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Why Knee Pain Increases with Age and How to Improve Flexibility

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Atrophy can affect nearly every part of our body, but the knees bear a particularly heavy burden as they age. Why? Because they are intricate anatomical structures with numerous components that undergo constant wear and tear.

As we grow older, the muscles supporting our knees weaken, and bone density declines. The cartilage that cushions our bones may wear thin, and the ligaments connecting them also lose elasticity.

This leads to stiffness, pain, reduced mobility, and those involuntary sounds we all make when we rise from the sofa.

Fortunately, like any machine, our knees can thrive with proper care. Understanding the risk factors for knee injuries and osteoarthritis is a crucial first step.

The main threats to healthy knees include excess weight and footwear lacking adequate support for multiple joints.

For instance, in 2021, French researchers found that Parkour athletes experienced an average of 1.7 knee or ankle injuries per 1,000 hours of training.

While this might not sound alarming, it can lead to long-term damage—affecting more than just those jumping off risky buildings.

A study focused on elite dancers revealed that knee injuries, such as meniscus tears, are among the most prevalent injuries.

Activities that involve impact on the legs or require rapid direction changes can strain the knees significantly. A severe ACL injury can sideline football players for up to a year.

Moreover, research suggests that ten to twenty years post-injury, about half of those affected may develop osteoarthritis linked to their original injury.

There’s also an ongoing debate about whether running is beneficial or detrimental to knee health. For example, some claim running on pavement can be as punishing as hitting the soles of your feet with a hammer for an hour.

As you age, the muscles that stabilize your knees become weaker and bone density decreases – Illustration credit: Daniel Bright

However, a 2017 study found no significant differences in the risk of knee osteoarthritis between runners and non-runners.

In fact, exercise is believed to strengthen joints. A 2023 study indicated that individuals engaged in strength training are up to 20% less likely to experience osteoarthritis than those who do not.

Additionally, strengthening surrounding muscles, such as the quadriceps, appears beneficial. If you invest in properly fitting shoes and maintain a regular exercise routine, another key practice for knee care is recognizing mild discomfort.

Minor injuries can easily escalate into more serious, long-lasting conditions. If experiencing pain, consider using knee supports or opting for swimming.

Some research suggests that non-weight bearing activities, like swimming, can facilitate recovery from minor knee injuries and lessen the risk of long-term complications.

This article addresses the question posed by Thomas McPherson from Wakefield: “How do I take care of my knees as I age?”

Please email us to submit your questions at Question@sciencefocus.com or Message Facebook, Twitter or Instagram Page (don’t forget to include your name and location).

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Source: www.sciencefocus.com

If CO2 Capture Doesn’t Improve, Climate Warming Could Increase by Another 0.5°C

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Reducing emissions and capturing carbon is essential to limit warming

Richard Saker/Alamy

The planet must eliminate hundreds of billions of tons of carbon dioxide to keep global temperature rise under 1.5°C this century. Even the less ambitious 2°C targets seem increasingly unattainable without substantial carbon capture and removal (CDR) technologies and urgent emission reductions.

The contentious role of carbon management technologies in meeting climate objectives has been debated for some time. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a degree of carbon management is “inevitable” for reaching zero emissions required to stabilize global temperatures. However, it stresses that the necessary technologies have yet to be validated at the needed scale and emphasizes the risk of providing justifications for continued emissions.

“There’s an ongoing debate among scientists about whether CDR is essential or fundamentally unfeasible,” says Candelaria Bergero from the University of California, Irvine. “Some argue that CDR is unavoidable,” she adds.

To assess what is at stake, Bergero and her research team simulated the potential for global temperature increases to stay below 2°C while analyzing CO2 management across various emission scenarios aligned with the Paris Agreement targets. These scenarios incorporated both technological CDR methods like direct air capture and nature-based solutions such as tree planting, alongside varying carbon capture applications for emissions from power plants and industrial sources.

They determined that failing to capture or remove CO2 could lead to an additional 0.5°C rise in global average temperature by century’s end. Moreover, half of the carbon management predicted in the scenarios could induce about 0.28°C of warming, making it nearly impossible to restrict temperature increases to 1.5°C, even within frameworks that consider violations of that threshold.

