Smart Health

European countries come together to improve outcomes for young cancer patients

European countries come together to improve outcomes for young cancer patients

EU-funded researchers are working together to improve survival rates and quality of life for children with cancer and reduce inequalities between countries Dealing with cancer in children is hard enough. Knowing that there are huge disparities in survival rates between higher- and lower-income countries in Europe makes it even worse. But EU-funded researchers are working…
Urgent action needed to understand links between air pollution and mental health

Urgent action needed to understand links between air pollution and mental health

Leading scientists are calling for urgent global action to better understand the links between air pollution and mental health In a paper published by the British Journal of Psychiatry Open, researchers led by psychiatrist Professor Kam Bhui at the University of Oxford, say that while poor air quality is a risk factor for mental illness, progress in understanding the causes…
U of T researchers integrate crucial immune cells onto heart-on-a-chip platform

U of T researchers integrate crucial immune cells onto heart-on-a-chip platform

The immune cells, known as primitive microphages, were found to enhance heart tissue function and vessel stability Researchers at the University of Toronto have discovered a novel method for incorporating primitive microphages – crucial immune cells – into heart-on-a-chip technology, in a potentially transformative step forward in drug testing and heart disease modeling. In a…
Robots al rescate en casos de aislamiento hospitalario

Robots to the rescue in hospital isolation cases

A robotic unit developed for the nuclear sector is now being tested for hospital patient isolation situations where staff are exposed to unnecessary risk A robot designed to inspect plastic pipes in nuclear power plants is now providing valuable assistance to hospital centres. Developed as part of the EU-funded El-Peacetolero project, the teleoperated mobile omnidirectional…
‘Far from clear’ new Alzheimer’s drugs will make a difference at a population level, say researchers

‘Far from clear’ new Alzheimer’s drugs will make a difference at a population level, say researchers

Cambridge researchers have cast doubt on whether new amyloid immunotherapy drugs will have the desired effect of significantly reducing the impact of Alzheimer’s disease Writing in Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association, the team from Cambridge Public Health argue that substantial challenges including the risk-benefit ratio, limited eligibility and high cost of roll-out…
Un estilo de vida urbano más activo entre los mayores de cincuenta y cinco años

A more active urban lifestyle in over 55s

A new app is helping older citizens play a more active role in improving their physical activity. An app developed as part of a citizen science initiative called Every Walk You Take is helping Barcelona’s middle aged to discover green routes and to lead a healthier, more active lifestyle. The initiative is supported by the…
La guerra contra las enfermedades raras se libra con el cribado genético al nacer

Waging war against rare diseases with genetic screening at birth

SCREEN4CARE is striving to shorten the time to rare disease diagnosis by genetically screening babies in Europe as soon as they are born he EU-funded SCREEN4CARE project aspires to have every child born in Europe undergo genetic screening at birth for a wide variety of rare diseases. Genetic checks on newborns and AI-assisted data analysis…
New AI approach optimizes development of antibody drugs

New AI approach optimizes development of antibody drugs

The method, which combines a ChatGPT-like large language model with information about a protein’s 3D shape, could make it easier and faster to develop better medicines for infectious diseases, cancer, and other conditions Proteins have evolved to excel at everything from contracting muscles to digesting food to recognizing viruses. To engineer better proteins, including antibodies,…
Using artificial intelligence to bring doctors into patients’ homes

Using artificial intelligence to bring doctors into patients’ homes

A new technology using advanced artificial intelligence algorithms enables remote patient monitoring with simple household medical devices The ability to monitor patients at home is critical for future healthcare systems, which will be increasingly burdened by ageing populations. Traditional remote patient monitoring is complicated and onerous however, often involving painful integrations with various medical devices.…
Sildenafil (‘Viagra’) improves brain blood flow and could help to prevent dementia

Sildenafil (‘Viagra’) improves brain blood flow and could help to prevent dementia

A new trial conducted by the University of Oxford reveals that sildenafil, commonly known as Viagra, enhances blood flow to the brain and improves the function of brain blood vessels in patients at a heightened risk of vascular dementia  This new study, published in Circulation Research, marks a potentially pivotal step in the fight against this…