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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 23, 2025 at 11:57am

Hidden body fat linked to faster heart aging

Excessive amounts of visceral fat—the hidden fat surrounding organs—is linked with faster aging of the heart, a new study has found.

Aging is the biggest risk factor for heart disease, but why some people age faster than others isn't fully understood. The scientists leading the research say that visceral body fat could play an important role in accelerating aging of the heart and blood vessels. This type of fat is known to be harmful to health and this study now links it to faster heart aging.

In the study, published in the European Heart Journal, the scientists analyzed data from 21,241 participants in the UK Biobank, which includes whole-body imaging to map the amount of fat and where it is located in the body.

The UK Biobank data also includes detailed imaging of the heart and blood vessels. Artificial intelligence was used to analyze these images to capture signs of organ aging—such as tissues becoming stiff and inflamed. An individual was given a "heart age" which can be compared to their actual age at the time of the scan.

The researchers found that faster heart aging was linked to having more visceral adipose tissue. Visceral adipose tissue is fat found deep inside the abdomen around organs such as the stomach, intestines, and liver. This type of fat cannot be seen from the outside, and some people can have large amounts of visceral fat despite having a healthy weight.

The researchers found signs on blood tests that visceral fat is linked to increased inflammation in the body—which is a potential cause of premature aging.

They also found differences between the sexes. Male-type fat distribution (fat around the belly, often called 'apple' shaped) was particularly predictive of early aging in men.

In contrast, a genetic predisposition to female-type fat (fat on the hips and thighs, often called "pear" shaped) was protective against heart aging in women.

The researchers also found a link between higher estrogen levels in premenopausal women and a slowing of heart aging, which they suggest could indicate a role for hormones in protecting against heart aging.

Declan P O'Regan et al, Sex-specific body fat distribution predicts cardiovascular ageing, European Heart Journal (2025). DOI: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehaf553

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 23, 2025 at 11:50am

Rethinking phototherapy: Why skin color matters for infant jaundice treatment

Jaundice is one of the most common medical issues in newborns, affecting nearly 80% of full-term infants in their first days of life. The condition occurs when excess bilirubin, a yellow pigment formed as red blood cells break down, builds up in the body. While mildcases usually resolve on their own, dangerously high bilirubin levels can cause brain damage or even death. The standard treatment, phototherapy, uses blue light to break bilirubin down into forms the body can excrete.

A theoretical study recently published in Biophotonics Discovery used computer modeling to examine how skin color and other skin properties might influence how much therapeutic light reaches target tissues.

Researchers employed advanced computer simulations to model light penetration in newborn skin. The simulations incorporated factors such as skin pigmentation, hemoglobin levels, bilirubin concentration, skin thickness, and treatment light wavelength.  

Since specific data on skin color variations in newborns have not yet been reported, the researchers based their pigmentation parameters on established measurements from adult skin data. The modeling predicted that skin pigmentation would have the largest effect on light penetration.

Compared with light-skinned infants, the simulations suggested dark-skinned infants might receive up to 5.7 times less effective light dose under identical settings. This theoretical difference translated into predicted bilirubin reductions of about 40.8% for light-skinned newborns after 24 hours of phototherapy, versus 25.6% for dark-skinned newborns. The model also predicted that epidermal thickness and bilirubin levels would influence treatment effectiveness, though to a lesser degree.

The simulations further suggested that optimal treatment wavelength might vary by skin color. While light-skinned infants were predicted to respond best at around 460 nanometers (nm), dark-skinned infants showed better theoretical responses at slightly longer wavelengths, around 470 nm. The researchers propose that a compromise wavelength near 465 nm could provide more consistent results across skin tones.

Current phototherapy guidelines use a standardized approach without adjustments for skin tone. While phototherapy generally demonstrates effectiveness across populations, the authors note their theoretical findings suggest it might be less efficient in darker-skinned infants, potentially affecting treatment duration and outcomes.

Highlighting the importance of obtaining more fundamental insight into newborn skin pigmentation, they also emphasize the critical need for clinical studies to validate these computational predictions and determine whether actual bilirubin reduction varies by skin color in real patients.