While achieving 2°C warming targets might still be feasible without carbon management, researchers found that drastic emission reductions of 16% annually since 2015 are necessary. Such a rapid decrease appears unlikely given the increasing global emissions over the last decade, according to Bergero.

Furthermore, initiatives for scaling up carbon management aren’t progressing swiftly enough. According to Steve Smith at Oxford University, only 40 million tonnes of CO2 are currently captured and stored globally, and only about 1 million tonnes are removed directly each year.

“Like with other emissions reductions, countries frequently discuss ambitious long-term goals, yet lack immediate measures to implement the billions of tons of reductions necessary for these pathways to succeed,” he states.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

How Can You Improve Your Mindset and Foster Positivity?

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Hugh Schulte/Millennium Images, UK

The term “thinking” might evoke memories of certain self-help literature that lacks scientific basis. Yet, emerging studies indicate that our cognitive patterns can significantly shape our lives through their effects on our thoughts, motivation, and behaviors.

This article is part of a special feature that explores how experts perceive some of the most unexpected scientific ideas. Click here for more information.

“We perceive thinking as a belief system regarding how the world operates, which includes our thoughts about ourselves and our surroundings,” states David Jager from the University of Texas at Austin.

Initially popularized by Carol Dweck at Stanford University, this concept emerged from her interest in how beliefs about intelligence affect academic performance.

Some individuals strongly agree with statements in psychological surveys, such as “Your intelligence is fundamentally fixed and does not change significantly.” Such individuals are characterized as having a “fixed mindset.” Conversely, those who resonate more with statements like, “Your intelligence can change significantly throughout your life,” are viewed as having a “growth mindset.”

Dweck’s research demonstrated that individuals with a growth mindset are more likely to persevere after setbacks and embrace challenges beyond their comfort zones.

Crucially, Dweck and her team found that mindset is flexible. For instance, educating individuals about the brain’s inherent plasticity can foster a growth mindset, as shown in this research. Although some replication attempts showed mixed results, the overall effect seems to hold up under varying contexts.

“Interventions are typically more effective when educators cultivate a growth mindset within a nurturing school culture,” Jager explains. I have led several studies in this area.

Building on Dweck’s groundwork, psychologists are uncovering various concepts that could positively influence our well-being and success. At Stanford, Aria Crum has been researching “mindsets regarding stress.” Those who perceive stress as energizing are often better equipped to handle life’s demands compared to those who view stress as debilitating.

Crum likens our mindset to a “lens” that influences our worldview; recent studies indicate that these lenses may have long-term health implications. For instance, research on first responders has shown that individuals who interpret stress as beneficial possess a lower risk of heart disease, regardless of their overall stress levels.

Integrating growth and stress-affirming mindsets can amplify the benefits of both. In a series of studies released in 2022, Yeager revealed that teaching students a “synergistic mindset” improved both mental health and academic achievement. “These two perspectives complement each other,” Jager notes. “They shape your beliefs.”

However, it’s crucial to understand that mindset research is sometimes misinterpreted. The researchers do not advocate the notion that positive thinking can yield miraculous outcomes. “To clarify, the growth mindset does not suggest that someone with the right mindset and education can become an Einstein or Beethoven,” Dweck writes in her book, Thinking: The New Psychology of Success, “rather, it implies that an individual’s true potential is unknown and not fixed.”

Fostering a growth mindset shouldn’t merely be about offering constant praise for every effort. It often requires establishing high expectations. “This may involve difficult conversations, but it’s also about guiding someone to meet those standards,” asserts Jager. “It can be challenging.”

Thus, unlike self-help advocates, a positive mindset won’t promise instant wealth. However, it prepares us to exert the effort needed to reach our aspirations and navigate the emotional hurdles along the journey.

Explore additional stories in this series through the links below:

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Enhanced Research May Improve Climate Legislation by Holding Polluters Accountable

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In 2023, the Winooski River in Vermont overflowed and reached the Green Truss Bridge that crosses it. The river water even seeped into the marble floor of the state house due to 9 inches of rain falling within 48 hours, causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damage.

A year later, Vermont enacted the Climate Change Superfund Act, holding an oil and gas company financially responsible for the state’s climate damages. A similar law was passed in New York in 2024 and is pending in California, Maryland, and Massachusetts.

Understanding the law involves attribution science, a field that uses global temperature data to model numerous scenarios to determine if extreme weather events like floods and heatwaves are linked to emissions from burning oil, gas, and coal.

