Myocardial infarction, commonly known as heart attacks, may also be triggered by infectious diseases, finds a study, which showed that dormant bacteria can cause the deadly condition.

The pioneering study by researchers from Finland and the UK demonstrated that the discovery challenges the conventional understanding of the pathogenesis of heart attacks and opens new avenues for treatment, diagnostics, and even vaccine development.

Professor Pekka Karhunen, from Tampere University in Finland, who led the study, notes that until now, it was assumed that events leading to coronary artery disease were only initiated by oxidised low-density lipoprotein (LDL), which the body recognises as a foreign structure.

Scientists have showed that when brain cells are constantly overactivated for weeks on end, they degenerate and ultimately die, a finding that may help explain what goes awry in the brains of people with Parkinson's disease.

Researchers have long known that a particular subset of neurons dies as Parkinson's disease progresses, but they weren't sure why.

The new study, published in the journal eLife, shows that in mice, chronic activation of these neurons can directly cause their demise.

The scientists hypothesise that in Parkinson's, neuron overactivation could be triggered by a combination of genetic factors, environmental toxins, and the need to compensate for other neurons that are lost.

"An overarching question in the Parkinson's research field has been why the cells that are most vulnerable to the disease die," said Ken Nakamura, investigator at Gladstone Institutes in the US.

Spatial repellents -- called a "spatial emanator" can prevent mosquito bites and offer significant protection against malaria, according to a study.

Researchers from the University of California-San Francisco, US, said that spatial repellents are a relatively new class of insecticide that can be disseminated on something the size of a sheet of paper, offering protection for up to a year against mosquitoes that spread malaria, as well as dengue, West Nile, yellow fever, and Zika.

In a systematic review, appearing in the journal eBioMedicine, the team analysed more than 25 years of data on some 1.7 million mosquitoes.

The findings showed that this “spatial emanator" distributes chemicals through the air and can prevent more than one out of every two mosquito bites.

The analysis comes just as the World Health Organization (WHO) recently recommended the use of spatial emanators, the first new vector control product class available in more than 40 years.

Adults with cardiovascular disease must be immunised against conditions such as Covid-19, influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), pneumonia, herpes zoster (shingles), and other diseases, according to new recommendations released by the American College of Cardiology (ACC).

The guidance also provides detailed evidence for each vaccine recommendation and answers to frequently asked questions to guide conversations between clinicians and patients.

“Vaccination against communicable respiratory diseases and other serious diseases is critical for people with heart disease, but barriers exist to ensuring people are educated on which vaccines to get, how often to get them, and why they are important,” said Paul Heidenreich, chair of the CCG writing committee.

Common painkillers like ibuprofen and acetaminophen are quietly fueling antibiotic resistance -- one of the world's biggest health threats, according to a study.

Researchers from the University of South Australia found that ibuprofen and acetaminophen are not only driving antibiotic resistance when used individually but also amplifying it when used together.

The team assessed the interaction of non-antibiotic medications, the broad-spectrum antibiotic ciprofloxacin, and Escherichia coli (E. coli) -- a common bacterium that causes gut and urinary tract infections.

The findings, published in the journal npj Antimicrobials and Resistance, showed that ibuprofen and acetaminophen significantly increased bacterial mutations, making E. coli highly resistant to the antibiotic.

People with Type 2 obesity-driven diabetes tend to have more aggressive breast cancers. A new study showed that blood factors drive breast cancer aggression.

Researchers at Boston University, US, showed that tiny particles in the blood -- known as exosomes -- get altered by diabetes. These exosomes can reprogramme immune cells inside tumours, making them weaker and allowing the cancer to grow and spread more easily.

“Breast cancer is already challenging to treat, and people with type 2 diabetes have worse outcomes, but clinicians don’t fully understand why,” said corresponding author Gerald Denis, Professor at BU.

“Our study reveals one possible reason: diabetes changes the way the immune system works inside tumours. This could help explain why current treatments, like immunotherapy, don’t work as well in patients with diabetes. Knowing this opens the door to better, more personalised treatments for millions of people,” Denis added.

Amoebic meningoencephalitis is a rare infection caused by certain brain-eating amoebae that naturally live in our environment, and climate, temperature, and urban water stagnation are major reasons for its rise in Kerala, said health experts on Tuesday.

Amoebic encephalitis is a rare but fatal central nervous system infection caused by free-living amoebae, Naegleria fowleri, also known as the brain-eating amoeba, found in freshwater lakes and rivers.