Health

Children have a right to learn, play and grow. To help children thrive, parents and health care professionals must ensure they get the medical support they need. However, existing evidence shows we could involve children more in their health care appointments.

The aim of the Hele Road ward is to give students hands-on experience with equipment and patients.

Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is strongly recommended after heart events and procedures, yet remains underused, with only 20%–50% of eligible patients participating—despite well-established recovery benefits.

A simple self-help workbook paired with brief phone support can make a measurable difference to the mental health of displaced refugees, a new study has found. In Indonesia, where UNSW researchers tested the intervention, approximately 12,000 refugees live in a state of waiting—sometimes for years—unable to work, separated from family and with no clear pathway to resettlement.

New research at Edith Cowan University has shed new light on the growing debate between cow's milk and plant-based alternatives. Results of the study, published in the journal Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, suggest that cow's milk has the edge over plant-based alternatives when it comes to bone strength and nutrient absorption.

A new treatment that involves growing a patient's immune cells and then infusing them back into their body has shown promise for people with the rare blood disorder aplastic anemia. Results from the Phase 1 trial, led by Professor Ghulam Mufti, provide the first evidence that autologous regulatory T-cell therapy is feasible and safe in people with aplastic anemia and may have clinical benefit.

A research consortium has established a new framework to identify and catalog senescent cells—cells that stop dividing but remain active in the body. Because senescent cells accumulate with age and are thought to contribute to many age-related conditions, researchers are working to better understand the roles they play in health and disease. In a compendium of papers published by Cell Press, the consortium presents the first comprehensive atlas of senescent cells across the human body, a foundational step toward developing new therapies for age-related diseases.

Daily life is shaped by the solar day, influencing when we wake up, eat, work and sleep. Inside the body, a similar internal timing system—present in nearly every cell—known as the circadian clock synchronizes many biological functions, such as sleep, metabolism, hormone release and even the immune system's activity. Now, researchers from Kyushu University have uncovered a previously unknown mechanism by which the circadian clock protein called brain and muscle ARNT-like 1 (BMAL1) enhances inflammatory responses in immune cells. The findings offer new insights into how the body clock influences immune responses and may pave the way for new approaches to treating inflammatory diseases and cancer.

Blood pressure management after thrombectomy for acute ischemic stroke may require a change in approach. The HOPE clinical trial—short for Hemodynamic Optimization of Cerebral Perfusion after Endovascular Therapy—led by the Sant Pau Research Institute (IR Sant Pau), has shown that adapting blood pressure targets to the degree of cerebral reperfusion significantly improves patients' functional recovery without increasing the risk of complications.

JMIR Publications has released a News and Perspectives story on technological innovations in women's health care. In "Bridging the Gender Gap in Health Care Innovation: The Evolution of FemTech," correspondent Jenny Castillo Cato covers how FemTech has expanded over the past decade to become a major force in women's health worldwide. The findings are published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research.

Moderate exposure to cold and heat during early pregnancy may affect fetal development as early as the first trimester, according to a new study led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), a center supported by the "la Caixa" Foundation. The findings, based on two Dutch birth cohorts and published in the International Journal of Epidemiology, suggest that early gestational development may be sensitive to ambient temperature, with potential implications for birth outcomes and long-term health as climate conditions continue to change.

A new treatment platform developed by researchers at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center was able to deliver messenger RNA (mRNA) of the full-length DMD gene into preclinical models of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, successfully restoring the production of an important muscle protein, dystrophin, and dramatically improving muscle strength, endurance and function in vivo.

Endometriosis and uterine fibroids are two of the most common gynecological conditions. While they have important differences, they also have things in common. Both can lead to serious complications, affect fertility and have symptoms related to the menstrual cycle. And both are the focus of medical innovations to give women better treatment options, explains Megan Wasson, D.O., a gynecologist and chair of gynecology at Mayo Clinic in Arizona.

Millions of people worldwide are periodically or chronically affected by gut-related conditions, such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and gastroenteritis. Uncovering the physiological and biological processes that contribute to gut health could thus be highly valuable, as it might help devise more effective interventions to prevent and treat these ailments.

Ellie Colton was finally diagnosed with endometriosis after years of debilitating pain. She meets a scientist developing a simple diagnostic test that could help many women.