A new paper published in Nature Journal on Wednesday magnifies this work to connect emissions from specific entities to the economic impact of extreme events.

“The oil industry is astonished by the state’s climate superfund laws and their increasing popularity, as they are the first policies globally to hold a significant portion of the major losses responsible for the substantial damages incurred by their products.”

The response to the law was swift. In February, West Virginia and other Republican-led states sought to challenge New York’s laws, arguing that only the federal government has the authority to regulate emissions. President Trump signed an executive order this month criticizing the state law as a burden and ideological motivation, calling on Attorney General Pam Bondy to block enforcement.

Environmental attorneys have been exploring how harm can be attributed to greenhouse gas emissions for years, according to Martin Rockman, a climate law fellow at Columbia University’s Sabine Center.

“Attribution science is crucial because it establishes links between particular activities of businesses that profit from fossil fuels and specific harms to states and communities,” Rockman stated. “If you’re causing harm, you should be accountable for mitigating it, it’s that simple.”

The new study will enhance an approach known as “end-to-end” attribution, linking a specific emitter (e.g., a company) to a particular climate-related impact (e.g., extreme heat) and subsequent damage (impact on the global economy).

The study revealed that Chevron’s emissions caused heat-related losses totaling up to $3.6 trillion in the global economy. Christopher Callahan, a postdoctoral geoscientist at Stanford University and the study’s author, noted that such high costs still underestimate the global repercussions of fossil fuel combustion in less affluent tropical regions with minimal emissions responsibility.

“That astounding figure represents the detriment from just one of the climate impacts,” stated Delta Melner, associate director of the Science Hub for Climate Litigation at the Coalition of Concerned Scientists. “The overall harm caused by major emitters is undoubtedly much greater when considering the full range of climate risks.”

Theodore J. Bootras Jr., a Chevron Corporation lawyer, argued that the study “disregards the scientific impossibility of attributing a specific climate or weather phenomenon to a particular country, company, or energy consumer.” He labeled it as futile state litigation and a misleading advocacy campaign for energy penalties and regulations.

Overall, the paper estimated that the global economy would suffer $28 trillion in damages due to extreme heat caused by emissions from 111 major carbon producers between 1991 and 2020.

More than 100 climate-related lawsuits have been filed annually since 2017, as per a recent study. However, these cases scrutinize attribution studies that struggle to connect emissions to estimated economic losses.

This innovative framework can offer similar capabilities in other major damage and liability cases, analogous to those handled in tobacco-related lung cancer lawsuits and pharmaceutical claims for addiction.

Justin Mankin, a geography professor specializing in climate science at Dartmouth University and co-author of the Nature paper, remarked:

World Weather Attribution, a group based at Imperial College London, has regularly published attribution reports over the past decade.

“Unfortunately, we are still one of the few entities engaged in this work, and we are not an official institution. It’s essentially a project I undertake as a university professor in collaboration with a team of colleagues,” stated Friedrike Otto, a physicist aiding in attributing global weather.

Dr. Callahan and Dr. Mankin utilized open-source tools in their models, developing code and data resources they deployed to publish the global costs of climate change on their website.

“We advocate for transparent and open science, particularly since the research was funded by U.S. taxpayers,” Dr. Mankin emphasized, highlighting a significant portion of the research support originating from NOAA, the nation’s leading climate science agency facing funding cuts during the Trump administration.

Extreme weather events have disrupted communities and continue to exacerbate tensions. According to Vermont Senator Anne Watson, the 2023 flood cost Vermont hundreds of millions of dollars, prompting her to sponsor a bill quantifying state damages between 1995 and 2024.

Julie Moore, the secretary at the Vermont Natural Resources Agency, assisted states in organizing their inquiries for more information to better grasp the various approaches in attribution science and comprehend how to assign damages caused by greenhouse gas emissions.

“The charge against us is to establish guidelines on applying attribution science and ultimately send out a cost recovery notice,” Moore explained. According to state laws, oil and gas companies will receive this notice in early 2027.

“The expectation is that it will aid Vermont in securing a substantial amount to cover damages and adapt to a hotter, more humid climate resulting from carbon in the atmosphere,” Watson expressed. “We need a source to determine accountability for this.”

