Hygiene News and Research

RSS

More screen time, less sleep: What researchers observed in children with obesity

A cross-sectional study of 70 children in Spain found that those with obesity reported more daily recreational screen time, shorter sleep duration, and more frequent chronic sleep disturbances than their normal-weight peers. Higher screen-time scores were significantly associated with greater odds of obesity, while the association with sleep disturbances did not reach statistical significance.

2 Nov 2026

Circadian desynchronization: The hidden cost of daylight saving time transitions

Turning the clocks back an hour each fall can feel like a gift: an extra hour of sleep. But the tradeoff is less daylight in the evening, and the annual switch continues to earn mixed reviews.

29 Oct 2026

Beer and liquor show more oral bacteria links than wine in a large US study

Researchers analyzed beverage intake and oral microbiome data from 5,598 adults across three US cohorts and found that alcohol consumption showed the strongest associations with oral bacterial diversity and composition among the beverages examined. Higher alcohol intake was associated with greater bacterial richness and differences in genera linked to oral health, but the cross-sectional preprint could not establish whether alcohol caused these differences or influenced disease risk.

26 Oct 2026

Global vaccine equity rules could save millions in future pandemics

Beginning the global COVID-19 vaccine roll-out 100 days after the virus was sequenced could have saved more than 8 million lives by the end of 2021, most of them in lower-middle-income countries, according to modelling evidence brought together in a new Policy Brief from the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH).

22 Oct 2026

Pure cranberry juice may help protect teeth from decay

Boil them, mash them, simmer them in a sauce. Whether they’re sweetening a salad, garnishing a cocktail or brightening up home décor, cranberries are an iconic ingredient in holiday festivities.

21 Oct 2026

Targeted ultrasound waves safely reduce delusions in people with schizophrenia

Targeting a deep brain region with sound waves may safely reduce delusions in people with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder, initial study results show.

20 Oct 2026

Does the type of hand sanitizer matter? A study involving 568 people suggests it might

In a 72-day randomized trial involving 568 participants in Japan, an experimental hand sanitizer containing ethanol, benzalkonium chloride, and lactic acid was associated with a 40% lower cumulative incidence of upper respiratory symptoms than a commercial ethanol-based sanitizer. Participants using the experimental formulation also experienced fewer illness-related work restrictions, although infections were not laboratory-confirmed and the proposed residual antimicrobial mechanism was not directly tested.

14 Oct 2026

Many herbal toothpastes fell short on a key cavity-fighting ingredient

A study on herbal toothpastes reveals varying fluoride levels, antibacterial efficacy, and cytotoxicity, highlighting safety concerns in oral hygiene products.

5 Oct 2026

Study links insomnia to higher stroke and hospitalization risks

Insomnia is associated with a 26% higher risk of stroke and 28% higher odds of hospital admission, according to new research in Sleep Medicine Reviews. The researchers say the findings support recognizing insomnia as an important marker of brain, mental and general health.

28 Sep 2026

Kangaroo care helps smaller babies. Now researchers are studying babies born at normal weight

Researchers examine whether extending SSC beyond the first hour can improve early weight changes, breastfeeding and other maternal and newborn outcomes in normal-birthweight infants.

27 Sep 2026

NIH funds national center to advance root canal alternatives

Which would you rather have: a root canal or a pulpotomy? Even if you're not familiar with a pulpotomy, you might be inclined to learn more.

23 Sep 2026

New white paper calls for integrating oral and general healthcare

Oral health can no longer be treated separately from general health, according to a new white paper from the European Federation of Periodontology (EFP) and the European Association of Dental Public Health (EADPH) which calls for closer collaboration between dental, medical, public-health and social-care professionals.

18 Sep 2026

Nighttime light exposure linked to sleep disruption in people with schizophrenia

Sleep problems are common in people with schizophrenia and can worsen quality of life, psychiatric symptoms, cognition, and daily functioning.

18 Sep 2026

Eight-weekly HIV injections prove more effective than daily tablets for young people

Young people living with HIV manage their condition better when their antiretroviral therapy is given by injections every eight weeks, rather than in the form of daily tablets, according to the results of a trial in Africa led by UCL (University College London) researchers.

17 Sep 2026

Nationwide safety program successfully cuts hospital-onset MRSA infections

A large-scale, federally funded quality improvement program developed in collaboration with infection prevention experts at the Johns Hopkins Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality was associated with a 65% reduction in hospital-onset bloodstream infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) among participating hospital units.

15 Sep 2026

Study links eyelash extensions to skin mites, eye irritation and blocked glands

A study among young women who regularly have eyelash extensions has found most have tiny mites, called Demodex folliculorum, living on their lashes. These mites can cause a painful reaction in the skin called demodicosis.

10 Sep 2026

New integrated framework advances precision surgery for liver cancer

Hepatocellular carcinoma is the sixth most common malignancy and the third leading cause of cancer-related death globally.

9 Sep 2026

Coffee, tea and dementia risk: Why the amount you drink could matter

A targeted perspective synthesizes epidemiological and mechanistic evidence examining how caffeine consumption during midlife may influence dementia risk later in life. The authors highlight potential roles for dose, age, CYP1A2 genotype, adenosine signaling and cultural drinking practices, while stressing that current observational evidence cannot establish causality.

3 Sep 2026

Shared biological pathways may explain chronic fatigue across diseases

A shared biological secret that helps explain chronic exhaustion in conditions including long Covid and PTSD has been discovered by researchers at the University of East Anglia and Oxford BioDynamics.

2 Sep 2026