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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 30, 2026 at 12:37pm

How do doctors diagnose a heart murmur?
If a doctor hears a particularly unusual whooshing or swishing sound, they might refer you to a cardiologist for further tests to determine what's going on.

Those tests will often start with an electrocardiogram (EKG) and echocardiogram, or ultrasound of the heart. But should your doctor need a better idea of how your heart muscles, chambers and valves are operating, they might order a chest X-ray, cardiac MRI or CT scan or other tests, too.
People diagnosed with heart murmurs might not notice any symptoms, even if their murmurs are caused by heart muscle or valve conditions. But if such conditions progress, chest discomfort, shortness of breath, fatigue and difficulty exercising, swollen legs, trouble sleeping and lying flat at night and even dizziness, lightheadedness and fainting could develop.

"If any of these symptoms appear, especially if they're new or worsening, it's time to call your doctor."
How do you treat a heart murmur?
What happens if a heart murmur goes untreated?

In the case of an innocent murmur, possibly nothing. But heart murmurs caused by severe valve or heart-muscle disease can overwork the heart, leading to complications like heart failure, stroke or irregular heart rhythm.

Cardiomyopathy-related heart murmurs respond well to medications and, in some cases, surgery, pacemakers or defibrillators. And patients can usually manage mild to moderate valve-related murmurs with medications that lower strain on the heart and control blood pressure and heart rhythm.
Severe valve disease, however, may require valve repair or replacement. The approach varies depending on the valve involved and the patient's overall condition, and it may range from minimally invasive procedures to traditional open-heart surgery.
A skilled care team knows how to determine the right treatment.
Part 2

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 30, 2026 at 12:32pm

What is a heart murmur?

A heart murmur can sound scary—literally.

"Lub-dub…lub-dub…lub-dub…" That's the sound a healthy heart makes as its valves close after each pump. Your doctor wants to hear this sound when listening to your heartbeat with a stethoscope. But if the sound your doctor hears is more of a "whoosh" or "swish," that may signal that you have a heart murmur.

What causes a heart murmur?

A whooshing or swishing sound in your heart will perk up your doctor's ears because it means that the blood is flowing a little faster or more turbulently than usual.

In the case of what's known as a functional, or innocent, heart murmur, that turbulence is completely harmless and not even uncommon in healthy people, including children, athletes and pregnant women. Pathological murmurs, on the other hand, may indicate a problem with one or more of the heart valves.

These valve problems can arise with age and the normal wear-and-tear a heart experiences over a lifetime. But heart defects present from birth, as well as prior infections like rheumatic fever and infective endocarditis, which affects the heart's lining and valves, might also be to blame.

Finally, cardiomyopathies, or diseases of the heart muscle itself, can cause heart murmurs, particularly when the muscle becomes abnormally thick.

Part 1

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 30, 2026 at 12:18pm

Understanding how certain fungi are able to break down charcoal could ultimately benefit humans. Charcoal is chemically similar to a lot of pollutants left behind by human activities like oil spills, mining waste, and other industrial processes. If researchers gain a better understanding of the ways fungi digest such things, they could one day be used to clean up contaminated environments.

Ehsan Sari et al, Gene duplication, horizontal gene transfer, and trait trade-offs drive evolution of postfire resource acquisition in pyrophilous fungi, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2026). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2519152123

Part 2

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 30, 2026 at 12:17pm

How fire-loving fungi learned to eat charcoal

Wildfire causes most living things to flee or die, but some fungi thrive afterward, even feasting on charred remains.
Certain fungi thrive after wildfires by metabolizing charcoal, enabled by specific genetic adaptations. These include gene duplication for increased enzyme production, sexual recombination for rapid evolution, and rare horizontal gene transfer from bacteria. Some fungi survive fires via heat-resistant structures or by recolonizing soil. Insights into these mechanisms may aid in bioremediation of pollutants.

Research finds the secret to post-fire flourishing hidden in their genes. The study is among the first to investigate how fungi that are barely detectable in the soil before a fire are able to proliferate wildly once an area has burned.

Scientists knew certain fungi were heat resistant, that some could grow quickly in scars where competitors have been burned away, and that others could consume nutrients in charcoal. Now we know the genetics behind these incredible abilities.

Over a period of five years, researchers built a collection of fungi gathered from seven different wildfire burn sites across California. The researchers sequenced their genes and exposed some of them to charcoal. They found three main ways through which pyrophilous fungal genes have evolved.

Some fungi use gene duplication, like a biological copy-paste mechanism, to make more of the enzymes needed to digest charcoal. Aspergillus, the green mold sometimes found on bread, reproduces asexually using this method. The more copies of charcoal-digesting genes it has, the more enzymes it can produce to consume burned matter full of carbon.

By contrast, Basidiomycota, a large group that contains the classic Mario Brothers-style mushroom-forming species, relies on sexual reproduction. This strategy allows it to recombine genes during mating, and quickly evolve the ability to metabolize char.

Most surprising to the researchers, however, is that one fungus, Coniochaeta hoffmannii, acquired its most useful genes from bacteria, essentially borrowing genetic tools from another kingdom of life.

