The current measles outbreak has gripped US states like Texas and New Mexico leaving people worried whether it would become a new pandemic. According to the Texas Department of State Health Services as of February 21, 90 cases were diagnosed in the last month in the South Plains area, with at least 77 of them were reported in children and teens under 17.

Measles is highly contagious and can be deadly. The outbreak, which started spreading in late January, has resulted in multiple hospitalizations, with at least nine confirmed cases and three probable cases as of early February. Health officials caution that at least one in five infected individuals will have to be hospitalized, highlighting the severity of the situation.

Misinformation surrounding vaccines and with the new Trump administration anti-vaccine campaigs, has causing parents to hesitate or refuse vaccination.

Furthermore, the country down under Australia is also witnessing a surge in measles cases as health officials in Sydney have issued an urgent alert, urging residents to watch for measles symptoms after an infected individual visited several places in Sydney over the last seven days.

Authorities report that the traveller had returned from South East Asia where there are ongoing outbreaks of measles.

What Are The Symptoms Measles?

Key symptoms of measles include fever, a runny nose, sore eyes, and a cough. Typically, a red, blotchy rash appears three to four days later, spreading from the head down to the body. Symptoms can manifest between 7 and 18 days after exposure.

Anyone who experiences these symptoms after potential exposure should immediately contact their doctor or emergency department. It is crucial to call ahead before visiting to avoid potentially exposing others in the waiting room. Dr. Selvey also highlighted that ongoing measles outbreaks are occurring in various parts of the world, making awareness and prompt action essential.

Why It Is Important To Get Vaccinated?

According to CDC everyone should get the MMR vaccine. It protects you from measles, mumps, and rubella. Getting vaccinated helps stop these diseases from spreading. There are two safe MMR vaccines available. They work the same way, so it doesn't matter which one you get. Kids can also get a shot that protects against chickenpox too, but this is only for children.

Who Should Get Vaccinated?

Kids Need Two Shots

All children should get two MMR shots. The first shot should be given when they are between 12 and 15 months old. The second shot should be given when they are between 4 and 6 years old. If needed, the second shot can be given earlier, but it must be at least 28 days after the first shot.

College Students Need to Be Protected

Students going to college or other schools after high school, need two shots if they are not already immune. The shots must be at least 28 days apart.

Adults Need at Least One Shot

Most adults need at least one MMR shot. Some adults need two shots, especially those who work in healthcare, travel a lot, or go to college. These people should get two shots, with 28 days between them.

Travelers Need to Be Extra Careful

Anyone traveling to other countries should make sure they are protected. Babies 6 to 11 months old should get one shot before traveling. Kids 12 months and older, teens, and adults need two shots, with 28 days between them.

Healthcare Workers Must Be Immune

People who work in healthcare should have proof that they are immune to measles, mumps, and rubella. If they are not immune, they need two MMR shots, spaced 28 days apart.

Women Thinking About Having Babies

Women who might get pregnant should talk to their doctor about the MMR vaccine. It's safe to get the shot while breastfeeding.

In a comprehensive study spanning more than five decades, researchers have found that overall deaths due to heart disease in the United States have significantly declined since 1970.

However, the study also points to a concerning rise in mortality from specific non-ischemic heart conditions such as heart failure, hypertensive heart disease, and arrhythmias.

Published online on June 25 in the Journal of the American Heart Association, the research highlights both the gains made in managing ischemic heart disease and the urgent need to address other forms of cardiovascular illness.

66% Drop in Overall Heart Disease Mortality

The study, led by Dr. Sara J. King of Stanford University School of Medicine, analyzed data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Vital Statistics System. It focused on U.S. adults aged 25 and older, tracking age-adjusted heart disease mortality rates from 1970 through 2022.

The findings are significant: overall heart disease mortality dropped by 66 percent—from 761 deaths per 100,000 people in 1970 to 258 per 100,000 in 2022. This decline is largely attributed to advances in the treatment and prevention of ischemic heart disease, especially acute myocardial infarctions, commonly known as heart attacks.

The proportion of heart disease deaths attributed to ischemic heart disease also declined sharply. In 1970, ischemic conditions accounted for 91 percent of all heart disease deaths. By 2022, that number had dropped to 53 percent.

Sharp Decline in Heart Attack-Related Deaths

One of the most notable findings was the 89 percent decline in deaths due to acute myocardial infarction.

Mortality from all ischemic heart diseases decreased by 81 percent. These improvements have been credited to better public awareness, improved emergency response systems, lifestyle changes, and the development of more effective medications and medical procedures.

“This evolution over the past 50 years reflects incredible successes in the way heart attacks and other types of ischemic heart disease are managed,” said Dr. King in a statement released with the study.

Rise in Non-Ischemic Heart Conditions

However, not all trends pointed in a positive direction. The same period saw a significant increase—81 percent—in mortality from non-ischemic forms of heart disease. Most notably, the death rate from arrhythmias rose by 450 percent, while hypertensive heart disease and heart failure saw increases of 106 and 146 percent, respectively.

These figures suggest that while the fight against ischemic heart disease has made great strides, the growing burden of other cardiac conditions may require new strategies and interventions.

