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Research projects the future mortality burden due to hot nights

Excessively hot nights caused by climate change are predicted to increase the mortality rate around the world by up to 60% by the end of the century, according to a new international study that features research from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health.

9 Aug 2022

Optically controlled local heat-pulse method manipulates temperature in cells

A team of researchers led by Osaka University finds that mutant variants of the calcium channel protein RyR1 are hypersensitive to heat, which creates a positive feedback loop of calcium release and leads to malignant hyperthermia

8 Aug 2022

Children are less fit and more obese than ever before, study says

Record levels of obesity and physical inactivity among children mean they are set to bear the brunt of poorer health effects from rising global temperatures – that's the stark warning in a new comprehensive review of current studies on the topic.

5 Aug 2022

Gut microbiota-derived metabolites offer protection against SARS-CoV-2

A new study investigated how the gut microbiome confers immunity to mammalian hosts against SARS-CoV-2 intranasal infection by generating short-chain fatty acids.

5 Aug 2022

‘Children are not little adults’ and need special protection during heat waves

After more than a week of record-breaking temperatures across much of the country, public health experts are cautioning that children are more susceptible to heat illness than adults are — even more so when they're on the athletic field, living without air conditioning, or waiting in a parked car.

4 Aug 2022

Cold exposure could make it harder for cancer cells to grow, mice study shows

Turning down the thermostat seems to make it harder for cancer cells to grow, according to a study in mice by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden.

3 Aug 2022

New treatment gives hope for people challenged with chronic back pain

People challenged with chronic back pain have been given hope with a new treatment that focuses on retraining how the back and the brain communicate, a randomized controlled trial run by researchers at UNSW Sydney and Neuroscience Research Australia and several other Australian and European universities has shown.

2 Aug 2022

Two heart drugs may increase the risk of heart attack during hot-weather events

For people with coronary heart disease, beta-blockers can improve survival and quality of life, while aspirin and other antiplatelet medications can reduce the risk of a heart attack.

1 Aug 2022

The global mutation landscape of the SARS-CoV-2 non-structural protein 1

Researchers describe the evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 non-structural protein 1 (NSP1).

28 Jul 2022

Study isolates the changes in pain-related brain activity following mindfulness training

Research at the University of Wisconsin–Madison's Center for Healthy Minds has isolated the changes in pain-related brain activity that follow mindfulness training - pointing a way toward more targeted and precise pain treatment.

28 Jul 2022

An enzyme may be a potent new tool for reducing nitrous oxide in the atmosphere

An enzyme that combats the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O) may one day give scientists a potent new tool for reducing the amount of the gas in the atmosphere thanks in part to new findings published today in Nature.

28 Jul 2022

Researchers create composite layered 2D materials using biomimetic proteins

Nature creates layered materials like bone and mother-of-pearl that become less sensitive to defects as they grow.

25 Jul 2022

Exposure to extreme heat linked with malnutrition among children in low-income countries

Exposure to extreme heat increases both chronic and acute malnutrition among infants and young children in low-income countries – threatening to reverse decades of progress, Cornell research finds.

25 Jul 2022

New RT-PCR platform gives results faster than other COVID-19 tests on the market

For more than 30 years, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been the gold standard in molecular diagnostic testing, detecting genetic material, such as those from a virus or from human DNA.

25 Jul 2022

Ant colonies behave similar to networks of neurons in a brain, study suggests

Temperatures are rising, and one colony of ants will soon have to make a collective decision. Each ant feels the rising heat beneath its feet but carries along as usual until, suddenly, the ants reverse course.

22 Jul 2022

Climate action could cut 6,000 heat-related child deaths a year in Africa

The annual death rate of children under five years old could double to about 38,000 by 2049 compared with the decade 2005-2014, without cuts to rising carbon emissions, a study estimates.

22 Jul 2022

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Drug price bill is a go in the Senate

President Joe Biden is the latest top Washington official to test positive for covid-19, following Vice President Kamala Harris, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. But work continues, particularly on a Senate bill that could, for the first time, allow Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices and cap seniors' out-of-pocket medication costs.

21 Jul 2022