 Alida Johanna Dam-Vervloet et al, Effect of skin color and other skin properties on the delivered light dose in phototherapy for neonatal hyperbilirubinemia, Biophotonics Discovery (2025). DOI: 10.1117/1.BIOS.2.3.032508

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 23, 2025 at 11:45am

Breast cancer drug side effects: Study reveals how tamoxifen raises risk of secondary tumors in uterus

An international research team has identified a previously unknown mechanism by which the breast cancer drug tamoxifen can increase the risk of secondary tumors in the uterus.

The study shows that tamoxifen directly activates a key cellular signaling pathway (known as PI3K) a central driver in the development of sporadic uterine cancers, thereby challenging previously accepted models of therapy-related cancer development.

Since its introduction in the 1970s, tamoxifen has significantly improved survival rates for millions of patients with estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer. However, alongside its life-saving benefits, tamoxifen has also been linked—though rarely—to an elevated risk of uterine cancer. Until now, the precise molecular cause of this effect has remained unclear.

The new findings, published in Nature Genetics, reveal the mechanism: in tamoxifen-associated uterine carcinomas, mutations in the cancer-related gene PIK3CA—which are very common in spontaneously arising uterine tumors and lead to the activation of the PI3K signaling pathway—occur significantly less frequently. Instead, tamoxifen itself takes on the role of a signal activator of the PI3K pathway, making such mutations unnecessary.

Kirsten Kübler et al, Tamoxifen induces PI3K activation in uterine cancer, Nature Genetics (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41588-025-02308-w

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 23, 2025 at 11:35am

Researchers find a clear, positive trend—an increase in turbulence frequency over many regions, including the North Atlantic, North America, East Asia, the Middle East and North Africa,with increases ranging from 60% to 155%.
Further analysis attributed the rising turbulence in certain regions to increased greenhouse gas emissions.
A 2023 paper led by Isabel Smith at the University of Reading found that for every degree Celsius of near-surface warming, winters would see an increase of about nine percent in moderate CAT in the North Atlantic, and summers a rise of 14%.

Winter has historically been the roughest season for turbulence, but warming is now amplifying CAT in summer and autumn, closing the gap.

Jet stream disruption is not the only concern: climate change is also fueling stronger storms.

Climate change may also increase the frequency and severity of thunderstorms under future scenarios, and turbulence encounters near thunderstorms are a major component of turbulence accidents.
In terms of mitigation strategies, researchers are working on two studies: optimizing flight routes to avoid turbulence hotspots and improving forecasting accuracy.

Some airlines are moving towards strategies involving passengers wearing seatbelts more often, such as ending cabin service earlier.

Promising technologies are also being tested, including onboard LIDAR, which beams lasers into the atmosphere to detect subtle shifts in air density and wind speed.

Ultimately, cutting greenhouse gas emissions will be essential, say the researchers.
Ironically, aviation is responsible for about 3.5% of human-caused warming.
Source: News agencies

Part 2
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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 23, 2025 at 11:28am

How climate change increases air turbulence

For many fliers, air turbulence can be an unnerving experience—and in a world warming under the effects of climate change, it is only set to worsen, according to a growing body of scientific evidence.

Beyond making people uneasy, turbulence is also the leading cause of in-flight weather accidents, according to official data.

The numbers remain relatively small: there were 207 reported injuries on US commercial flights between 2009 and 2024. But high-profile incidents have thrust the issue into the spotlight.

These include an Air Europa flight last year, in which 40 passengers were hurt, and a Singapore Airlines flight where one elderly passenger died and dozens were injured.

Typically injuries occur due to un- belting of passengers or cabin crew rather than structural damage. Modern aircraft withstand turbulence, so the main risk is occupant injury, not loss of the plane.

Still, planes must be inspected after "severe" encounters with turbulence—about 1.5 times the normal force of Earth's gravity. Turbulence also increases fuel consumption when pilots must leave optimal altitudes, alter routes or change speeds.

