Health
Engaging with the arts may help you live longer
Older people who frequent art galleries and museums, attend the theater and concerts may live longer than those who don't, a study in England suggests. Even after accounting for a wide range of other health and social factors, researchers from University College London found that people over 50 who regularly engaged with… Read
U.S. gov't urges new talc testing standards amid asbestos worries
An expert panel formed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has endorsed asbestos testing standards for cosmetics that reject long-held industry positions and reflect those of public health authorities and experts for thousands of plaintiffs who allege contaminated talc products caused their cancers. The most significant recommendation from the… Read
Pilot study of Asian genomes finds novel gene variants, highlights diversity
An effort to map genomes across Asia has the potential to find novel gene variants affecting disease and responses to drugs, and to reveal the complex origins of Asian populations, early results suggest. In a pilot study, researchers looked at more than 1,200 whole-genome sequences from individuals representing hundreds of… Read
Kids see you when you're drinking
Children may learn from an early age when it's appropriate to drink and how many drinks are okay from watching all the adults in their lives, a Dutch study suggests. Researchers asked 75 fathers and 83 mothers how common it would be for adults to drink in a range of… Read
Commuters may get less sleep and exercise: study
People with full-time jobs who endure long commutes may be more likely to have sleep problems and sedentary lifestyles than counterparts who work closer to home, a Swedish study suggests. Among individuals working more than 40 hours a week, commuting more than a half hour each way to work on… Read
Drug developers take fresh aim at 'guided-missile' cancer drugs
Dozens of drugmakers are conducting human trials for a record 89 therapies that pair antibodies with toxic agents to fight cancer, evidence of renewed confidence in an approach that has long fallen short of its promise, an analysis compiled for Reuters shows. These antibody-drug conjugates, or ADCs, from companies including… Read
Binge drinking and heavy alcohol consumption may damage the heart
Binge drinking and heavy alcohol consumption may directly damage the heart muscle, a new study suggests. In an analysis of data from nearly 3,000 adults from northwest Russia, researchers found that heavy drinking and bingeing were associated with increased levels of blood biomarkers that indicate damage to heart tissue, according… Read
Large study of heart stenting vs surgery sparks controversy
A dispute over how to define a heart attack has prompted some European doctors to back away from the findings of a major study that concluded bypass surgery and stents are equally good at preventing heart disease deaths when a major heart artery is clogged. Stents - tubes that reopen… Read
A plateful of plastic: Visualizing the microplastic we consume
Microscopic pieces of plastic have been discovered in the most remote locations, from the depths of the ocean to Arctic ice - and in our bodies as we breathe in and eat microplastic, and drink plastic-infused water every day. People could be ingesting the equivalent of a credit card of… Read
Twitter bots tout cannabis as a cure-all despite few approved medical uses
Social media bots are promoting cannabis as a remedy for everything from cancer to insomnia and foot pain, according to an analysis of posts on Twitter. “Social bots regularly perpetuate unsubstantiated health claims on the platform, providing one example of how false statements may drown out solid science on social… Read
