Life expectancy crisis in the USA: The opioid crisis is not the decisive factor

Life expectancy in the USA is no longer rising. This stagnation has long been largely attributed to increasing numbers of drug deaths due to the opioid crisis. But Mikko Myrskylä and colleagues have now shown that deaths due to cardiovascular diseases are in fact having a much larger impact on life expectancy. Over each decade […]

Lessons learned from addressing myths about Zika and yellow fever outbreaks in Brazil

When disease epidemics and outbreaks occur, conspiracy theories often emerge that compete with the information provided by public health officials. A Dartmouth-led study in Science Advances finds that information used to counter myths about Zika in Brazil not only failed to reduce misperceptions but also reduced the accuracy of people’s other beliefs about the disease. […]

In virus outbreak, fretting over a name that might go viral

West Nile virus, Lyme disease, Ebola virus. And now: 2019 nCoV? “Just rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it?” said Trevor Hoppe, a researcher at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, who has studied the history of disease names. The name, which stands for 2019 novel coronavirus, has been assigned to the virus behind the […]

US cruise ship in limbo as anti-virus controls spread

Officials in California were deciding Saturday where to dock a cruise ship with 21 coronavirus cases aboard and four U.S. universities canceled in-person classes as Western countries imitate China by imposing travel controls and shutting down public events to contain the outbreak. The Grand Princess cruise ship, with 3,500 people aboard, was waiting off San […]

AI reveals differences in appearance of cancer tissue between racial populations

Scientists at Case Western Reserve University are using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to reveal apparent cellular distinctions between black and white cancer patients, while also exploring potential racial bias in the rapidly developing field of AI. Their most recent published research asserts that AI analysis of digitized images of cancer tissues reveals critical variations between black […]

Is pain in your body or mind? How the answer can help guide your treatment

People often use the phrase “mind over matter” to describe situations where aches and pains in the body are overridden using the mind. A gardener comes in from gardening and is surprised to discover a nasty cut on her hand, something she wasn’t aware of while focused on her plants. Or a soldier in Afghanistan […]

France closes Louvre as virus cases mount in Europe

France’s famed Louvre museum, the world’s most visited, closed Sunday as coronavirus cases mounted across Europe and beyond, with the global death toll nearing 3,000. The virus has now infected more than 88,000 people and spread to more than 60 countries around the world, well beyond the epicentre in China where it first emerged late […]

Poor sleep in infancy linked to behavioral and emotional problems in toddlers

Disrupted and poor quality sleep in the earliest months of a child’s life can be an indicator of depression, anxiety and behavioural problems among toddlers, according to a new study. Researchers at the Institute for Mental Health, at the University of Birmingham in collaboration with the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, in Helsinki, found […]

Moving later in life may not lower cognitive decline linked to Stroke Belt

People who spent their childhood or early adulthood in the Stroke Belt are more likely to develop cognitive impairment later in life, even if they have moved away, according to preliminary research to be presented at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference 2020—Feb. 19-21 in Los Angeles, a world premier meeting for researchers and […]

UK Border Force hunts 2,000 people who flew in from Wuhan

UK Border Force hunts 2,000 people who flew in from Wuhan in last two weeks and up to 20 new patients are tested as France declares three cases after killer virus reached Europe Border Force agents have been deployed to crank up search for those who came from eastern Hubei province While 14 people have […]