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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 11, 2026 at 10:48am

A single continuous glucose monitor from production to use carried a carbon footprint equivalent to about 2 kg CO2-equivalent, or driving a gas-powered car for around 5 miles. More than 95% of that impact was attributed to printed circuit boards and semiconductors inside the device, tied to energy required to purify raw materials and power manufacturing processes.

Single glucose monitor use lasted 14 days before being discarded and replaced. Repetition of that short cycle has stacked impacts across the scale of users. Wearable glucose monitor sales are estimated to exceed 1.4 billion devices a year by 2050.

Expected greenhouse-gas emissions from these units alone were around 2.7 million metric tons CO2-equivalent annually.

Per-device warming impacts ranged from 1.06 kg CO2-equivalent for a blood pressure monitor to 6.11 kg CO2-equivalent for a point-of-care ultrasound patch. Values of 1.30 kg CO2-equivalent for a continuous electrocardiogram monitor.

Annualized warming impacts, accounting for typical replacement frequencies, were 0.5 kg CO2-equivalent for the blood pressure monitor, 33.8 kg CO2-equivalent for the continuous electrocardiogram monitor, 50.6 kg CO2-equivalent for the non-invasive continuous glucose monitor, and 6.1 kg CO2-equivalent for the point-of-care ultrasound patch.

Greenhouse-gas emissions from all wearables in the model were 3.4 million metric tons CO2-equivalent annually, or about the carbon footprint of the transport sector of Chicago. Component-level analysis placed flexible printed circuit board assemblies at the center of warming impacts across all four devices, with hotspots tied to gold in integrated circuits, silicon wafers, polyimide, and batteries.
part 2

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 11, 2026 at 10:47am

The hidden carbon footprint of wearable health care

 Researchers analyzed wearable health care electronics and reported carbon impacts of 1.1–6.1 kg CO₂-equivalent per device. With global device consumption projected to rise 42-fold by 2050, approaching 2 billion units annually, their moderate projection adds 3.4 million metric tons of CO₂-equivalent emissions alongside ecotoxicity and e-waste.

Wearable electronics—glucose, heart and blood pressure monitors, integrated into patches, chest straps, clothes and smartwatches—are transforming health care through real-time monitoring, device interaction, and therapeutic interventions.

Compared with rigid consumer electronics, wearable health care systems—ranging from biophysical and biochemical sensors to e-textiles and biointegrated therapeutics—offer high compliance and continuous tracking and intervention capabilities.

With wireless integration, wearable health care electronics are evolving into digital infrastructure networks adopted globally by patients, older people, athletes, and health-conscious people.

Reliance on energy-intensive manufacturing, hazardous chemicals, fossil-based plastics, and critical metals can lead to substantial carbon emissions, ecological risks, and e-waste issues. Rising energy demands from artificial-intelligence-driven data processing and advanced digital infrastructures further enlarge the eco-footprint of even the smallest devices.

In the study, "Quantifying the global eco-footprint of wearable health care electronics," published in Nature, researchers integrated life-cycle assessment with forecasting adoption growth over time to quantify global eco-footprint hotspots and evaluate mitigation strategies.

Four devices anchored the assessment—a non-invasive continuous glucose monitor, a continuous electrocardiogram monitor, a blood pressure monitor, and a point-of-care ultrasound patch. Selection criteria included clinical relevance, diversity of sensing modalities, and coverage across an expanding technology spectrum.

Cradle-to-grave attributional life-cycle assessment covered raw-material acquisition, manufacturing, transportation, use, and end-of-life disposal. Monte Carlo simulation quantified uncertainty for environmental impacts, and diffusion modeling projected future scale of use.

Part 1

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 10, 2026 at 10:50am

Roads can become more dangerous on hot days—especially for pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists

Road injury risk increases significantly on very hot days, with pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists facing the greatest danger due to direct heat exposure. The risk rises sharply above 30°C, with pedestrian injuries more than doubling and cyclist and motorcyclist injuries increasing by 80% and 50%, respectively. Heat also elevates crash severity and fatality risk, especially on rural roads and among older drivers. Effects can persist for days due to fatigue and sleep disruption.