Humans share genes via vertical transfer, from parents to babies. Bacteria commonly swap genes with each other horizontally.

Horizontal gene transfer is like you sharing genes with your friend or sibling. This is why bacteria are so diverse.

However, it is uncommon to find examples of this happening between bacteria and other life forms.

This kind of gene sharing across kingdoms is incredibly rare. But it gives this fungus the genes it needs to break down burn scars.

The team also identified how some fungi survive fire itself. Some produce sclerotia, heat-resistant structures that can lie dormant underground for decades, waiting for the right conditions to regrow.

Others survive deeper in the soil, then rise to colonize nutrient-rich, competitor-free ground after the fire passes. For example, Pyronema does not possess as much of the genetic machinery to break down charcoal. Instead, it quickly forms tiny orange cup-shaped mushrooms in a competitor-free environment.

Part 1

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 30, 2026 at 11:55am

Can desert sand be used to build houses and roads?
Desert sand, typically too fine for conventional concrete, can be used to create strong building materials when combined with plant-based additives and heat, forming botanical sand concrete. This material is suitable for paving stones and may reduce environmental impacts by utilizing abundant desert sand and decreasing reliance on river and crushed rock sand. Further testing is needed for broader applications.

Ren Wei et al, Botanical sandcrete: An environment-friendly alternative way to the mass utilization of fine (desert) sand, Journal of Building Engineering (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.jobe.2025.114078

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 30, 2026 at 11:51am

Do trees prevent landslides? What science says about roots, rainfall and stability

Tree roots can enhance slope stability by reinforcing soil and intercepting rainfall, but their removal is only one of many factors influencing landslide risk. Slope failures are primarily driven by underlying geology, clay-rich soils, intense rainfall, and historical instability. Vegetation loss may contribute, but landslides often result from a complex interplay of natural and human-induced factors.

Do trees prevent landslides? What science says about roots, rainfal...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 29, 2026 at 1:27pm

'Holiday mode': Why our green habits vanish on vacation

Tourists tend to act less environmentally responsible while on vacation due to a shift into a "vacation place identity," which reduces feelings of accountability for sustainable behavior. This identity switch occurs even though core environmental values remain unchanged, leading to increased waste and less conservation compared to behavior at home. Subtle prompts evoking home routines before travel may encourage more sustainable actions.

Dorine von Briel et al, Does activating home place identity on vacation have the potential to alter environmentally significant tourist behaviour?, Tourism Management (2026). DOI: 10.1016/j.tourman.2025.105321

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 29, 2026 at 1:09pm

Researchers unveil simpler, faster way to make vaccines

A new vaccine development platform enables rapid, low-cost production using inactivated bacteria engineered with synthetic DNA, bypassing the cold storage and complexity of mRNA vaccines. The method yields shelf-stable vaccines suitable for global distribution and can generate candidates for testing within three weeks. Early trials show strong immune responses, with up to eightfold improvement over initial versions.

Juan Sebastian Quintero-Barbosa et al, Engineering Enhanced Immunogenicity of Surface-Displayed Immunogens in a Killed Whole-Cell Genome-Reduced Bacterial Vaccine Platform Using Class I Viral Fusion Peptides, Vaccines (2025). DOI: 10.3390/vaccines14010014

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 29, 2026 at 1:03pm

Fecal transplant capsules show promising results in clinical trials for multiple types of cancer

Fecal microbiota transplants (FMT) can dramatically improve cancer treatment, suggest two groundbreaking studies published in the Nature Medicine journal. The first study shows that the toxic side effects of drugs to treat kidney cancer could be eliminated with FMT. The second study suggests FMT is effective in improving the response to immunotherapy in patients with lung cancer and melanoma.

Fecal microbiota transplant (FMT) capsules have been shown to reduce toxic side effects of immunotherapy in kidney cancer and significantly improve response rates in lung cancer and melanoma. Clinical trials indicate FMT is safe and may enhance treatment efficacy, with response rates rising to 80% in lung cancer and 75% in melanoma, compared to standard immunotherapy alone.

Fernandes, R., Jabbarizadeh, B., Rajeh, A. et al. Fecal microbiota transplantation plus immunotherapy in metastatic renal cell carcinoma: the phase 1 PERFORM trial. Nature Medicine (2026). doi.org/10.1038/s41591-025-04183-8

Duttagupta, S., Messaoudene, M., Hunter, S. et al. Fecal microbiota transplantation plus immunotherapy in non-small cell lung cancer and melanoma: the phase 2 FMT-LUMINate trial. Nature Medicine (2026). doi.org/10.1038/s41591-025-04186-5

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 29, 2026 at 12:59pm

The two viruses that can become the next public health threats according to scientists

Influenza D virus and canine coronavirus, both originating from animals, have shown potential to infect humans and may pose future public health threats. Influenza D has been detected in livestock workers and can evolve for human transmission, while canine coronavirus has caused rare human respiratory infections and is circulating internationally. Enhanced surveillance and diagnostics are needed to mitigate outbreak risks.

Gregory C. Gray et al, Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats from Influenza D and Canine Coronavirus HuPn-2018, Emerging Infectious Diseases (2026). DOI: 10.3201/eid3201.251764

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