“The substantial increase in deaths from other types of heart conditions, including heart failure and arrhythmias, poses emerging challenges the medical community must address,” said Dr. King.

Note: The authors of the study acknowledged financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry, a standard disclosure in research of this nature.

The vision of a world where cancer could be detected and treated before it ever causes symptoms—where a simple blood test could reveal the earliest whispers of disease, years before a diagnosis would otherwise be made. It is rapidly moving closer to reality, thanks to pioneering research from U.S. scientists who have demonstrated that blood biomarkers can reveal the presence of cancer more than three years before traditional diagnosis.

Spotting cancer early is one of the most powerful ways to improve survival rates. Tumors caught in their infancy are far more likely to be curable, and treatments can be less aggressive, with fewer side effects. The latest findings, published in Cancer Discovery, suggest that we are on the brink of a new era in cancer screening—one powered by advanced blood tests that can catch cancer in its earliest, most treatable stages.

How Can Blood Reveal the Unseen Caner?

The key to this study lies in circulating tumor DNA, or ctDNA—tiny fragments of genetic material that break off from cancerous cells and float through the bloodstream. Though rare and extremely difficult to detect at low concentrations, these fragments can carry tumor-specific mutations that act as red flags for early cancer development.

Led by oncology researcher Yuxuan Wang and a team at Johns Hopkins University, the study analyzed blood samples from 26 individuals who were later diagnosed with cancer within six months. These were compared with blood samples from 26 cancer-free individuals from the same health study cohort.

Using a combination of sophisticated algorithms and a multi-layered validation system, researchers were able to identify ctDNA signatures associated with cancer in eight of the 26 patients—nearly 31% of those who eventually received a diagnosis. Remarkably, blood samples taken more than three years earlier were available for six of those eight individuals, and in four of those cases, tumor DNA was already present—albeit at levels up to 80 times lower than those detected closer to diagnosis.

Why Is 3 Year A 'Big' Window?

What makes this research truly remarkable is the ability to detect cancer up to three years before clinical diagnosis. For six of the eight positive cases, the researchers had access to even older blood samples—taken 3.1 to 3.5 years before the cancer was diagnosed. In four of these six cases, the same tumor DNA fragments were already present, albeit at levels up to 80 times lower than those detected by the MCED test closer to diagnosis.

This three-year window could be transformative. “Three years earlier provides time for intervention,” explains Wang. “The tumors are likely to be much less advanced and more likely to be curable.” Early detection means more options for patients, less invasive treatments, and a better chance at long-term survival.

Despite these promising findings, there are limitations that need to be addressed before such testing becomes mainstream. The lower the ctDNA levels, the harder they are to detect reliably. Achieving the necessary sensitivity for detecting such minuscule concentrations remains a significant hurdle.

“This study shows the promise of MCED (multi-cancer early detection) tests in detecting cancers very early, and sets the benchmark sensitivities required for their success,” said Dr. Bert Vogelstein, an oncology researcher at the Ludwig Center at Johns Hopkins.

How The Test Impact Future Cancer Treatments?

This research is part of a global movement toward liquid biopsies—blood tests that can detect cancer, monitor its progression, and even guide treatment decisions. Scientists around the world are racing to develop tests that can spot multiple types of cancer from a single blood sample, with some already in clinical trials.

The potential impact is enormous. Early detection could dramatically increase survival rates for many cancers, including those that are often caught late, such as pancreatic, ovarian, and lung cancers. It could also reduce the need for invasive diagnostic procedures and make screening more accessible to people everywhere.

If refined and rolled out at scale, blood-based MCED tests could revolutionize cancer screening programs. Current methods, such as mammograms, colonoscopies, and pap smears, are specific to certain types of cancer and often detect issues only after symptoms emerge. A single blood test capable of catching multiple cancers before they manifest could dramatically improve early intervention strategies.

Can Early Detection Prevent Early-Onset Cancers?

Current evidence indicates that early detection and screening can significantly improve cancer survival rates and reduce the need for aggressive treatments, especially for cancers like breast and colorectal cancer when caught early. However, early detection does not prevent the initial development of early-onset cancers—it enables clinicians to identify cancers or pre-cancerous changes at a stage when treatment is more likely to be successful and less invasive.

Researchers say that detecting these cancers before they reach advanced stages could open new doors for targeted prevention strategies, especially for people with a family history of cancer or genetic predispositions. “If early-onset cancers can be caught even before the first symptoms appear, we not only improve survival but also preserve quality of life,” said Dr. Wang.

However, experts caution that while early detection is a critical first step, it must be paired with timely follow-up and interventions tailored to the unique biology of early-onset cancers. Continued research into how these cancers evolve at the genetic and epigenetic levels will be key to refining detection methods and crafting personalized treatment paths.

Prevention strategies—such as lifestyle changes, vaccination, and minimizing risk factors—are essential for reducing the risk of developing cancer in the first place. Early detection, through methods like screening and advanced blood tests, is focused on finding cancer at its most treatable stage, not on preventing its onset. For rapidly growing or aggressive cancers, early detection may still face limitations, as some tumors can develop and spread between screening intervals.

