Lori A Carr

How AI (Artificial Intelligence) can undermine science without even trying: Journal reviewers rejected a manuscript authored by Lizzie Wolkovich not because they suspected academic or scientific fraud; however, because they decided — erroneously — that Wolkovich had used ChatGPT to write the paper. “Given how much work I put into writing, it was a blow to be accused of being a chatbot,” Wolkovich writes. She submitted GitHub plain-text files tracking the manuscript’s versions, but the reviewers shrugged it off, and the episode shows “how AI could corrupt science without even trying,” Wolkovich writes.

HIV screenings rise after health center deploys analytics tool: The use of a Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set analytics solution led to better efficiency and compliance at the Connecticut Institute for Communities, which implemented the system shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic started. HIV screenings have increased by 11% since the federal qualified health center started using the tool.

Center for Disease Control: CDC urges physician to talk with patients about PFAS: New CDC guidance suggests that physicians consider more patient communication and blood testing for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), or “forever chemicals,” found in many consumer products. Dr. Aaron Bernstein of the National Center for Environmental Health and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry estimates that more than 90% of the nation’s population has been exposed to PFAS, whose potential health risks include higher cholesterol, lower infant birth weight, some cancers, pregnancy complications and elevated liver enzymes.

WHO urges pandemic deal as “zombie virus” threat looms: World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has voiced alarm over the number of countries set to miss a May deadline for committing to a global accord on fighting pandemics, warning that “future generations may not forgive us” for failing to act against global disease threats. Separately, scientists are warning that climate change could release ancient viruses trapped in the Arctic permafrost, a pandemic threat they warn is being overlooked

Teen use of OTC weight-loss products a growing concern: About 9% of adolescents worldwide have used over-the-counter drugs, supplements or other products that claim to aid weight loss, researchers reported in JAMA Network Open. Six (6) percent of teens had used diet pills, 4% had taken laxatives and 2% had used diuretics in an effort to lose weight. Past research has tied the use of such products to mental health issues, substance use and eating disorders in teens.

Partial transplant offers hope for children with heart disease: In 2022, surgeons transplanted living heart valves and arteries into a 17-day-old baby with truncus arteriosus, and the tissues have grown with the child, potentially eliminating the need for future surgeries, according to a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association (AMA). The procedure requires less immunosuppressant medication and could double the number of hearts available for children with heart disease, according to first author Joseph Turek, Chief of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery at Duke Children’s Hospital.

Co-developer of Pap smear never got paid or acknowledged: Development of the Pap test for cervical cancer has long been credited to George Papanicolaou; however, his wife, Mary, made his discoveries possible, although she was neither paid nor, until recently, credited. Mary not only provided, processed, stained and organized her own daily vaginal samples, she also recruited other women to donate samples that were vital to the identification of precancerous cells.

Founder and CEO L.R. Fox discusses what happens when people are not able to choose if/when to have a child and how he founded NEXT Life Sciences and Plan A to increase access to family planning.

About 6.9% of adults in the US, or around 18 million Americans, and 1.5% of children, or roughly 1 million kids, reported ever having long COVID, while about 8.8 million adults and about 360,000 children said they are currently suffering from the condition, according to data published by the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics. Data showed women, residents of rural areas, adults ages 35 to 49 and Hispanic people were more likely to have had long COVID-19 compared with their counterparts.