Health impacts of eating disorders complex and long-lasting
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Updates every hour. Last Updated: 8-May-2026 14:16 ET (8-May-2026 18:16 GMT/UTC)
A new heart monitoring system combining 3D printing and artificial intelligence could transform the way doctors measure and diagnose patients' heart health.
Developed at SFU’s School of Mechatronic Systems Engineering, the system features reusable dry 3D-printed electrodes embedded in a soft chest belt – the folding origami-shaped design uses gentle suction to stick to the skin.
Carbon-based ink printed on the suction cup replaces electrolyte gel, conducting the heart’s electrical signals through to a wearable device with built-in AI software to pre-diagnose of up to 10 types of arrhythmias, or irregular heart rhythms.
An analysis of data from almost two dozen long-term studies finds that even low-intensity smokers have a substantially higher risk of heart disease and death compared to people who never smoked, even years after they quit. Michael Blaha of the Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease, USA, and colleagues report these findings November 18th in the open-access journal PLOS Medicine.
A mouse study led by University of California, Riverside biomedical scientists suggests that everyday exposure to microplastics — tiny fragments shed from packaging, clothing, and countless plastic products — may accelerate the development of atherosclerosis, the artery-clogging process that leads to heart attacks and strokes. The harmful effects were seen only in male mice, offering new clues about how microplastics may affect cardiovascular health in humans.