Loss of skeletal muscle mass is a known risk factor for falls. Researchers from the University of Tsukuba conducted a 5-yr follow-up study on 471 patients with type 2 diabetes and found that sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors, a class of diabetes medications with significant weight-reducing effects, increase the risk of falls. Moreover, they also observed that the risk further rises when SGLT2 inhibitors are used in combination with glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists.

The COVID-19 pandemic created major communication barriers for individuals with hearing impairments, primarily due to face masks blocking lip movements. Researchers at University of Tsukuba examined these issues and related factors. They found that having a daily supporter, going out frequently, and the severity of hearing impairment all affected the level of difficulty, with daily support reducing such issues.

People with a certain heart valve abnormality are at increased risk of severe heart rhythm disorders, even after successful valve surgery. This is according to a new study from Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital in Sweden published in the European Heart Journal. The condition is more common in women and younger patients with valve disorder and can, in the worst case, lead to sudden cardiac arrest.

Precarious housing, financial hardship, and disadvantages based on ethnicity are just some of the factors that can result in negative pregnancy outcomes. They are also the reality that many women in one of the UK’s most diverse and deprived cities find themselves in. Researchers in Birmingham have examined how demographics, deprivation, and lifestyle factors impact the odds of babies being born too early or too small, as well as the odds of neonatal mortality. They estimated that if all women had the same odds of adverse pregnancy outcomes as White women living in less deprived areas, 211 low-weight and 191 premature births could be prevented each year in Birmingham and Solihull.