Source: www.nytimes.com

Recent studies suggest that incorporating simple walking tips can improve your heart health

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Engaging in regular and extended bouts of walking can help shield you from abnormal heart rhythms, heart attacks, heart diseases, and strokes.

Recent research published in Heart, a publication owned by the British Medical Journal, supports this notion. According to the study, adults who maintained a brisk walking pace of over four miles per hour (mph) were 43% less likely to develop heart rhythm abnormalities over a 13-year period.

For many people, a pace of 3.5 mph is typical, so walking at 4 mph may feel more energetic. It’s a deliberate pace that slightly elevates your heart rate and breathing, but still allows for conversation.

“Individuals who perceived their normal walking pace as average (3-4 mph) or active (>4 mph) experienced a reduced risk of heart rhythm abnormalities,” stated Professor Jill Perl, the Henry Mechanic Professor of Public Health at the University of Glasgow and senior author of the study, as reported by BBC Science Focus.

Furthermore, even minor lifestyle changes, such as walking at an average pace for at least five minutes daily, were shown to yield significant benefits according to the study’s findings.

Most of us walk at speeds of 3.5 mph or 130 bpm. This is about the pace of the song that got me hooked on the senses of BJ Thomas. – Credit: Solstock via Getty

The study included data from 420,925 participants from the UK Biobank, of which 81,956 individuals tracked their walking habits using activity monitors.

After 13 years, approximately 9% of participants developed heart rhythm abnormalities, such as atrial fibrillation, tachycardia, and bradycardia.

Individuals who spent more time walking at an average or active pace were found to have lower odds of developing these abnormalities compared to those with less walking activity.

It was estimated that around 36% of the benefits associated with brisk walking and heart health could be attributed to its positive impact on risk factors for heart disease.

“Brisk walking can help lower blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and reduce inflammation in the body,” explained Professor Perl.

While the study had limitations, including its reliance on self-reported data and a predominantly white participant pool, the results emphasize the potential benefits of incorporating regular brisk walking into one’s routine.

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Professor Jill Perl holds the Henry Mechanic Chair in Public Health at the University of Glasgow. She also serves as an honorary public health consultant for the Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Commission. Prior to her current role, Professor Perl was a professor of epidemiology at the British Heart Foundation’s Centre for Cardiovascular Research in Glasgow. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the European Society of Cardiology.

Source: www.sciencefocus.com

Artificial capillaries could improve texture of lab-grown chicken

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The machine delivers nutrient-rich liquids to artificial chicken fibers

Takeuchi, University of Tokyo

Thick-sized chicken fillets are grown in the lab using small tubes, mimicking the capillaries found in real muscles. Researchers say this gives the product a texture of Chue.

When growing thick pieces of cultured meat, one major problem is that the central cells are dead and broken because they don’t get enough oxygen or nutrients. Takeuchi Kami At the University of Tokyo.

“This leads to necrosis and makes it difficult to grow meat with texture and taste,” he says. “Our goal was to solve this by creating a way that evenly delivers cells throughout the tissue, as blood vessels do within the body. “What if we could use hollow fibers to create artificial capillaries?”

The fibers used by Takeuchi and his colleagues were inspired by similar hollow tubes used in the medical industry, such as kidney dialysis. To create lab-grown meat, the team essentially wanted to create an artificial circulation system. “Dialysis fibers are used to filter waste from the blood,” Takeuchi says. “Our fibers are designed to feed live cells.”

First, researchers 3D printed small frames to hold and grow cultured meat, and installed over 1,000 hollow fibers using robotic tools. This sequence was then embedded in a gel containing living cells.

“We created a ‘meat growth device’ using a hollow fiber array,” Takeuchi says. “We placed collagen gel around the cells and fibers of live chickens. Then we poured nutrient-rich liquid into the hollow fibers, allowing them to flow through capillaries. For several days the cells were aligned with the muscle tissue and formed a thick, steak-like structure.”

The resulting cultured chicken weighed 11 grams and was 2 cm thick. Takeuchi says that the texture was improved as the tissues had a one-way alignment of muscle fibers. “We also discovered that the heart of meat is healthy and healthy, unlike the way the centre dies.”

While meat was not considered suitable for human taste testing, mechanical analysis showed good bite and flavor markers, Takeuchi says.

