The Medical News

1. Exploring how smart technologies support older people while respecting their privacy

   On World Patient Safety Day, 17 September, we often think about preventing medical errors, infections or other risks in healthcare.

2. B cells may play a role in triggering immunotherapy-related colitis

   Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have identified a previously unknown role for B cells, which are adaptive immune cells, in triggering and sustaining colitis occurring as a side effect of immune checkpoint inhibitors, a widely used form of cancer immunotherapy.

3. Salivary cortisol patterns predict cognitive decline in older adults

   An irregular pattern and consistently higher levels of a stress hormone called cortisol found in the saliva were associated with cognitive decline later in life - Blacks specifically had lower overall cortisol levels and less change in their levels during the day than whites - according to newly published research.

4. Global Virus Network monitors spreading avian influenza in Australian mammals

   The Global Virus Network (GVN) is closely monitoring detections of highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N1), commonly known as bird flu, in several mammal species in Australia as the virus continues to spread among birds and mammals worldwide.

5. Study identifies brain mechanism behind pregnancy-related food cravings

   Why do food cravings become so strong during pregnancy? Researchers at LSU's Pennington Biomedical Research Center, in collaboration with colleagues, have identified a brain mechanism that may help explain how pregnancy changes the motivation to seek certain highly palatable foods.

6. Chile becomes first South American nation to eliminate dog-transmitted rabies

   Chile has become the first country in South America to receive the World Health Organization (WHO) validation for eliminating dog-transmitted rabies as a public health problem.

7. New white paper calls for integrating oral and general healthcare

   Oral health can no longer be treated separately from general health, according to a new white paper from the European Federation of Periodontology (EFP) and the European Association of Dental Public Health (EADPH) which calls for closer collaboration between dental, medical, public-health and social-care professionals.

8. Intracortical microstimulation: Evoking artificial perception and engaging plasticity-based modulation

   But creating a long-lasting electronic connection with the brain is complicated. Conventional microwire and silicon electrodes are much stiffer than soft brain tissue.