UK doctors must engage with the assisted dying debate now, says The BMJ

As the UK considers new laws to permit assisted dying, The BMJ this week explores the debate around assisted dying—prescribing life ending drugs for terminally ill, mentally competent adults to administer themselves within strict legal safeguards.

Experts make weak recommendation for medical cannabis for chronic pain

In The BMJ today, a panel of international experts make a weak recommendation for a trial of non-inhaled medical cannabis or cannabinoids (chemicals found in cannabis) for people living with chronic pain, if standard care is not sufficient.

Exposure to traffic noise linked to higher dementia risk

Exposure to noise from traffic on roads and railways over a long period is associated with a higher risk of developing dementia, especially Alzheimer's disease, suggests a study from Denmark published in The BMJ today.

Third of cancer drugs without proven clinical benefit continue to be recommended for patients

One third of cancer drugs that received accelerated approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continue to be recommended in clinical guidelines after their confirmatory clinical trials fail to show improvement on their primary endpoints, finds a study published by The BMJ today.

Limiting fossil fuel extraction to keep global warming below 1.5° C target

Nearly 60% of both oil and fossil methane gas and almost 90% of coal must remain in the ground by 2050 in order to keep global warming below 1.5° C, finds a study by UCL researchers.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-09-limiting-fossil-fuel-global.html

Cats less stressed after adoption by families with children with autism, study finds

While researchers have found that adding a shelter cat to the family can help lower stress and anxiety for children with autism, a new study at the University of Missouri shows that joining a family does wonders for the felines, too.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-09-cats-stressed-families-children-autism.html

Enhancing ordinary items in order to address health outcomes

As a child, Chi Hwan Lee always had Lego sets on his birthday list. Lee, who loves math and physics, would spend hours building the sets—following the instructions as well as his imagination.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-09-ordinary-items-health-outcomes.html

A more efficient way to find a more efficient battery

The pace of progress in the renewable energy sector is limited not only by the technology to capture energy from the sun, the wind, the oceans or the Earth's radiant heat, but also by the ability to effectively store and deploy that energy after it has been harnessed.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-09-efficient-battery.html

Patients treated by mobile stroke units had better outcomes: study

Ischemic stroke patients treated on a mobile stroke unit (MSU) received anti-clot medication faster and ended up with less disability at 90 days, according to a study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine led by researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth Houston) and Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center.