A previously unknown gut–brain signalling pathway governing how parasitic infections lead to nausea, appetite loss and other sickness symptoms is now understood by science.

A new Edith Cowan University (ECU) study has highlighted the need for a national approach to school nursing, with research suggesting Australian students receive varying levels of support depending on their school and location.

By the age of 40, approximately 95% of people with Down syndrome develop Alzheimer’s disease, the leading cause of death for this population. Yet individuals with Down syndrome historically have been excluded from participating in clinical trials into treatments for Alzheimer’s disease. Now, that access will expand in the U.S. and globally, thanks to a game-changing gift from the Linda and Mike Mussallem Foundation to the Keck School of Medicine of USC and its Epstein Family Alzheimer’s Therapeutic Research Institute (Epstein ATRI). The Mussallem Foundation gift will add more domestic sites to the ACTC-DS clinical trial network, currently 20 sites strong. The funding will also maintain four international clinical trial sites that would have paused research due to a loss of government funding, at Trinity Centre for Ageing and Intellectual Disability, Dublin; University of Cambridge, United Kingdom; Institut Jérôme Lejeune, Paris; and, Sant Pau Medical Research Institute, Barcelona. The Mussallem’s generous gift includes a matching component that will effectively double the impact of their support, accelerating the enhancement and expansion of the ACTC-DS network.

A new Cochrane review finds that chlorhexidine likely cuts umbilical cord infection rates by about 29% in low- and middle-income countries, and may reduce newborn deaths.

Large-scale food fortification is one of the most cost-effective health and development interventions, delivering outsized returns. Under the most comprehensive scenario, the annual cost is just $1.15 per person, a modest investment compared to the tens of billions of dollars in economic losses attributed to micronutrient deficiencies each year through reduced productivity, increased healthcare costs, and lost human potential. On average, every dollar invested in fortification provides returns of $27 in health and productivity.

Results from the OASIS 4 clinical trial last year showed that a new drug, elinzanetant, relieved hot flushes and night sweats that can occur because of the menopause or because of hormone treatment for breast cancer. Now, a new analysis of data from the trial, presented at the 15^th European Breast Cancer Conference (EBCC15) in Barcelona,  shows that it also gives sustained relief regardless of the type of hormone treatment cancer patients receive.