Early detection technologies are powerful tools for improving outcomes and survival but do not prevent early-onset cancers from occurring.

Researchers have discovered that something as simple as weakened grip strength may be an early warning sign of psychosis—a complex mental condition marked by distorted thinking, delusions, and hallucinations. Published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, the study adds to a growing body of evidence that subtle changes in physical functioning, especially motor skills, may be deeply intertwined with brain health and psychiatric conditions.

The findings point to a potential paradigm shift in how clinicians may one day screen for psychosis—by using an everyday, easily measurable physical marker. As mental health professionals and researchers seek better ways to identify and treat psychosis before it fully develops, the humble handgrip test may soon become a vital tool in the psychiatric toolkit.

What is Psychosis?

Psychosis is a term that describes a range of symptoms where a person loses touch with reality. Classic signs include delusions (false beliefs) and hallucinations (seeing or hearing things that aren’t there). However, the journey into psychosis often begins long before these dramatic symptoms appear. Early warning signs can be subtle—changes in behavior, social withdrawal, trouble thinking clearly, or a decline in self-care.

Psychosis typically emerges in late adolescence or early adulthood, but it can affect people at any age. It’s a feature of several mental health disorders, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and severe depression, and can also arise in older adults as a result of neurological conditions like Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s disease.

The study involved 89 participants recently diagnosed with psychosis (within the past five years), compared with 51 individuals in good mental and physical health. Participants underwent grip strength tests, well-being assessments, and brain imaging scans.

Not only did those with psychosis show significantly lower grip strength, but this weakness was also tied to changes in the brain's default mode network—a complex system that becomes active during rest, daydreaming, or inward-focused thoughts. Researchers found that lower grip strength correlated with reduced connectivity in three key brain regions:

• The anterior cingulate cortex,
• The sensorimotor cortex, and
• The cerebellum.

All three play vital roles in motor function, cognition, and emotion. When connectivity among these regions decreased, so did physical grip strength and overall psychological well-being.

Why A Strong Grip Strength Important?

Grip strength has long been recognized as a general indicator of health. Lower grip strength is associated with higher mortality risk, reduced quality of life, and poorer day-to-day functioning. But its connection to mental health—and specifically to psychosis—is a new and important insight.

“Grip strength seems to capture that things are not going well, but it hasn’t been well studied in relation to brain function or early psychosis,” said Dr. Alexandra Moussa-Tooks, senior researcher and assistant professor of psychological and brain sciences at Indiana University.

The study’s findings suggest that changes in grip strength may reflect underlying disturbances in brain network function—what researchers call “resting-state functional connectivity.” In other words, the physical symptom of a weakening grip could be a visible sign of invisible changes happening in the brain.

While it may seem far-fetched to connect your ability to open a pickle jar with your mental stability, grip strength is increasingly being recognized as a proxy for overall health—both physical and cognitive. Past research has linked low grip strength to a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, frailty, depression, and even early mortality.

This new study takes it a step further by linking grip strength to resting-state functional connectivity in the brain—a measure of how different parts of the brain interact when a person is not actively doing a task. The less synchronized these connections, the more likely a person is to experience disturbances in thought, behavior, and even basic physical abilities.

Dr. Heather Burrell Ward, lead author and assistant professor of psychiatry at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, said the findings "identify potential brain targets for new treatments for psychosis," including the possibility of using magnetic brain stimulation or exercise to strengthen neural connections.

Symptoms of Psychosis

“If Psychosis Is a Fire, Symptoms Are the Smoke”

Traditionally, treatment for psychosis has focused on managing the “smoke”—the overt symptoms like delusions and hallucinations. But as Dr. Moussa-Tooks explains, “If psychosis is a house on fire, symptoms such as delusions and hallucinations are the smoke. In a fire you don’t target the smoke, you target the fire and its source. And yet, currently that’s not how we approach treatment for psychosis.”

Motor disturbances, such as reduced grip strength, may be among the earliest signs that something is amiss in the brain. Because these changes are more fundamental and easier to measure than complex cognitive symptoms, they could help clinicians identify and address psychosis at its source—potentially before full-blown symptoms develop.

What Causes Psychosis?

Psychosis is a complex condition with no single cause. It arises from a combination of genetic vulnerability, brain development differences, and environmental stressors or trauma. While it can be a symptom of mental illnesses like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, it can also occur independently or as part of physical illnesses, particularly in older adults.

Recognizing early warning signs—whether behavioral, emotional, or physical—can make a crucial difference in outcomes. Early intervention is associated with better long-term recovery and improved quality of life.

Could a handgrip test become a new mental health screening tool? The researchers believe it's possible.

“Grip strength and other motor functions are easily assessed and more readily interpretable than complex tasks often used to study psychosis,” said Moussa-Tooks. “Our work shows that these simple metrics could have profound implications in early detection and treatment.”

Such early detection tools are especially critical, as earlier intervention in psychosis typically leads to better outcomes. The current model, which relies heavily on self-reported symptoms or behavioral changes, is reactive and often too late.

As science continues to uncover the deep connections between brain and body, one thing becomes increasingly clear—sometimes, holding on tightly might be the very first step to staying mentally well.