Author: Healthcare Propulsion Staff

Sitting for hours can be a hard habit to kick, said Diaz, with many employees in the study worrying about what their boss or co-workers would think of their breaks. “Even though it may seem counter-intuitive, movement breaks actually can boost work performance,” said Diaz. “They can improve executive function, attention and memory. And it helps people feel more relaxed and fresh.”Walking is low-cost and doesn’t have to mean stopping work, he said, pointing to walking meetings or pacing during phone calls – whether outdoors or around the office.Emily McGrath, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, welcomed the…

Kombucha has surged in popularity worldwide in recent years, becoming one of the most widely consumed fermented drinks. While many people choose it for its distinctive flavor, researchers are taking a closer look at what is happening inside the beverage during fermentation and how its ingredients may influence its properties. Scientists from the Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences and Wroclaw Medical University (Associate Professor Helena Moreira, PhD, Associate Professor Ewa Barg, PhD, and Anna Szyjka, MSc Eng.) set out to investigate one key question: Does the type of tea used to make kombucha affect the final product? Their…

When H5N1 bird flu began infecting U.S. dairy cattle in early 2024, veterinarians struggled to identify the cause. The virus was difficult to recognize because it behaved very differently in cows than it does in other mammals. Rather than primarily infecting the lungs, H5N1 caused severe infections in the udders while leaving the respiratory system largely unaffected. Now, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health have uncovered the biological reason behind this unusual pattern. Their findings, published in Science Advances, provide the first detailed explanation for why bird flu took such an unexpected form in cattle. The…

Learning a new language or recovering the ability to speak may rely less on the brain’s movement centers than scientists once believed. New research suggests that regions involved in processing sound and physical sensations play a much larger role in speech learning and memory. The study, conducted by researchers at McGill University and the Yale School of Medicine, could reshape scientific understanding of how speech is learned and influence the design of future speech recognition and brain-based communication technologies. Sensory Brain Regions Take Center Stage For years, researchers have generally assumed that learning and remembering the complex movements required for…

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) contributes to an estimated 1.1 million to 1.4 million deaths worldwide each year. While this growing threat is typically linked to the overuse and misuse of antibiotics, new research suggests another factor may also be playing a role: certain weedkillers. Scientists have found evidence that glyphosate, one of the world’s most widely used herbicides, may help select for bacteria that are resistant to multiple antibiotics. “Here we show that the most common species of multidrug-resistant bacteria from hospitals are not only resistant to multiple antibiotic classes, but also to high concentrations of the weedkiller glyphosate,” said Dr.…

A minimally invasive procedure for chronic knee pain is helping some patients find significant relief without undergoing major surgery. For Cynthia Schraf-Fletcher, 74, the results were “remarkably” successful. Nearly a year after receiving genicular artery embolization (GAE) on her right knee, Schraf-Fletcher says the improvement is comparable to the total knee replacement she previously underwent on her left knee. “I couldn’t be more pleased,” says Schraf-Fletcher, who had the procedure performed by Leigh Casadaban, MD, MS, assistant professor of radiology at the University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine. Today, she says everyday activities such as gardening and riding a…

A new paper published in Frontiers in Nutrition argues that current public health recommendations for exercise and protein intake are largely aimed at preventing deficiency, not helping people achieve the best possible long-term health, independence, and quality of life. The paper tackles several fundamental questions: How much protein do people really need? What types of exercise offer the greatest benefits? And what does the latest research show? According to author Dr. Chris Macdonald (Fellow of Lucy Cavendish College, University of Cambridge, and Director of the Better Protein Institute), a growing body of evidence suggests that people may benefit from higher…

The first drug that can delay the onset of type 1 diabetes is being made available on the NHS in England and Wales.Teplizumab is a form of immunotherapy that can give people three extra years before they develop symptoms and need lifelong insulin treatment.The NHS medicines body described its decision as “genuinely exciting”, with hundreds of children and young people likely to benefit each year.Type 1 diabetes can develop at any time, but the most common age of diagnosis is in early teenage years.Groups representing patients describe the potential impact of the drug as “momentous”, after decades of work to…

A trial examining the risks or benefits of drugs that can delay puberty for gender-questioning children will help reduce harm, according to the author of a landmark review.Dr Hilary Cass said she was “absolutely convinced that more children will be harmed if we don’t do the trial than if we do.”Her comments follow pressure from campaigners and some politicians to have the research programme scrapped after it was announced children as young as 11 could be recruited onto the trial.The Pathways clinical trial will be run by researchers at Kings College, London (KCL). In addition to setting a minimum age,…

During 2022 – which saw the highest recorded temperature in England at 40.3C – there were an estimated 2,985 so-called “excess deaths” as a result of the heat, external, the most recorded in any given year. There were an estimated 1,311 heat-associated deaths, external during summer 2024, and an estimated 1,504, external during summer 2025. Most heat-related excess deaths are due to heart attacks and strokes caused by the strain of trying to keep body temperatures stable.The higher death rate starts to kick in once the thermometer passes 25C-26C.However, evidence suggests the deaths tend to be caused by higher temperatures…