Low-dose CT chest scans could help detect pneumonia in at-risk patients while exposing them to only small amounts of radiation, a new study has found. The research, published in Radiology: Cardiothoracic Imaging, shows that ultra-low-dose scans can effectively detect pneumonia in patients with compromised immune systems, enabling doctors to treat the infection before it becomes life-threatening. According to the researchers, these scans expose patients to just 2% of the radiation dose used in a standard CT scan.

"This study paves the way for safer, AI-driven imaging that reduces radiation exposure while preserving diagnostic accuracy,” lead researcher Dr Maximiliano Klug, a radiologist with the Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Israel, said in a news release. He added that CT scans are the gold standard for detecting pneumonia but there are concerns regarding the risk posed by repeated exposure to radiation. There is a solution- ultra-low-dose CT scan. However, the problem is that these scans can be grainy and hard to read, researchers said.

Study Gives Solution To This

To overcome that, Klug's team developed an AI program that could help "de-noise" low-dose scans, making them sharper and easier to read. Between September 2020 and December 2022, 54 patients with compromised immune systems who had fevers underwent a pair of chest CT scans -- a normal dose scan and an ultra-low-dose scan. The AI program cleaned up the low-dose scan, and then both sets of images were given to a pair of radiologists for assessment. Radiologists had 100% accuracy in detecting pneumonia and other lung problems with the AI-cleaned low-dose scans, but 91% to 98% accuracy in examining the scans that hadn’t been improved through AI, results show.

"This pilot study identified infection with a fraction of the radiation dose," Klug said. "This approach could drive larger studies and ultimately reshape clinical guidelines, making denoised ultra-low dose CT the new standard for young immunocompromised patients.

How Can You Detect Pneumonia?

Pneumonia is a lung infection that causes the air sacs in the lungs to fill with fluid or pus and can be caused by bacteria, viruses, or fungi. The symptoms can range from milk to severe, which includes:

Coughing with or without cough

Fever

Chills

Trouble breathing

Chest pain, especially when breathing deeply or coughing

Sweating or chills

Rapid heart rate

Loss of appetite

Bluish skin, lips, and nails

Confusion.

How to detect Pneumonia in coughing newborns and toddlers?

Pneumonia can severely affect newborns and young children as their lungs are comparatively more sensitive. As per Dr Goyal, young children can cough for various reasons including seasonal infections and tonsillitis, which is very common in this age group. But if they look visibly irritable and have poor sleep patterns, then parents must reach out to an expert. "I am not saying that parents must visit a hospital but any local paediatrician would be able to detect pneumonia in your kid.

A recent massive study analysed more than 10,000 brain MRI scans and delivered fresh insights into why memory worsens as people age.

The study suggested that age-related memory decline is not caused by damage to a single brain region, as previously believed, but by widespread structural changes across the brain.

Researchers examined 10,343 MRI brain scans alongside 13,460 memory assessments from 3,737 cognitively healthy adults across 13 long-running international studies.

The findings, published in Nature Communications, are based on one of the largest investigations of healthy brain aging to date.

Age-Related Memory Loss Involves More Than Hippocampus

For decades, scientists have focused on the hippocampus, a brain region essential for learning and memory, and one of the earliest brain areas affected by Alzheimer's disease.

However, the new study found that although the hippocampus remains the strongest factor to consider memory decline, it is far from being the only region involved.

Researchers discovered that shrinking brain tissue in multiple interconnected regions, including areas linked to the hippocampus and several parts of the temporal lobe, collectively contributes to declining memory with age.

Brain Shrinkage Occurs Over Decades

Also read: Your Country May Influence Your Dementia Risk More Than You Think, Study Suggests

The researchers found that the link between brain shrinkage and memory loss becomes much stronger after the late 50s.

Rather than following a steady, gradual path, memory decline appears to accelerate as structural changes accumulate across multiple brain regions.

