropic grant funds pioneering stem cell-based heart attack therapy

In a landmark moment for both the treatment of heart disease and philanthropic support, The Marcus Foundation has awarded the head of USC Stem Cell Center, Chuck Murry, MD, PhD, $28.7 million to advance a clinical trial testing a stem cell-based therapy designed to regenerate damaged tissue after a heart attack.

11 Aug 2026

FDA clears first self-balancing personal exoskeleton for wheelchair users

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cleared Eve™, the first self-balancing personal exoskeleton for eligible wheelchair users living with spinal cord injury.

11 Aug 2026

Scientists create single-cell atlas of spinal neurons involved in motor coordination

Scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital created a single-cell atlas of a key class of spinal neurons involved in motor coordination. From that resource, they identified a small subgroup of interneurons associated with the speed of rhythmic movements such as walking.

10 Aug 2026

Newly discovered protein pathway limits spinal cord injury damage

Spinal cord injury begins with immediate mechanical damage, but much of the lasting neurological loss develops during the secondary phase, when inflammation, oxidative stress and disrupted metabolism continue to injure surviving tissue.

10 Aug 2026

Engineered spinal interneurons show promise for repairing spinal cord injuries

Spinal cord injuries affect an estimated 15 to 20 million people worldwide, often causing lasting impairments in movement, sensation, and independence.

5 Aug 2026

The healthiest super-agers may have one thing in common: stable cognition

A 10-year study of 1,003 older adults linked cognitive super-aging to fewer emergency visits, unplanned hospital admissions, delirium episodes, dementia diagnoses, and residential aged care placements. Maintaining cognitive performance over time showed the strongest overall association with favorable health outcomes and was linked to a 46% lower mortality risk.

5 Aug 2026

Study reveals widening inequality in leisure-time physical activity

A ten-year study of residents of the city of São Paulo, Brazil, revealed that leisure-time physical activity is highly unequal and that the gap between social strata is widening.

30 Jul 2026

Daily multivitamin improves functional health in older adults, study finds

The ability to perform everyday activities free of debilitating symptoms profoundly affects quality of life as we age.

27 Jul 2026

Five epigenetic clocks reveal shared and distinct signals of aging

Researchers linked five epigenetic clocks to distinct blood gene-expression patterns and biological pathways in 3,227 Health and Retirement Study participants. TAGS derived from these patterns often showed stronger associations with frailty, functional measures, morbidity, and mortality than their parent clocks, although further validation is needed.

22 Jul 2026

Tailored gene therapy dramatically reduces childhood epilepsy seizures in trial

SCN2A‑related developmental epileptic encephalopathy (DEE) is a rare, severe form of childhood epilepsy and one of the most common causes of monogenic autism.

21 Jul 2026

WHO reports decline in global road traffic fatalities since 2011

Despite the addition of more than one billion motor-vehicles to the world's roads, road traffic deaths declined by 21% between 2011 and 2025, according to new data released by the World Health Organization (WHO).

21 Jul 2026

Smarter hospital design could save $100 million in the long-term

A modeling study reveals that smarter hospital design can generate $100 million in long-term savings while fostering healthier healthcare environments.

20 Jul 2026

Walking protein structure explains how cells activate molecular motors

A nerve cell resembles a vast tree with branches that communicate with thousands of other cells. To function, it depends on a motor protein that walks on two legs, hauling urgent cargo from the center of the cell to the faraway tips of every branch.

15 Jul 2026

New drug candidate improves Parkinson's treatment in animal models

For many people with Parkinson's disease, the body stops moving the way it used to. A hand may tremble at rest. Muscles may stiffen.

15 Jul 2026

Cultural engagement linked to slower physiological aging in older adults

Higher levels of cultural engagement are significantly associated with lower physiological aging, suggests an analysis published online in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

14 Jul 2026

New York pedestrian fatalities often involve alcohol and drugs

In New York State, 44% of pedestrian deaths involved alcohol or drug use by the pedestrian, suggests a retrospective analysis published online in the journal Injury Prevention.

13 Jul 2026

Distinct gut microbiome signatures identify frailty in older women

Research reveals gut microbiome signatures linked to frailty in older women, highlighting microbial changes associated with mortality and physical decline.

13 Jul 2026

GLP-1RAs linked to lower risk of amputation in diabetes with PAD

Research indicates GLP-1RAs may decrease limb complications in type 2 diabetes with PAD, though more randomized studies are required to confirm efficacy.

10 Jul 2026

Wearable forehead patch tracks brain-water shifts during sleep at home

A soft, wireless NIRS forehead patch tracked water-sensitive brain signals during 16 overnight home sleep recordings in four healthy men. The signals changed with EEG/EOG-defined sleep stages, suggesting a new way to study sleep-linked brain-fluid dynamics, although the device did not directly measure CSF flow or glymphatic clearance.

9 Jul 2026