Health
International effort seeks new treatments for pediatric heart disease
Australia’s Murdoch Children’s Research Institute is helping scientists use stem cell medicine and artificial intelligence to develop precision therapies for pediatric heart disease, the leading cause of death and disability in children.
Around 260,000 children die from heart disease around the world each year. In the U.S., a child is born with a heart defect every 15 minutes.
“We’re really interested in understanding how kids develop heart disease and where we can interfere to stop it progressing,” Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) Heart Disease Group Leader David Elliott said.
Dame Elisabeth Murdoch, the mother of Fox News founder Rupert Murdoch, helped found Australia’s MCRI. The institute is partnering with Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco for the Decoding Broken Hearts Program.
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Amelia and Elijah Mallinson are two kids who could benefit from this research. The siblings live in Melbourne and have the same genetic heart condition.
“We took her to our local emergency because she woke up, she was swollen,” Amelia and Elijah’s mother, Ebony Mallison, said. “We thought she was just sleepy, but turns out she was in and out of consciousness.”
Amelia was two years old when doctors discovered her condition.
Ebony Mallison, center, sits with her two children, Amelia and Elijah, who are living with the same genetic heart condition. Both of their cases are enrolled in the Decoding Broken Hearts program. (Fox News)
“After they’d done a chest X-ray, they realized that her heart was a lot larger than it should have been, and they realized she was in heart failure,” Mallison said.
Amelia waited almost a year for a heart transplant. After successful treatment, she lives a mostly normal life. Her brother Elijah’s condition was discovered during a precautionary checkup.
“It was quite a shock because we weren’t aware of anything that would cause him to also have a heart condition. It was very much a let’s get him checked just to completely rule out that there’s nothing wrong,” Mallison said. “I feel like that was kind of more scary because we could anticipate the bad. But he’s been really stable and really healthy so far, hasn’t really needed any treatment or therapies yet, which is great.”
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Elliott said the goal is to find diagnoses and treatments before kids like Elijah ever need a transplant.
Heart Disease Group Leader David Elliott at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute examines an image of a heart on his monitor. (Fox News)
“For many, the disease would be absolutely critical if you could correct the problem in-utero,” said Elliott. “Those who have very severe heart disease will need three surgeries before they’re five. And it’s very draining for the families involved. And so, what we really like to do is really progress that and allow those children a much more effective life.”
MCRI is part of the Royal Children’s Hospital, which treats around 700 heart conditions each year. Every case is enrolled in the Decoding Broken Hearts program.
“We can use a special technology called reprogramming. So we take a small sample of this child’s blood,” Elliott said. “From that, we can create a heart cell. And in that heart cell is an exact replica up here in the laboratory of the child’s heart cell.”
Researchers then create additional small heart replicas to alter the function and find possible treatments for the patients at Royal Children’s.
Scientists use patients’ blood samples to create small heart replicas to study, aided by artificial intelligence. (Fox News)
“We’re trying to use all of those different tools and technologies to understand how the disease develops and where we can look for new therapies using precision medicine to help kids with heart disease,” Elliott said.
One of the newest tools with the help of Gladstone Institutes is artificial intelligence.
“Gladstone brings the expertise and the computational know-how that’s built up around the Bay area to use AI to study the disease,” Elliott said. “What AI allows us to do is millions and millions of experiments in the computer before we bring them into the cell, and that really allows us to target in and look at the ideal spot to interfere, to help cure disease.”
Amelia and Elijah have also participated in studies to further advance treatments for conditions like theirs.
“If it even helps one family, it’s worth it,” Mallinson said. “Every staff member that you come in contact with at the hospital and doing research, they all make a huge difference in the lives of the kids and everyone in the families of these kids.”
If you would like to donate or learn more about the Decoding Broken Hearts Program you can visit go.fox/MCRI.
Health
Katie Couric couldn’t remember the year or the president during frightening brain episode
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Journalist Katie Couric is sharing a scary medical episode that she experienced on June 27.
In a post on Substack titled “The Day I’ll Never Remember,” she detailed a sudden episode that left her unable to recall the current month, year and president.
“I thought it was 2024. And I believed Joe Biden was president,” she wrote.
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The event occurred while Couric was attending the Aspen Ideas Festival in Colorado, during which she participated in two public panels — one on AI and one on journalism — both of which she cannot remember at all.
“I have no idea what we talked about, or of what occurred when the panels ended,” she said.
Journalist Katie Couric is sharing a scary medical episode that she experienced on June 27. (Getty Images)
John Molner — Couric’s husband, who was in attendance at the festival and the two panels — also shared his account.
After the event, someone told Molner that Katie wasn’t feeling well. When he reached her, an EMT and a doctor were tending to her. “I could tell something was off,” he wrote. “It could have been altitude sickness, but Katie was definitely not all there.”
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At the hospital, when Couric struggled to recall the year, the president and her grandchildren’s names, doctors began checking for a stroke.
An MRI revealed no signs of stroke, which was a relief, but “Katie’s ‘fog’ became a lot more apparent,” Molner wrote.
John Molner, Couric’s husband, who was in attendance at the festival and the two panels, also shared his account. (Getty Images)
“She repeatedly asked me the same questions: ‘What was I doing before we got to the hospital?’ ‘Why am I at the hospital?’”
Couric was ultimately diagnosed with transient global amnesia, a sudden, temporary episode of memory loss that prevents a person from forming new memories and may also erase some recent memories, according to Mayo Clinic.
