Healthy mom, healthy baby. The concept sounds simple enough, but a recent Northwestern Medicine study found the level of health literacy—how someone obtains, uses and understands health information—among pregnant people isn’t where it needs to be, and it’s having a…
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Study identifies mechanism by which nicotine withdrawal increases junk food consumption
New data collected by University of Minnesota Medical School researchers demonstrate a clear connection between nicotine withdrawal and poor eating habits. Their findings point to the opioid system, the brain functions responsible for addiction and appetite regulation, as a possible…
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Blood pressure rises by stealth in poorer nations
More than half a billion people worldwide live with undetected, untreated hypertension, even as the disease burden shifts from rich nations to poor countries with limited resources to detect and manage the condition. In what researchers describe as a “massive…
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Detecting COVID-19 by analyzing lung images using artificial intelligence models
Medical imaging has long been a vital tool for the diagnosis and prognostic assessments of many diseases. In recent years, the use of artificial intelligence models has been used in conjunction with this imaging to augment their diagnostic capabilities. By…
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Living by oil and gas drilling linked to lower birthweights
A new study from Oregon State University found that infants born within 3 kilometers of oil and natural gas drilling facilities in Texas had slightly lower birthweights than those born before drilling began in their vicinity. The study, published today…
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Speeding up clinical trials by making drug production local
The Boston area has long been home to innovation that leads to impactful new drugs. But manufacturing those drugs for clinical trials often involves international partners and supply chains. The vulnerabilities of that system have become all too apparent during…
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Future pandemics targeted by new Oxford research center
Oxford University is launching an effort to bring together academic, industry and government experts from around the world to use the lessons learned from COVID-19 in the fight against future pandemics. The Pandemic Sciences Centre will unite Oxford researchers in…
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Why we remember more by reading—especially print—than from audio or video
During the pandemic, many college professors abandoned assignments from printed textbooks and turned instead to digital texts or multimedia coursework. As a professor of linguistics, I have been studying how electronic communication compares to traditional print when it comes to…
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Scarred by Zika and fearing new COVID-19 variants, Brazilian women say no to another pandemic pregnancy
“We have to avoid a pregnancy,” said Rosa, about the possibility of getting pregnant during the COVID-19 pandemic. “My feeling is that I don’t want to have a baby. What I went through in 2017 when I had Raíssa, God…
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India hospitals overwhelmed by virus as Japan declares emergency
Hospitals in India launched desperate appeals for oxygen on Friday as the nation’s Covid crisis spiraled, while Japan issued a state of emergency in some areas just three months before the Olympics are due to open. Covid-19 surges are placing…
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