Manipulating hollow fibers could potentially allow you to simulate different meat fillets, he says. “Changing the spacing, direction, or flow patterns of the fibers may allow us to mimic a variety of textures, including softer, chewy meats.”

Johannes Le Cartre While an impressive study at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, he says the process is difficult to implement on an industrial scale. “[The] The Holy Grail across this sector is expanding new technology,” he says.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Innovative technologies can lower costs and improve sustainability of refrigerators | Technology

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A new technology application has been reported to potentially reduce costs and improve environmental friendliness of refrigerators.

In 2019, domestic refrigerators and freezers accounted for nearly 4% of global electricity consumption. One quote states that simply innovating to decrease power usage is no longer sufficient.

Research from Huazhong Science and Technology University suggests that thermal galvanic technology shows promise as a sustainable cooling alternative to the commonly-used steam compression technology in refrigerators.

According to the findings, “Thermal galvanic cooling offers an environmentally friendly solution with low carbon emissions, potentially contributing to carbon neutrality if widely adopted.”

The research also indicates that this technology can be applied across various sectors, from wearable cooling devices to industrial settings.

Duan mentions, “Thermal galvanic technology is making its way into our lives through efficient electricity or low-power cooling. Both the research and commercial communities should take note.”

Heat galvanic cells generate electricity from thermal energy produced by a chemical reaction. Researchers have found heat galvanic hydrogel that can aid in cooling mobile phone batteries while converting waste heat into electricity.

Optimizing the chemicals in the process has led to a 70% improvement in cooling efficiency of the galvanic cells.

The electricity used to power refrigerators, coupled with gas leaks from refrigeration units, is a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions. In the UK, 50% of refrigeration-related emissions are from electricity usage, with 37% from household refrigerators.

Future research efforts will focus on enhancing system design and exploring additional commercial applications.

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Duan states, “Our advanced electrolytes have commercial potential, but further efforts are needed to enhance design, scalability, and stability for practical implementation of this technology.”

“Moving forward, we aim to enhance heat galvanic cooling performance through new mechanisms and advanced materials, along with developing various refrigerator prototypes for potential applications. Collaborations with companies are being pursued to promote the commercialization of heat galvanic technology.”

Source: www.theguardian.com

Batteries with perforations may improve wearability more than cotton.

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Battery pouch with a rectangular hole

LiangBing Hu/Teng Li

The flexible battery pouch filled with strategically placed holes is more breathable than cotton. This may be the ideal power supply for wearable sports and fitness devices built directly in clothing.

“This is especially convenient for athletes wearing electronic devices for a long time. It is a smart clothing for similar applications that require both fitness tracking, medical monitoring devices, and reliable performance.” Say. LIN XU At Yale University.

To design a new battery, XU and his colleagues have created a long rectangular hole pattern on a pouch cell battery. This is a type of lithium battery similar to a flat bundle with a limited bending ability. The simulation shows whether the arrangement of a rectangular hole is stretched or folded 180 degrees compared to the pattern of alternative holes including square and circles.

“One task was to maintain enough active materials to keep the battery energy density high. Masu. “It was necessary to balance mechanical elasticity and electric performance.”

If you stretch 10 % or fold, the design of a strong battery can resist physical stress and withstand power bulbs. Stretching and folding experiments were executed 100 times, respectively. Tests with temperature and humidity showed that the battery was twice as breathable as cotton.

As a practical demonstration for possible use, researchers have woven the battery into a white coat and tested the performance while the wearer was running around. The holes can quickly disrupt the heat of the battery, so they do not feel pain or sweat on the wearer's skin.

Since the battery still requires more wear tests, researchers plan to test their performance on commercial health monitoring devices and sports equipment.

We are also investigating ways to optimize production. Automated manufacturing must provide consistent holes and sealing to avoid the leaks and shorts of battery pouches.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Robotic exoskeleton helps professional pianists improve speed and accuracy

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Robotic exoskeleton can train people to move their fingers faster

Shinichi Furuya

The robot hand’s exoskeleton helps professional pianists learn to play faster by moving their fingers.

Robotic exoskeletons have long been used to rehabilitate people who have lost the use of their hands due to injury or medical conditions, but their use to improve performance in able-bodied people has been less studied.

now, Shinichi Furuya and his colleagues at Sony Computer Science Laboratories in Tokyo found that using a robotic exoskeleton can improve the finger speed of trained pianists after a single 30-minute training session.