“The cause seems to be as mysterious as the brain itself.”
It is not caused by a stroke, seizure or head injury, and it usually resolves completely within 24 hours.
“[It’s] just a very weird neural episode that’s pretty uncommon and, at least in most cases, is a ‘one and done’ experience,” Molner said.
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Couric said she finally began feeling “like herself” again around 9 p.m. and went to sleep at 2 a.m.
As TGA leaves a “permanent gap in memory” for the duration of the episode and for hours beforehand, Couric said that from around noon on that day until at least 7 p.m. will remain a “big, black hole.”
As TGA leaves a “permanent gap in memory” for the duration of the episode and for hours beforehand, Couric said that from around noon on that day until at least 7 p.m. will remain a “big, black hole.” (Getty Images)
Data shows that approximately three to eight people per 100,000 will have an episode of transient global amnesia, with people 50 years of age and older at higher risk.
The specific cause of TGA is not known, but some experts believe it stems from a “temporary dysfunction in the brain’s hippocampus — the area responsible for creating new memories,” Couric shared.
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“Doctors believe this is driven by brief interruptions in blood or oxygen flow, or microscopic spasm in the blood vessels.”
Episodes could potentially be triggered by intense physical exertion, emotional distress, extreme temperature changes or migraines, experts say.
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Approximately 15% of patients will have a recurrence 10 years later.
“Why did this happen to me? Was the altitude an issue? Was I dehydrated? Tired? Stressed? The literature doesn’t seem to indicate that these are contributing factors, but the cause seems to be as mysterious as the brain itself,” Couric wrote.
Anyone who experiences sudden memory loss, confusion, difficulty speaking, weakness, numbness, vision changes, severe headache or other stroke-like symptoms should seek immediate medical attention or call 911, doctors advise. (iStock)
“All I know is that those hours will be forever lost. Someone described it as my brain failing to hit the ‘record button.’”
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“While this was a freaky occurrence, it could have been much more serious. So ultimately, I’m relieved — even though several hours of a Saturday in June will always be missing for me.”
Anyone who experiences sudden memory loss, confusion, difficulty speaking, weakness, numbness, vision changes, severe headache or other stroke-like symptoms should seek immediate medical attention or call 911, doctors advise.
Health
One walking habit could signal a healthier brain after 80, scientists say
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Older adults identified as “super movers” are about half as likely to develop cognitive impairment than their peers.
That’s according to a recent study led by Stony Brook Medicine in New York, which evaluated the cognitive function of 4,000 adults 80 and over who participated in multiple aging and longevity studies over several years.
Among this group, 6% to 10% were classified as super movers, which means they walk at a much faster pace than others of the same age and gender — at speeds comparable to people three decades younger.
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The super movers were found to have about half the risk of cognitive decline compared to seniors with typical gait speed.
The findings were published in the journal Neurology on June 16.
Older adults identified as “super movers” are about half as likely to develop cognitive impairment than their peers. (iStock)
“The study reinforces that mobility and brain health are closely connected,” lead study author Dr. Joe Verghese, MD, neurologist at Stony Brook Medicine, told Fox News Digital. “This suggests that preserving mobility may be an important marker of healthy brain aging and resilience.”
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The most intriguing finding, according to Verghese, was that super movers maintained cognitive function despite having similar dementia-related brain changes as their peers.
In postmortem brain analysis, there was no difference in dementia-related pathologies between the super movers and the slower walkers, the study stated.
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“This suggests they may possess resilience mechanisms that help preserve brain function even in the presence of age-related changes,” he said. “Understanding these resilience factors could lead to new strategies for promoting healthy brain aging.”
As the study was observational, there were some limitations, and it does not prove that walking faster prevents dementia, the researchers noted.
Super movers were found to have about half the risk of cognitive decline compared to seniors with typical gait speed. (iStock)
“Other factors, such as cardiovascular health, physical fitness or genetics, may also contribute to both faster walking and better cognitive outcomes,” Verghese said.
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This study adds to growing evidence that what’s good for the heart and muscles also benefits the brain, he noted, adding that “staying physically active remains one of the most effective, evidence-based ways to support healthy aging.”
“Walking speed is best viewed as a marker of overall health, not a treatment.”
“The broader message is that physical activity is important at any age,” Verghese said. “Walking is an easy step-up point because you don’t need any special equipment. You can do it inside or outdoors, and you can do it on a regular basis. You can walk with a dog, you can walk with a friend.”
Any activity is beneficial if it’s done regularly and with the right intensity, he added.
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Rather than just trying to walk faster, the neurologist recommends that seniors focus on maintaining mobility through regular physical activity, strength training, balance exercises and good cardiovascular health.
“Walking speed is best viewed as a marker of overall health, not a treatment,” Verghese noted.
Major public health guidelines from the CDC and U.S. Physical Activity Guidelines recommend at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity each week, such as brisk walking.
Major public health guidelines from the CDC and U.S. Physical Activity Guidelines recommend at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity each week, such as brisk walking. (iStock)
This can be achieved by walking 30 minutes a day, five days a week, or about 20 to 25 minutes most days. Another option is to engage in shorter sessions that add up over the day.
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“You have to do it within your health limitations and medical conditions,” Verghese advised. “So if there are any medical concerns, I would get your physician to clear you before starting exercise.” The good thing about walking, he added, is that you can start at a slow pace and then gradually build up to a brisker pace.
“And then adding on strength and balance training, whatever age you are, I think is also important.”
Health
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