The study also showed that individuals with shrinkage affecting a greater number of brain regions experienced faster declines in memory, highlighting that brain aging varies considerably from person to person.

Alzheimer's Risk Gene Isn't The Only Factor

Also read: Healthy Lifestyle Changes Improve Memory, Thinking In Older Adults At Dementia Risk: The Lancet

The team also evaluated the role of APOE ε4, the best-known genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease.

While carriers of the gene generally showed faster brain volume loss and memory decline, researchers found that genetics alone could not explain the observed changes.

Instead, widespread structural changes throughout the brain played a much larger role in determining memory performance.

Senior author Dr. Alvaro Pascual-Leone, professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School and senior scientist at the Hinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research at Hebrew SeniorLife, said, "By integrating data across dozens of research cohorts, we now have the most detailed picture yet of how structural changes in the brain unfold with age and how they relate to memory."

He added, "These results suggest that memory decline in aging is not just about one region or one gene. It reflects a broad biological vulnerability in brain structure that accumulates over decades. Understanding this can help researchers identify individuals at risk early and develop more precise and personalized interventions that support cognitive health across the lifespan and prevent cognitive disability."

The researchers say this could improve how scientists identify people at risk for future cognitive decline before symptoms become severe.

Instead of monitoring only the hippocampus or focusing primarily on genetic risk, future screening and interventions may need to evaluate the health of multiple interconnected brain networks.

Lifestyle Changes Can Help

While there is no cure for neurodegenerative diseases like dementia and Alzheimer's, growing evidence suggests that healthy lifestyle changes can help improve brain health and preserve cognitive function in older adults at risk.

A major study published in The Lancet suggests that adopting healthy lifestyle habits can significantly improve memory and thinking skills in older adults at risk of dementia.

The study found that a culturally adapted, structured lifestyle program delivered across 11 Latin American countries produced meaningful improvements in cognitive function over two years. Participants in the intensive program showed 55 per cent greater improvement in overall cognition than those who received general health advice.

Millions of Americans hit the gym hoping the numbers on the scale will quickly drop. But if weeks of consistent workouts haven't translated into evident weight loss, a new scientific statement from the American Heart Association (AHA) can explain why.

Published in the journal Circulation recently, the review explains why exercise alone is not enough to achieve meaningful weight loss unless it is combined with dietary changes or very high levels of physical activity.

However, researchers stress that even when body weight barely changes, regular exercise delivers powerful benefits for heart health, metabolism, and overall well-being.

Exercise Alone May Not Lead To Major Weight Loss

The AHA study says that while physical activity burns calories, many people unknowingly compensate by eating more or moving less throughout the rest of the day. As a result, hitting the calorie deficit needed for significant weight loss is often missed.

The statement found that exercise by itself usually results in less than 5% body weight loss unless aerobic activity reaches approximately 225 to 420 minutes per week. Fewer than 15% of people achieve clinically significant weight loss through exercise alone.

Most individuals lose only around 3% of their body weight with exercise without making dietary changes. The health benefits begin long before the scale changes

Researchers emphasize that focusing only on body weight misses many of the most important effects of exercise.

Also read: ICMR Study Highlights India’s Silent Cholesterol Crisis: 9 In 10 Adults Have At Least One Abnormal Blood Lipid

Regular physical activity can:

• Lower blood pressure
• Improve cholesterol levels
• Enhance insulin sensitivity and blood sugar control
• Reduce inflammation
• Improve cardiovascular fitness
• Lower the risk of heart disease and premature death

These health improvements can occur even when there is little change in body weight.

Exercise Helps Preserve Muscle While Losing Fat

One of the biggest concerns during weight loss is losing muscle along with fat. According to the AHA, combining exercise, particularly resistance training, with calorie deficit helps preserve lean muscle mass.

Maintaining muscle is important because it supports metabolism, mobility, strength, and healthy blood sugar regulation.

Researchers also note that consuming adequate protein alongside resistance exercise further helps protect muscle during weight loss.

