Cutting-edge AI technologies that can detect subtle changes in a person’s voice may help doctors diagnose Alzheimer’s disease and other cognitive impairments even before other symptoms begin. In a new study, researchers used advanced machine learning and natural language processing (NLP) tools to assess speech patterns of 206 people. Of those, 114 participants met the…  read on >  read on >

Cases of the mosquito-borne illness dengue are typically seen in the tropics, but with the changing climate that may be changing. Doctors from the United Kingdom and France are scheduled to present a case study at a meeting of a European medical association about a British woman who contracted dengue in September on a trip…  read on >  read on >

A teenager’s brain power appears to have little bearing on whether they will become overweight or obese as adults. British researchers found that, on average, sharper teens weighed only slightly less in adulthood than siblings who scored lower on tests of thinking skills, according to a new study published April 13 in the journal PLOS…  read on >  read on >

Hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought illegally to the United States as children may soon be eligible to receive federally funded health care. President Joe Biden on Thursday announced the extension of eligibility for Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act health insurance exchanges to those in DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. “Today,…  read on >  read on >

Daytime naps longer than a half-hour appear to nearly double a person’s risk of developing an irregular heartbeat, a new study reports. People who nap 30 minutes or more a day have a 90% higher risk of developing the heart rhythm disorder atrial fibrillation (a-fib) than those who take shorter naps, according to research presented…  read on >  read on >

In a disappointing finding, a new report shows that suicide rates in America are on the upswing again after a momentary, and minute, decline. According to researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the suicide rate increased from 10.7 people per 100,000 people in 2001 to 14.2 per 100,000 in 2018. The…  read on >  read on >