Health

Allan Steigleman, University of Florida and Elizabeth M. Hofmeister, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences Cataract surgery is one of the most popular and commonly performed procedures in the world. The vast majority of patients have excellent outcomes with few complications. Here are the numbers: By age 80, over half of all Americans have cataracts. Close to 4 million cataract surgeries are performed in the U.S. every year. Over 90% of patients have 20/20 vision with glasses after surgery, although those with other eye conditions may not do as well, including those with...

Kristen Choi, University of California, Los Angeles - In today’s screen-filled world, many children and teens have nearly continuous access to media. Estimates from the United States suggest that school-age children spend four to six...

Researchers are joining forces with the food and health industries to tighten controls and improve nutrition for infants and children. By DANIELA DE LORENZO If we are what we eat, as the saying goes, food quality is key to our health. And as food production and trade increase in response to greater global demand, controls on safety and quality have become even more vital. The impact of diet on health is hard to overstate. Obesity worldwide has almost tripled since 1975 and, in Europe, affects almost 60% of adults and nearly one in three children. Diabetes is also on the rise and Europe has a markedly high number of children with type 1 – 295 000 in 2021. Quality controls Eating a varied and healthy...

Phillip Yuhas, The Ohio State University - Blue light has gotten a bad rap, getting blamed for loss of sleep and eye damage. Personal electronic devices emit more blue light than any other color. Blue light has a short wavelength, which means that it is high-energy and can damage the delicate tissues of the eye. It can also pass through the eye to the retina, the collection of neurons that converts light into the signals that are the foundation of sight. Laboratory studies have shown that prolonged exposure to high-intensity blue light damages retinal cells in mice. But, epidemiological studies on real people tell a different story. As an assistant professor at The Ohio State University College of Optometry, I teach...

While most Europeans enjoy a holiday in the sun, high energy ultraviolet (UV) light from sunshine damages the DNA in our skin. The best-known adverse effect of excessive UV exposure is erythema (sunburn), but excessive UV is also the main culprit in some skin cancers. As UV damage builds up, the skin cells stop functioning properly. At 4% of total cancers, skin melanoma is one of the top 15 most common types of cancer in Europe. It’s particularly prevalent in middle-aged and older people, especially in the 45-69 age group. Now, Horizon-backed researchers are peering closer, looking into the molecular changes that take place when sunlight hits our skin. They are also...

Andrew Lotery, University of Southampton - A cluster of...

Barbara Jacquelyn Sahakian, University of Cambridge; Christelle Langley, University...

By Anne Roumard, Harbinger Editorial - Are you considering...

Evelien Adriaenssens, Quadram Institute - An international team of...