During heat waves, everyday life tends to feel more difficult than on an average day. Travel and daily movement are no exception.

But while most of us know rain, fog and storms can make driving conditions challenging, not many people realize heat also changes transport risk. At very high temperatures, overall crash risk is about 15% higher than on cool days.

In particular, research evidence consistently suggests roads, trips and daily commutes can become more dangerous on very hot days compared with an average day. Road injury risk rises much more steeply once temperatures move into the 30°C–40°C range.

Importantly, the increase is even larger for crashes linked to driver fatigue, distraction or illness.

Ambient temperature and risk of motor vehicle crashes: A countrywid...

Heat waves and fatal traffic crashes in the continental United Stat...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 10, 2026 at 9:04am

Genetic study uncovers unknown causes of blindness

Researchers have discovered new genetic causes of inherited blindness. Their study, published in Nature Genetics, shows that changes in specific pieces of DNA, which play a role in processing genetic information, can lead to retinitis pigmentosa.

This eye condition affects about one in 5,000 people worldwide, causing "tunnel vision" and often leads to legal blindness. The discovery provides clarity for dozens of families globally and opens new possibilities for diagnostics and counseling in hereditary conditions.

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a disorder in which the rod and cone cells in the retina gradually die. Affected individuals first experience night blindness, followed by tunnel vision. Some eventually lose their sight completely.

Although more than a hundred genes are known to cause RP, in 30 to 50% of patients the genetic cause remains unresolved, even after extensive DNA testing. Researchers have now solved part of this puzzle.

Researchers found a variation in the gene RNU4-2. The change occurs in a special gene, RNU4-2, which does not produce a protein but only RNA. RNA from such genes associate with proteins and other RNAs and the whole resulting complex assists in editing genetic information (splicing), a step required before a cell can make proteins.

Other changes in RNU4-2 were recently linked to developmental disorders.

This breakthrough goes beyond these specific genetic variants causing RP. It shows that we should also look beyond protein-coding genes.

De novo and inherited dominant variants in U4 and U6 snRNA genes cause retinitis pigmentosa, Nature Genetics (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41588-025-02451-4

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 10, 2026 at 8:20am

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 9, 2026 at 12:32pm

Cancer Immunotherapy May Work Better Before 3PM

People with cancer receiving immunotherapy earlier in the day survived longer, suggesting that adjusting treatment timing may improve outcomes.

Mounting evidence suggests that the time of day at which cancer patients receive treatment could impact their outcomes. This effect is likely due to the circadian rhythm-dependent fluctuations in the function of immune cells as well as proteins that regulate their function, also called checkpoints.

In line with this, in a recent meta-analysis, researchers found that patients with various types of advanced cancer who underwent immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) infusions earlier in the day survived longer than their counterparts treated in the late afternoons or evenings.

In a new study, researchers discovered that patients with a highly aggressive lung cancer who received treatment before 3PM survived significantly longer than their counterparts who were treated later in the day.

Landré T, et al. Effect of immunotherapy-infusion time of day on survival of patient.... ESMO Open. 2024;9(2):102220.

Huang Z, et al. Overall survival according to time-of-day of immunochemotherapy for.... Cancer. 2025.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 9, 2026 at 12:20pm

Suppressing postoperative inflammation may prolong pain

Suppressing inflammation after surgery by inhibiting TNF-α can delay recovery and prolong pain, rather than relieve it. Allowing natural inflammation leads to quicker pain resolution and recovery. These findings suggest that inflammation plays a beneficial role in healing, and indiscriminate use of anti-inflammatory drugs post-surgery may increase the risk of chronic pain.

Taking anti-inflammatory drugs after surgery is fairly standard protocol. But a new study by researchers suggests this approach may be backfiring and that blocking inflammation during this critical time may, in fact, delay recovery and prolong pain rather than relieve it.

