There is considerable evidence that microplastics and nanoplastics are present in the livers of humans, and wild animal populations on land and in the ocean. Now experts in environmental and human health are investigating whether the presence of these tiny plastic particles in the liver is driving disease and directly contributing to the soaring global rates of liver disease.

Heart failure presents a growing public health problem both in Estonia and across Europe. At the same time, its timely detection is often challenging. Together with international colleagues, Laura Lõo, Junior Research Fellow of Public Health at the University of Tartu, has developed new models that help identify disease risk even before symptoms appear. The works are published in the European Heart Journal.

Over the past 16 years, pediatric substance use-related visits (SUVs) to PEDSnet institutions have been increasing across all care settings and have increased at a greater percentage than visits overall, according to a comprehensive retrospective analysis. The largest proportion of SUVs among youth occur in the outpatient setting, and nicotine, cannabis and opioids are driving much of the growth.

The brain has its own immune system, which detects threats and mounts a defense. A growing body of evidence has shown that in Alzheimer's disease, those immune cells are chronically overactivated, causing inflammation that damages the connections between brain cells.

Researchers at the School of Medicine at the University of California, Riverside have discovered previously unrecognized immune surveillance structures in the skin. Found within hair follicles, the cells resemble M (microfold) cells—specialized epithelial cells traditionally associated with the gut and airway tissues.

After taking the pill for a decade, Elodie Monnier Legrand decided to try "natural" birth control, an increasingly popular trend that requires tracking fertility to avoid becoming pregnant.

The World Health Organization announced Friday that it had given prequalification approval to a malaria treatment for newborns and infants for the first time.

By studying and engineering heart tissue in the unique low-gravity environment of space, the laboratory of Arun Sharma, Ph.D., is uncovering new ways to protect and repair the failing heart. He addressed the 46th Annual Meeting and Scientific Sessions of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT), held from 22–25 April at the Metro Toronto Convention Center in Toronto, ON, Canada.

As demand for heart transplants continues to far exceed the number of available donor hearts, experts at the 46th Annual Meeting and Scientific Sessions of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) explored a critical question: how should this scarce, life-saving resource be allocated?

Advances in pediatric heart care are helping more children survive long enough to receive a transplant—but a critical shortage of donor hearts means too many are still dying while they wait, experts warned at the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) 46th Annual Meeting and Scientific Sessions, held from April 22–25 at the Metro Toronto Convention Center in Toronto, ON, Canada.