There are three main types of turbulence: convective, mountain wave and clear-air turbulence (CAT), according to experts.

Convective turbulence is linked to rising or sinking air currents from clouds or thunderstorms that can be detected visually or by onboard radar, while mountain wave turbulence occurs over mountain ranges.
CAT, by contrast, is invisible—and therefore the most dangerous.

It generally arises from jet streams: fast-moving westerly winds in the upper atmosphere at the same altitude as commercial jets, about 10–12 kilometers up.

With climate change, the tropics are warming faster at cruising altitude than higher latitudes.

That increases the temperature difference between the higher- and lower-latitudes, driving up jet stream velocity and wind shear—volatile shifts in vertical air currents that trigger CAT.
Part 1

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 22, 2025 at 11:39am

Viruses hidden within fungi could be secret drivers of deadly lung infections

Researchers have discovered that a virus living inside the fungus Aspergillus fumigatus significantly boosts the fungus's ability to survive stress and cause severe infections in mammals. Removing the virus made the fungus weaker and less virulent, while antiviral treatments improved survival outcomes. This finding reveals a hidden factor driving the deadliness of fungal infections and opens the door to potential new treatments that target the virus rather than the fungus itself.

The research reveals that a virus residing within the Aspergillus fumigatus fungus gives it a powerful survival advantage—making it tougher, more resilient, and ultimately, more dangerous to human health.

Aspergillus fumigatus is already notorious in medical circles. Responsible for the majority of invasive fungal infections in humans, it's especially lethal for people with weakened immune systems. Despite decades of research, mortality rates from infections remain alarmingly high—approaching 50%.

A double-stranded RNA virus, quietly riding along inside the fungus, appears to act like a hidden booster pack for the pathogen. When this virus is present, the fungus becomes far more adept at surviving environmental stress, including the heat and oxidative conditions inside the lungs of mammals.

To test the impact of the virus, the researchers removed it from fungal strains and compared their behavior to their virus-infected counterparts. The difference was striking. The virus-free fungi lost their ability to reproduce effectively, showed weaker defenses like reduced melanin production, and became significantly less dangerous when introduced into mammalian lungs.

The findings suggest that these so-called "mycoviruses" may play a quiet but critical role in the development and progression of fungal diseases in humans—a role that has largely gone unnoticed in the field of medical mycology.

Perhaps most promising of all: when antiviral treatments were used to suppress the virus during infection, survival outcomes improved in the mammalian model. This hints at a whole new treatment avenue—not just targeting the fungus itself, but the virus helping it thrive.

This discovery opens the door to rethinking how fungal infections are treated. By targeting the virus within the fungus, researchers may one day weaken the pathogen enough for the immune system—or existing antifungal drugs—to fight back more effectively.

In a world where fungal pathogens are becoming more drug-resistant and harder to treat, the study provides a rare glimmer of hope: Perhaps we've been overlooking a key player all along.

Marina Campos Rocha et al, Aspergillus fumigatus dsRNA virus promotes fungal fitness and pathogenicity in the mammalian host, Nature Microbiology (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41564-025-02096-3

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 22, 2025 at 11:32am

Even I have noticed this around my home. Birds are singing in the night!

Birds in light-polluted areas stay up late into the night

Birds that are active during the day sing later into the night in places with significant light pollution, according to new research.

Researchers analyzed data gathered from around the world, comparing more than 180 million bird vocalizations in a single year with global satellite imagery.

They were shocked by their findings: Under the brightest night skies, a bird's day is extended by nearly an hour. But birds staying up an hour past their normal bedtimes was an average. Actual times varied by species.

What is driving this response bybirds? We had the idea that maybe it was a species' photoreceptor sensitivity—their eyesight. And this turned out to be a key factor. Species with large eyes relative to their body size had a disproportionately stronger response to artificial light at night. They were more sensitive to light at night than species with small eyes.

Birds might have more time to forage for food and to mate, but an hour less sleep could be detrimental to their health.