“I’m a pianist, but [injured] My hands got damaged from practicing too much,” Furuya says. “I was struggling with the dilemma between over-practicing and preventing injury, so I decided I had to figure out a way to improve my skills without practicing.”

Furuya recalled how his teacher would often teach him how to play a particular song by holding up his hand. “I could understand it intuitively, tactilely, without using words,” he says. This led him to wonder if it would be possible to replicate this effect in robots.

This robotic exoskeleton can raise and lower each finger independently up to four times per second using separate motors attached to the base of each finger.

To test the device, the researchers recruited 118 experienced pianists who had played for at least 10,000 hours since before they were eight years old and asked them to practice one piece for two weeks until they stopped improving.

The pianists then underwent a 30-minute training session using the exoskeleton, during which they moved their right-hand fingers slowly or quickly in various combinations of simple and complex patterns. This allowed Furuya and his colleagues to pinpoint what type of movement was causing the improvement. .

Pianists who experienced high-speed, complex training were able to better coordinate their right-hand movements and move the fingers of either hand faster, both immediately after training and one day later. This, along with evidence from brain scans, suggests that the training changed the pianists’ sensory cortex, allowing them to better control overall finger movements, Furuya says.

“This is the first time I’ve seen someone use it.” [robotic exoskeletons] It is about learning beyond normal dexterity and beyond what is naturally possible.” Nathan Lepora At the University of Bristol, UK. “Why it worked is a little counterintuitive, because we thought actually performing the movements ourselves spontaneously would be the way we learned. But passive movements seem to work better.”

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Source: www.newscientist.com

The new understanding of obesity may improve treatment for millions of individuals

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Measuring body fat more carefully may help treat obesity

Half Point/Getty Images

Rethinking how obesity is defined could help millions of people around the world, claims a team of researchers who want to introduce a new category of “preclinical” obesity.

The current definition of obesity as set by the World Health Organization (WHO) is having excess body fat that poses a risk to health. The WHO recommends that health professionals assess whether people are obese by calculating their body mass index (BMI), a measure of weight in relation to height. A BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 is considered healthy, while anything below or above that indicates being under or overweight. A BMI of more than 30 indicates obesity.

It’s true that having a lot of body fat can cause fat to infiltrate organs such as the liver and pancreas. impair function. It can also worsen inflammation and increase the risk of diseases such as cancer, liver disease, and heart disease.

However, BMI does not reflect a person’s body fat level very well. “BMI does not tell you whether that ‘excess’ weight is due to excess body fat or increased muscle and bone mass,” he says. Francesco Rubino He led research on obesity at King’s College, London.

Body fat levels, even when properly assessed by waist measurements or, in rare cases, X-ray scans, do not completely determine a person’s health status. “No two people react the same way to excess body fat. This is influenced by a person’s race/ethnicity, age, and the food they eat, with genetics playing a huge role.” says. stephen heimsfield at Louisiana State University.

That’s why Rubino and his colleagues want to introduce more nuance to the definition of obesity, separating cases into preclinical and clinical cases. Although both forms are characterized by excess body fat, only the clinical form is associated with symptoms caused by excess fat, such as difficulty breathing, heart problems, and difficulty with daily activities. Preclinical obesity, on the other hand, increases the risk of eventually developing such obesity-related symptoms, Rubino says.

This is similar to prediabetes, where blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not high enough to be diagnosed as full-blown type 2 diabetes, Rubino said.

Under the proposed changes, medical staff would use waist width and X-rays in addition to BMI calculations to directly measure people’s body fat levels, but people with a BMI over 40 would always be overweight. It will be considered fatty. Blood tests are then used to assess organ health and people are asked if they have symptoms. Blood tests are routinely done by many clinicians anyway, but directly measuring body fat would add some workload, Heimsfield says.

If the new definition is widely adopted by clinicians, it could mean people will receive more personalized advice and treatment, Rubino said. In general, people with pre-clinical obesity may only need to monitor their health and make lifestyle changes, while those with clinical obesity are more likely to need treatment with drugs or surgery, Rubino said. say.

“This allows us to better triage people and get them the right care,” he says. Adrian Brown At University College London.

