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Category: health

South Carolina’s measles outbreak shows chilling effect of vaccine misinformation

But on a Monday afternoon in Boiling Springs, only one person showed up.

“It’s progress. That progress is slow,” Linda Bell, the state epidemiologist with the Department of Public Health, said during a recent press briefing. “We had hoped to see a more robust uptake than that in our mobile health units.”

As South Carolina tries to contain its measles outbreak, public health officials across the nation are concerned that the highly contagious virus is making a major comeback. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has tallied more than 1,700 measles cases and 45 outbreaks in 2025. The largest started in Texas, where hundreds of people were infected and two children died.

Nanowire platform reveals elusive astrocytes in their natural state

Scientists have engineered a nanowire platform that mimics brain tissue to study astrocytes, the star-shaped cells critical for brain health, for the first time in their natural state.

Astrocytes are the brain’s most abundant and mysterious cells, responsible for regulating communication between neurons and helping to maintain the blood-brain barrier. They are also highly dynamic shape-shifters, something they do not do on typical petri dishes, leaving major gaps in our understanding of how they operate.

“Frustratingly, little is known about the stunning diversity of astrocyte morphology and we also don’t know much about the molecular machinery behind these shape shifts,” said co-senior author Ishan Barman, a Johns Hopkins University bioengineer. “They won’t take on these shapes on glass, so the question for us was how do we replicate the in vivo shape but in vitro?”

Validation of a Risk Score for Cancer-Associated Thrombosis Using Nationwide EHR Data

This study externally validated the EHR-CAT risk score for cancer-associated thrombosis (CAT) using the Epic Cosmos database, with similar performance as the original derivation, showing promise EHR integration across diverse health systems.

Question Can routinely collected electronic health record (EHR) data from diverse health systems be used to model cancer-associated thrombosis (CAT) risk?

Findings In this prognostic study using a retrospective cohort of 732 594 patients with cancer receiving systemic therapy between 2018 and 2023 from 184 health systems, the EHR-CAT score significantly outperformed the benchmark Khorana score and had 20% improved accuracy. The model had consistent calibration by demographic subgroups, health system sites, and cohorts stratified by bleeding risk.

Meaning These results suggest that standardized structured EHR data from different health systems can support scalable validation and implementation of CAT risk assessment.

Metabolites produced in intestine play central role in controlling obesity and diabetes, study shows

A study conducted at Harvard University identified a group of metabolites that travel from the intestine to the liver and then to the heart, where they are pumped throughout the body. These metabolites play an important role in controlling metabolic pathways in the liver and insulin sensitivity. This discovery may contribute to future treatments for obesity and type 2 diabetes. The results were published in the journal Cell Metabolism.

“The hepatic portal vein drains much of the blood from the intestine to the liver. Therefore, it’s the first place to receive products from the gut microbiome. In the liver, they can be conjugated, transformed, or eliminated, and then enter the systemic circulation,” explains Vitor Rosetto Muñoz, first author of the study and postdoctoral researcher at the Ribeirão Preto School of Physical Education and Sports at the University of São Paulo (EEFERP-USP) in Brazil.

“By analyzing the blood leaving the intestine and the peripheral blood circulating throughout the body, we were able to more accurately observe the enrichment of these metabolites derived from the gut microbiome in each location and, consequently, how they can modify hepatic metabolism and metabolic health,” adds Muñoz. He conducted this research during an internship at the Joslin Diabetes Center at Harvard Medical School under the supervision of researcher Carl Ronald Kahn.

Pesticides and other common chemical pollutants are toxic to ‘good’ gut bacteria, lab-based screening indicates

A large-scale laboratory screening of human-made chemicals has identified 168 chemicals that are toxic to bacteria found in the healthy human gut. These chemicals stifle the growth of gut bacteria thought to be vital for health. The research, including the new machine learning model, is published in the journal Nature Microbiology.

Most of these chemicals, likely to enter our bodies through food, water, and environmental exposure, were not previously thought to have any effect on bacteria.

As the bacteria alter their function to try and resist the chemical pollutants, some also become resistant to antibiotics such as ciprofloxacin. If this happens in the human gut, it could make infections harder to treat.

Innovative materials boost stretchable digital displays’ performance

Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) power the high-end screens of our digital world, from TVs and phones to laptops and game consoles.

If those displays could stretch to cover any 3D or irregular surfaces, the doors would be open for technologies like wearable electronics, medical implants and humanoid robots that integrate better with or mimic the soft human body.

“Displays are the intuitive application, but a stretchable OLED can also be used as the light source for monitoring, detection and diagnosis devices for diabetes, cancers, heart conditions and other major health problems,” said Wei Liu, a former postdoctoral researcher in the lab of University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (UChicago PME) Assoc. Prof. Sihong Wang.

Eye washing may ease hay fever ocular symptoms and improve quality of life

Hay fever, also known as allergic rhinitis, is the condition responsible for seasonal allergies or allergic reactions to other environmental allergens, like dust mites and animal dander. Estimates vary, but somewhere around 10–30% of the population worldwide experiences hay fever at least occasionally. Symptoms include nasal congestion, headaches, itchy throat and ocular symptoms, like itchy eyes, tearing and redness. Ultimately, these symptoms disrupt daily activities and affect quality of life for hay fever sufferers.

While many medications are available to reduce symptoms, many people prefer to include preventative measures. A new study from Japan, published in Scientific Reports, describes a large-scale survey of hay fever sufferers, comparing those who use eye washing as a preventative measure. The study reports that those using eyewash experience improved symptoms.

Hidden household toxin triples liver disease risk, study finds

PCE, a dry-cleaning chemical found in many everyday products, has been linked to tripled risk of serious liver damage. Scientists have uncovered a new environmental culprit behind liver disease: tetrachloroethylene (PCE), a chemical used in dry cleaning and household products. The study found that people with PCE exposure were three times more likely to develop severe liver scarring, even when traditional risk factors like alcohol or obesity were absent. The chemical is widespread in air, water, and consumer goods, making it a stealthy threat to public health.

Liver disease most often develops due to one of three major causes: excessive alcohol use, the buildup of fat in the liver associated with obesity, diabetes, and high cholesterol, or viral infections such as hepatitis B and C.

Researchers from Keck Medicine of USC have identified another potential cause of liver damage. A new study published in Liver International links tetrachloroethylene (PCE), a chemical widely used in dry cleaning and found in household products like adhesive glues, spot removers, and stainless steel polish, to serious liver harm.

Function of the Spine

Your spine is an important bone structure that supports your body and helps you walk, twist and move. Your spine is made up of vertebrae (bones), disks, joints, soft tissues, nerves and your spinal cord. Exercises can strengthen the core muscles that support your spine and prevent back injuries and pain.

Learn more about what your spine does and how this bone structure is important for your health.

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