If you look across all types of surgeries—anything from an extracted tooth to a hip replacement—the pain resolves normally for 90% of patients. But the other 10% develop chronic pain. That persistent pain is very hard to treat; it's very resistant to medication and it can last for years.

In the new study, published recently in the Journal of Pain Research, the researchers report that letting inflammation run its course led to a quicker cessation of pain and an overall quicker recovery after a surgery or injury.

Although this study suggests that blocking TNF-α after surgery is likely unwise, there are other scenarios where it may still make sense, such as improving mobility by reducing arthritic inflammation in the joints for autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis.

Inflammation is not necessarily a bad thing, the researchers say.

Yes, it hurts, but it's also working on the inside to promote the resolution of that pain. The idea in the medical field that when you have an injury, you should absolutely block the inflammation right away might not always be the best strategy, they conclude.

They think that one day we'll be able to block the pain but allow the healing inflammation.

Sophie Laumet et al, Unexpected Role of TNFα Signaling in the Resolution of Postoperative Pain in Mice, Journal of Pain Research (2025). DOI: 10.2147/jpr.s543971

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 9, 2026 at 12:01pm

A novel aspect of this study was that aging was also measured biologically. Epigenetic clocks were determined from blood samples from more than one thousand participants. Epigenetic clocks aim to measure biological aging—that is, the gradual deterioration of cells and tissues. With such methods, aging-related changes can be detected years or even decades before death.

The results supported earlier conclusions based on mortality data. According to the epigenetic clocks, women who had either many children or no children at all were biologically somewhat older than their chronological age.
A person who is biologically older than their calendar age is at a higher risk of death.
Having a child at a young age was also associated with biological aging. This too may relate to evolutionary theory, as natural selection may favor earlier reproduction that entails shorter overall generation times, even if it entails health-related costs associated with aging.

Mikaela Hukkanen et al, Epigenetic aging and lifespan reflect reproductive history in the Finnish Twin Cohort, Nature Communications (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-67798-y

Part 2

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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 9, 2026 at 12:00pm

Twin study ties childbearing timing to biological aging

Analysis of Finnish twins indicates that both the number and timing of pregnancies are linked to women's biological aging and lifespan. Women with two to three children and pregnancies between ages 24 and 38 show slower aging and longer life expectancy, while childlessness, early childbearing, or having more than four children are associated with accelerated aging. Epigenetic data support these associations.

A study based on Finnish twins shows that reproductive history is associated, at the population level, with women's lifespan and biological aging. In the study, mothers of large families, women who had no children, or women who had their first child at a very young age appeared to age somewhat faster than other women.

The results suggest that both the number of children and the timing of pregnancies are reflected in women's adult health and life expectancy. The paper is published in the journal Nature Communications.

From an evolutionary biology perspective, organisms have limited resources such as time and energy. When a large amount of energy is invested in reproduction, it is taken away from bodily maintenance and repair mechanisms, which could reduce lifespan.

Somewhat unexpectedly, the study also found that childless women showed faster aging than women with a few children. This result may be explained by other lifestyle or health-related factors whose effects could not be fully controlled for in the analyses.

The research group emphasizes that the findings apply only at the population level. They do not demonstrate cause–effect relationships, nor do they provide a basis for individual recommendations for women of reproductive age. For example, family size has decreased and the age at first birth has increased compared with the period covered by the study.

Part 1

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on January 9, 2026 at 11:47am

Tree bark microbes also clean the air by removing greenhouse and toxic gases

Microbes living on tree bark consume significant amounts of climate-active gases such as methane, hydrogen, and carbon monoxide, in addition to CO2 absorbed by trees. This microbial activity occurs on a global scale, enhancing air purification and contributing to both climate regulation and improved air quality. Different tree species host distinct microbial communities with varying gas-removal capacities.

 Pok Man Leung et al, Bark microbiota modulate climate-active gas fluxes in Australian forests, Science (2026). DOI: 10.1126/science.adu2182. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adu2182

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