Laura Gray Researchers at the University of Sheffield in the UK also welcomed the proposed changes. “It’s very necessary. These guidelines put what current research says into clinical practice,” she says. “Not all people who are obese according to their BMI are unhealthy, and not all people with a low BMI are healthy.”

This updated definition has already been endorsed by 76 health organizations around the world and may also help reduce the stigma surrounding the condition. “The hope is that by defining obesity in a more nuanced way, we will be able to show that it is a disease in itself. It is not just the result of behavior, but there are many risk factors, including environmental, psychological, and genetic. ” says Gray.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Can mind-machine implants improve human abilities?

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I lost to a cyborg. When I played the online game WebGrid, using my finger on my laptop’s trackpad to click squares that appear unpredictably on a grid, I was able to beat him at 42 beats per minute. When Noland Arbaugh, a self-described cyborg, played the game, using a chip implanted in his brain to send telepathic signals to a computer, his speed was 49.

Arbaugh was paralyzed from the neck down in 2016. In January, he became the first person to be surgically implanted with a chip made by Neuralink, a company founded by Elon Musk. Since then, Arbaugh has been able to use his mind to control his phone and computer, surf the web, and play games. civilization And chess.

But Neuralink is not the only company using brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) to blend the human brain with machines. Thanks to a series of trials, many people paralyzed by spinal cord injuries, strokes and movement disorders are regaining lost abilities. These successes have surprised some researchers, says Jamie Henderson, a neurosurgeon at Stanford University in California. “It’s been an incredible advance.”

Where that will take us remains to be seen. Musk recently mused about developing bionic implants that could compete with artificial superintelligence. Others see deeper implications: “In the future, we will be able to manipulate human perception, memory, behavior and identity,” says Rafael Yuste of Columbia University in New York.

But while BCIs are undoubtedly impressive, as Arbaugh’s WebGrid scores show, the relationship between brain activity, thoughts, and behavior is incredibly complex. Memory…

Source: www.newscientist.com

Can MRI scans improve the accuracy of prostate cancer screening?

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MRI scans may improve prostate cancer screening accuracy

Skynesher/Getty Images

There is both good news and bad news when it comes to prostate cancer testing. First, the bad news. Blood tests that measure a compound called prostate-specific antigen (PSA) are too inaccurate. As a result, some men end up undergoing cancer treatments they didn’t actually need, causing incontinence and erectile dysfunction.

On the other hand, combining a PSA test with an MRI scan of the prostate can make screening more accurate, especially if double testing is recommended only for people at high risk of tumors. An expert group called the Lancet Committee on Prostate Cancer made this recommendation in a new report.

We certainly need to rethink prostate screening, but will these new proposals succeed in reducing harm?

Prostate testing has long been controversial. PSA is released at high levels by cancerous prostate cells, but is also produced at low levels by healthy prostate cells.

Blood tests were introduced as a way to track the success of cancer treatment. It began being used as a screening test in the 1990s, in part as a result of a campaign by men’s health groups for something comparable to breast cancer testing.

The problem is that PSA alone is not reliable as a screening tool. Levels may rise temporarily, such as after sex, during a urinary tract infection, or while riding a bicycle. Even if the increase continues, most prostate cancers grow so slowly that if left untreated, they will never be noticed or cause any problems.

These problems wouldn’t be so important if it weren’t for the fact that the treatments used to remove the cancer (usually surgery or injecting radioactive material into the tumor) can cause permanent incontinence and erectile dysfunction. It would have been. Biopsies to determine whether cancer is present can also cause these problems.

randomized trial It has been shown that for every 1,000 men who undergo regular PSA testing, one fewer man will die from prostate cancer over a 10-year period, but three will remain incontinent and 25 will remain impotent.

These disturbing figures are forcing health services in most high-income countries, including the UK and Australia, into uneasy compromises. Unlike breast and colorectal cancer tests, no invitations for prostate tests will be sent out, but those who wish to undergo the test can take it if the risks are explained to them.

As a result, higher-income men are more likely to take the PSA test, and lower-income and black men are less likely to be tested, the new report says. This is unfortunate because men of African descent are about twice as likely to develop prostate cancer as men of European descent.

The report’s authors say health systems need to use more sophisticated forms of screening, including both PSA tests and MRI scans. This scan allows your doctor to assess the size of your prostate and identify suspicious areas that may be cancerous.