One of the researchers said, "For most people, cardio exercise without changing your diet is unlikely to result in a large amount of weight loss. Dietary changes remain the primary driver of weight loss. However, physical activity plays a powerful supporting role when combined with other treatments, including healthy eating, weight loss, medications, or surgery. Exercise can help people lose a little more weight, preserve important lean mass, especially with resistance exercise, and improve overall health."

Also read: Risks Of Plastic Pollution: Study Finds Microplastics In Heart Arteries Can Cause Severe Heart Attacks

Dr. Danielle L. Swift, chair of the scientific statement writing group and professor at the University of Virginia, said in an American Heart Association news release, "Maintaining weight loss is often more difficult than achieving it."

The statement highlights that consistent physical activity is one of the strongest predictors of keeping lost weight off over the long term.

US Obesity Crisis

The findings come as obesity continues to affect more than four in 10 adults in the US, increasing the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke and several cancers. At the same time, the AHA reports that only one in four U.S. adults meets the recommended physical activity guidelines.

The authors say people should rethink what "success" looks like after starting an exercise routine. If blood pressure falls, cholesterol improves, energy increases, sleep improves, and fitness rises, meaningful health improvements are occurring even if the scale moves slowly.

Night shift workers often face the risks of poor sleep or sleep deprivation. They have long been advised to aim for one uninterrupted block of daytime sleep after work.

However, a new review suggests that splitting sleep into two separate periods, known as biphasic sleep, can help them avoid certain health risks.

Can Biphasic Sleep Help Night Shift Workers?

Night shifts have become an unavoidable part of our lives. Healthcare professionals, emergency responders, factory employees, and transportation workers often work overnight.

Night shifts can disrupt the body's internal clock, increasing the risk of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, depression, and cognitive decline.

Research also shows that night shift workers typically sleep one to four hours less than daytime workers, leading to chronic sleep debt over time.

The recent review, published in the journal Sleep Medicine Reviews, examined existing research on biphasic sleep among shift workers.

Researchers found that while evidence is still emerging, dividing sleep into two episodes can help workers get more sleep, improve alertness during night shifts, and potentially reduce a few long-term health risks associated with chronic sleep deprivation.

The researchers noted that although sleep recommendations traditionally focus on obtaining one long sleep period, many shift workers naturally divide their sleep into two episodes. They usually sleep for a few hours immediately after work and then take another longer sleep before returning for the next night shift.

Also read: Not Just Exhaustion, Sleep Disorders Can Alter Your Brain's Attention & Decision-Making Centres: Study

"Biphasic sleep may help mitigate sleep loss-related impairments," the authors wrote, while observing that its potential benefits have not been fully understood until now.

According to the review, this split-sleep pattern could help workers accumulate more total sleep over a 24-hour period while fitting better around their daytime commitments.

Evidence also suggests biphasic sleep may improve alertness, reduce fatigue, and enhance cognitive performance compared to one uninterrupted daytime sleep, which is often shortened and disrupted by noise, light, or social obligations.

The findings build on a growing body of research suggesting that sleep does not necessarily have to occur in one continuous block to provide health benefits.

A 2025 review also stated that biphasic sleep may be a natural and flexible sleep pattern for some people and could be particularly useful for shift workers, new parents, and others facing unavoidable sleep disruption.

Split Sleep Is Not A Permanent Fix

Experts do caution that split sleep is not a permanent solution. The latest review emphasizes that evidence is still limited as there are just a few reliable studies that directly compare biphasic and monophasic sleep among night workers.

Factors like shift schedules, chronotype, workplace demands, and individual health conditions can all influence whether the strategy is effective.

Sleep specialists also stress that the total amount of sleep remains the most important factor.

Adults should still aim for seven to nine hours of sleep within a 24-hour period whenever possible. Good sleep hygiene, including using blackout curtains, reducing noise, avoiding caffeine before bedtime, and maintaining a consistent sleep schedule, continues to play a key role in protecting long-term health.