Chronic breathlessness, a symptom often overlooked by healthcare systems, is associated with longer lengths of hospital stay on already overstretched healthcare resources. A new study, published in the Australian Health Review, highlights an urgent need for clinicians and policymakers to recognise chronic breathlessness as a major driver of hospital admissions and healthcare costs and consider making it the ‘sixth vital sign’ in emergency and inpatient settings.

Viruses and bacteria get a bad rap around the world but now Flinders University experts are identifying the positive ‘upside’ of powerful benefits that microbes have on human health.    

Flinders microbial ecologist Dr Jake Robinson and colleagues have presented a timely reminder of these ‘invisible friends’ in a new article published in Microbial Biotechnology, underlining the benefits of moving away from a threat-centred view of microbes and biogenic compounds.

A gut microbe called Turicibacter reduces weight gain and lowers blood sugar and levels of fat in the blood in mice. If the results apply in humans, Turicibacter-derived compounds could be effective therapeutics to promote metabolic health and healthy weight.

Patient feedback helped UC Davis Health adopt an AI scribe that records and transcribes medical visits, giving doctors more time to focus on patients.