Something close to this dual method is already in place in some countries, including the UK, where the next step for people found to have high PSA levels is an MRI scan. This means that people who are reassured by their scan results can avoid a more invasive biopsy. “This greatly reduces the problem of overdiagnosis,” he says. nicholas james, a researcher at the Institute of Cancer Research in London and one of the authors of the report.

But James says it may be even better to combine the PSA test with an MRI scan before the results are fed back to avoid men being mistakenly told they may have cancer.

The committee says health care organizations should use this combined approach to launch formal screening campaigns targeting three groups known to be at high risk. Black men, people with a family history of prostate cancer, and men who have a mutation in one of their prostate cancers. BRCA Genes also associated with breast cancer.

This would avoid the current situation where men at low risk are probably getting too many PSA tests, while men at high risk are getting too few or no PSA tests.

The proposal is certainly suggestive, but it remains to be seen whether it will discourage people from getting prostate exams. recently” cure cancer phobia.

The arrival of the PSA test may be like opening a Pandora’s box, James says, but the proposed new approach will likely alleviate at least some of the harm.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Three simple strategies to improve decision-making and boost confidence

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When you’ve tried to order something online during a work break, like a new electric toothbrush, you likely expected it to be simple. However, the overwhelming number of choices and options may have left you feeling paralyzed by decision making.

There are numerous factors to consider beyond just price and delivery time, such as battery life and advanced features like warning lights for excessive pressure or accompanying apps.

Decision paralysis occurs when the abundance of options and the challenge of weighing them all prevent you from making a choice, especially within a limited time frame.

It was once believed that more choices would benefit consumers, but in reality, it can lead to decision fatigue and drive people away.

In other life situations, the weight of decision making may weigh heavily on you, even if you only have a few options. The fear of choosing wrongly, whether it’s a college, job, or romantic partner, can cause decision paralysis.

Individuals known as “maximizers,” who strive to find the optimal choice, are more prone to decision paralysis compared to “satisfied people” who are content with a good enough decision.

The fear of regret for making a wrong decision can also contribute to decision paralysis, as can the concept of opportunity cost – what you’ll miss out on by choosing a particular path.

There are several ways to overcome decision paralysis: realize that perfect decisions are rare, understand that not deciding is a decision in itself, and simplify the decision-making process by prioritizing important factors and scoring options against them.

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Source: www.sciencefocus.com

Walking 10,000 steps daily appears to improve overall health.

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Walking 9,000 to 10,000 steps a day appears to protect against early death and heart-related events

Pippa Samaya/Getty Images/Cavan Images

Walking 9,000 to 10,000 steps a day appears to reduce the risk of early death and heart-related events, adding legitimacy to an idea that has been criticized as unscientific.

The exact origins of the popular belief that people should aim for 10,000 steps a day are unknown, but it is believed to be related to a marketing campaign promoting pedometers in Japan.

Now, research by Matthew Ahmadi Professors at the University of Sydney in Australia suggest that this number may have some value.

The researchers analyzed more than 72,000 participants in the UK Biobank study, with an average age of 61, who wore movement-tracking accelerometers on their wrists for a week. “We were able to quantify the number of steps we took each day,” Ahmadi says.

Participants were then followed for an average of just under seven years, during which time there were 1,633 deaths and 6,190 heart disease-related events. The researchers found that the optimal number of steps per day is 9,000, after adjusting for other factors that may influence the risk of illness and death during that period, such as diet quality, smoking status, and other physical activity. I calculated it to be ~10,000 steps, after which the benefits begin to gradually decrease.

Doing so was found to reduce the risk of death by 39% and risk of heart-related events by 21% during the follow-up period.

“This paper will help the field take a major step forward in refining the science behind physical activity and sedentary time guidelines. Pardon the pun,” he says. Dale Esliger At Loughborough University, UK. “It seems to support the idea that the 10,000 step goal, which is not evidence-based to begin with, may indeed be about right.”

However, on the other hand nicolas berger Researchers at Britain’s Teesside University said the study was “very well designed” using “rigorous methodology and statistical analysis”, but Esliger said the wrist-worn acceleration It says that the meter is not always the best indicator of step count.

The researchers also didn’t take into account the number of steps taken per minute. “Probably about 6,000 steps performed at a higher cadence may be just as protective of your health as 10,000 steps at a slower pace,” Esliger says.

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Source: www.newscientist.com