Brent S. Pease et al, Light pollution prolongs avian activity, Science (2025). DOI: 10.1126/science.adv9472. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adv9472

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 22, 2025 at 8:53am

Rising temperatures linked to declining moods around the world

Rising global temperatures affect human activity in many ways. Now, a new study illuminates an important dimension of the problem: very hot days are associated with more negative moods, as shown by a large-scale look at social media postings.

Overall, the study examined 1.2 billion social media posts from 157 countries over the span of a year. The research finds that when the temperature rises above 95 degrees Fahrenheit, or 35 degrees Celsius, expressed sentiments become about 25% more negative in lower-income countries and about 8% more negative in better-off countries. Extreme heat affects people emotionally, not just physically.

This study reveals that rising temperatures don't just threaten physical health or economic productivity—they also affect how people feel, every day, all over the world. 

This work opens up a new frontier in understanding how climate stress is shaping human well-being at a planetary scale.

Unequal Impacts of Rising Temperatures on Global Human Sentiment, One Earth (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.oneear.2025.101422. www.cell.com/one-earth/fulltex … 2590-3322(25)00248-9

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 22, 2025 at 8:48am

To complement their findings, the researchers compared their case studies with 26 participants who had their upper limbs amputated, on average, 23.5 years beforehand. These individuals showed similar brain representations of the hand and lips to those in their three case studies, suggesting long-term evidence for the stability of hand and lip representations despite amputation.

Schone, HR et al. Stable Cortical Body Maps Before and After Arm Amputation, Nature Neuroscience (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41593-025-02037-7

Part 2

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 22, 2025 at 8:48am

New research shows the brain's map of the body remains unchanged after amputation

The brain holds a "map" of the body that remains unchanged even after a limb has been amputated, contrary to the prevailing view that it rearranges itself to compensate for the loss, according to new research.

The findings, published in Nature Neuroscience, have implications for the treatment of "phantom limb" pain, but also suggest that controlling robotic replacement limbs via neural interfaces may be more straightforward than previously thought.

Studies have previously shown that within an area of the brain known as the somatosensory cortex there exists a map of the body, with different regions corresponding to different body parts.

These maps are responsible for processing sensory information, such as touch, temperature and pain, as well as body position. For example, if you touch something hot with your hand, this will activate a particular region of the brain; if you stub your toe, a different region activates.

For decades now, the commonly-accepted view among neuroscientists has been that following amputation of a limb, neighboring regions rearrange and essentially take over the area previously assigned to the now missing limb. This has relied on evidence from studies carried out after amputation, without comparing activity in the brain maps beforehand.

But this has presented a conundrum. Most amputees report phantom sensations, a feeling that the limb is still in place—this can also lead to sensations such as itching or pain in the missing limb. Also, brain imaging studies where amputees have been asked to 'move' their missing fingers have shown brain patterns resembling those of able-bodied individuals.

To investigate this contradiction, researchers followed three individuals due to undergo amputation of one of their hands.

This is the first time a study has looked at the hand and face maps of individuals both before and after amputation. 

Prior to amputation, all three individuals were able to move all five digits of their hands. While lying in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanner—which measures activity in the brain—the participants were asked to move their individual fingers and to purse their lips. The researchers used the brain scans to construct maps of the hand and lips for each individual. In these maps, the lips sit near to the hand.

The participants repeated the activity three months and again six months after amputation, this time asked to purse their lips and to imagine moving individual fingers. One participant was scanned again 18 months after amputation and a second participant five years after amputation.

The researchers examined the signals from the pre-amputation finger maps and compared them against the maps post-amputation. Analysis of the 'before' and 'after' images revealed a remarkable consistency: even with their hand now missing, the corresponding brain region activated in an almost identical manner.

Bearing in mind that the somatosensory cortex is responsible for interpreting what's going on within the body, it seems astonishing that it doesn't seem to know that the hand is no longer there!

As previous studies had suggested that the body map reorganizes such that neighboring regions take over, the researchers looked at the region corresponding to the lips to see if it had moved or spread. They found that it remained unchanged and had not taken over the region representing the missing hand.

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