How Extreme Heat Is Testing the Human Body's Limits
A failure to mitigate global warming could result in more than 5.8 million extra heat-related deaths across European cities by the end of the century, according to a study published in Nature Medicine. That's equivalent to roughly twice the current population of Rome.
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New blood test detects cancers 3 years before typical diagnosis, study hints
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Blood plasma can harbor DNA changes that could flag cancer years before existing diagnostic tests, an early study hints. The recent study, published May 22 in the journal Cancer Discovery, found traces of free-floating DNA from dead precancerous or cancerous cells in plasma that had been donated three years before a diagnosis. "It's an important step toward preclinical cancer detection, which could potentially revolutionize cancer screening," said Catherine Alix-Panabières, a cancer researcher at the University of Montpellier in France who was not involved with the work. "Earlier detection typically correlates with better outcomes across many cancer types due to earlier intervention," she told Live Science in an email. The prognosis for cancer patients generally grows worse the later their disease is caught, especially once it has grown and spread to other tissues. Yet the gene changes, or mutations, that give rise to tumors tend to appear decades beforehand. Consultant oncologist Dr. Yuxuan Wang at Johns Hopkins University and her colleagues wanted to see if they could detect tumor DNA in plasma long before cancer manifests. They examined plasma — the liquid that blood cells are suspended within — that was collected from patients roughly 40 years ago for an unrelated study. They focused on 26 participants who had developed cancer within six months of donating blood, as well as 26 controls who did not develop cancer for at least 17 years post-donation. Related: Simple blood tests could be the future of cancer diagnosis Wang's group found between one and three common cancerous mutations in seven of the plasma samples, all of which were taken from participants that developed cancer within four months of donating blood. 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However, it's not clear if the testing method works equally well for all tumor types. "Some organs will shed tumor DNA more than others," Wang told Live Science, noting that the blood-brain barrier, a protective membrane, may prevent brain cancer DNA crossing out of the organ and into the bloodstream. In addition, the new research didn't find any cancer DNA in 18 of the 26 participants who developed tumors in the months after their samples were collected. That's not ideal for a clinical test, Wang said. But she suggested that detection could potentially improve if doctors took larger volumes of plasma from each patient. Since the test could potentially detect cancer years before symptoms first appear, it could one day be useful for screening patients preemptively. However, further experiments are needed to ensure this diagnostic doesn't lead to false positive results, which could unnecessarily alarm patients and possibly lead to unnecessary treatments or invasive diagnostic procedures, like biopsies. "Ethically, implementing such tests in routine screening would require clear guidelines on how to handle incidental findings," Alix-Panabières said. And because the study only included plasma samples from 52 people, larger investigations involving hundreds or thousands of participants would be needed to validate the test before doctors could use it with confidence. "Realistically, widespread clinical adoption may take another 5–10 years," Alix-Panabières predicted. RELATED STORIES —Detecting cancer in minutes possible with just a drop of dried blood and new test, study hints —New blood test detects ovarian cancer years before conventional methods —Simple blood test could reveal likelihood of deadly skin cancer returning, study suggests Finding personalized mutations requires sequencing the patient's DNA, which can cost several hundred or thousands of dollars, Wang said. So even if such a test can be validated in larger trials, it's "probably not going to be something we can provide for everyone who we want to screen," and the test may need to be reserved for at-risk groups whose families have known histories of cancer, for instance. The recent study consisted mostly of Black and white men and women between the ages 45 to 64 from four U.S. states. Future investigations could explore the efficiency of the test in people from other, genetically diverse backgrounds. This article is for informational purposes only and is not meant to offer medical advice.
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Common farm chemicals may be heralding an ‘insect apocalypse'
If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, BGR may receive an affiliate commission. Fruits and vegetables are often sprayed with fungicides to keep mold at bay. However, new research suggests one of these chemicals could be quietly harming insects that are critical to healthy ecosystems and could lead to an insect apocalypse. According to a study from Macquarie University, one of the world's most widely used fungicides, chlorothalonil, drastically reduces insect fertility. It does so even at the lowest levels commonly found on produce. Today's Top Deals XGIMI Prime Day deals feature the new MoGo 4 and up to 42% off smart projectors Best deals: Tech, laptops, TVs, and more sales Best Ring Video Doorbell deals During testing and research, scientists exposed fruit flies to real-world doses of the chemical and found that their egg production dropped by over a third. The effect wasn't something that happened slowly over time, either. Instead, it was immediate and significant, the statement says, affecting both male and female fertility. And this isn't an effect like when researchers got fruit flies hooked on cocaine, either. This is actually life threatening for the population. And while that might sound useful, especially considering how annoying fruit flies can be when they settle down a plant in your home, it's a big deal for more than just flies. Insects like bees, flies, and other pollinators are crucial for growing the food we eat. If their populations decline, it could disrupt pollination and harm crops in the long run. This study is just the latest in a growing list of research documenting steep drops in insect populations around the world, which some scientists have heralded as an impending insect apocalypse. What's especially concerning is that this fungicide isn't just used when there's a risk of infection. It's often applied preventatively, when no disease is present in the crops. While it's true that chlorothalonil is banned in the European Union, it remains widely used in places like Australia, where it's applied to everything from vineyards to farms that harvest berries. Despite its popularity, chlorothalonil hasn't been studied under the microscope all that much. Fewer than 25 published studies have explored its impact on insects, so this new study could be a massive piece of a case against the future usage of this chemical. This also points to a major gap in how we evaluate the environmental effects of common pesticides we rely on. The researchers behind the study suggest rethinking how often chlorothalonil is applied. By spacing out treatments, farmers could give insect populations time to recover between sprays. While not the best outcome by any means, it would at least mitigate some of the damage we're doing to the insect populations, though how long it will take for them to recover between sprays would need to be determined, too. More Top Deals Memorial Day security camera deals: Reolink's unbeatable sale has prices from $29.98 See the
