The American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions open on Friday at McCormick Place in Chicago and run through Monday. The programme lists 23 late-breaking science presentations across six sessions, covering prevention, stroke, hypertension, arrhythmia, obesity, lipid management and artificial intelligence. Five trials are drawing the most attention: Lp(a)HORIZON on Lp(a) lowering, ZEUS on inflammation, PROGRESS on moderate aortic stenosis, SYNCHRONIZE-CVOT on obesity-related cardiovascular outcomes and OPTIMAL-DIABETES on blood-pressure control in type 2 diabetes.
The World Health Organization says six proven climate and health measures could prevent nearly 1.6 million deaths a year and avoid 16.7 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually. The steps include heat-health warning systems, climate-resilient drinking water and sanitation, better hand hygiene, cleaner household cooking energy and more efficient fossil fuel pricing. WHO estimates the package could generate up to $5.4 trillion a year in fiscal benefits and nearly $4 trillion more from avoided illness and disaster costs. The report lands a week before COP31 opens in Antalya, Turkey.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted tentative approval to a generic version of lenacapavir, the twice-yearly injection used to prevent HIV. The decision clears a path toward low-cost supply in 120 low- and middle-income countries across sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and Latin America. Gilead Sciences had been the only supplier, and demand has outstripped supply despite royalty-free licences with six generic manufacturers. Tentative approval is the FDA's standard status while the original product remains under patent, and it can speed reviews in other countries. Donors estimate the generic could cost about $40 a person a year once volume production begins.
New US research presented to the American Heart Association found that intensive care admissions for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest rose steeply with outdoor heat. Compared with days reaching 85F, admissions were 45% higher at 91F and 102% higher at 98F. The analysis pooled data from 10 US health systems and accounted for humidity and air pollution. Women and older adults were affected most. Survival and neurological recovery among patients who reached hospital did not appear worse during heat waves, but the surge in critically ill arrivals puts pressure on limited ICU beds, equipment and staff.
A randomised trial called RESET for Remission found that a low-energy diet plus supervised exercise put type 2 diabetes into remission in 54% of younger adults after 24 weeks, against 4% in a usual-care group. Remission meant HbA1c below 6.5% without glucose-lowering medication for at least 12 weeks. The trial enrolled 96 people with early-onset type 2 diabetes and published its results in the Lancet Regional Health - Americas. Researchers said the programme is demanding, and that support will decide whether it works outside a trial.
Mice given an experimental compound that blocks an enzyme called AEP lived about 17% longer than untreated animals in a study published in iScience. Untreated mice averaged 24 months at death, treated mice 28, with all animals around 18 months old when the work began. The treated group also showed fewer signs of frailty, better results on exercise, strength and memory tests, and improved metabolic markers including insulin response. The authors argue that AEP sits at a junction of several ageing-related processes. No human trial has been run and the compound is a research tool, not a medicine.
Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration has proposed stricter sunscreen rules after a consumer report found that 16 of 20 popular sunscreens failed to meet their labelled SPF. Brands would have to test the finished product, not just the base formula, before listing it, retest it through its shelf life, and hand their SPF data to the regulator. Cosmetic sunscreens would face limits on SPF claims. The changes follow product withdrawals and will be introduced in stages. The regulator says it will not routinely check the data before products reach shelves.
A study of 12,772 adults in Brazil found that people who consumed the most low- and no-calorie sweeteners had a 62 percent faster decline in memory and thinking skills over about eight years, roughly 1.6 additional years of brain aging. Six of seven sweeteners examined were linked to faster cognitive decline, with the association strongest among people with diabetes. The work, published in Neurology, followed participants whose average age was 52 at the start and used dietary questionnaires to estimate intake of aspartame, saccharin, acesulfame-K, erythritol, xylitol, sorbitol and tagatose. The authors stress the finding shows association, not causation.
The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has passed 10,000 infections since it was declared in May, making it the fastest-growing outbreak on record. Government figures from 19 October showed 9,277 confirmed cases and 4,478 deaths across 64 of 167 health zones in eight provinces. The outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, for which there is no approved vaccine or treatment, so tools used against earlier Zaire strain outbreaks do not apply. The WHO has declared a public health emergency. Cases have been imported to Kenya and Nigeria.
A twenty-year study of 28,512 US adults found that repeated exposure to outdoor heat-index conditions of 103F or higher was linked to higher dementia risk, while milder heat days were not. People with more than seven such days a year had a 23% higher hazard than those with almost none, and those with 0.4 to 1.8 days a year had a 14% higher hazard. The link was strongest in socially vulnerable neighbourhoods, at 40% against 11%, and in areas with less central air conditioning, at 36% against 13%. Heat exposure was counted over five-year windows as participants aged. The findings appear in the journal Alzheimer's & Dementia.