All posts tagged: populations

Tipping Point: When Populations Peak

Published by Jenni Sidey

Last weekend (July 11 to be exact) marked World Population Day, celebrating the approximate day that the world’s population reached 5 billion on July 11, 1987. With that in mind, Statista’s Felix Richter takes a closer look at one of the population trends that will affect many countries sooner or later in the 21st century: population decline. You will find more infographics at Statista Especially prevalent across Europe and developed Asia, this demographic trend is a consequence of declining birth rates and ageing populations and poses significant challenges to the countries affected. In countries like Japan and Italy, where population decline is estimated to have begun in 2010 and 2014, respectively, fertility rates have fallen below the replacement level of 2.1 percent a while ago. Influenced by factors such as higher education and career opportunities for women, shifts in societal norms regarding family and childbearing and an ageing overall population, natural population change, i.e. the difference between births and deaths, turned negative years ago. For several years, positive net migration stopped the overall population from declining until the (negative) natural …

AI-assisted eye screening could improve access to care for underserved populations

Published by Jenni Sidey

A new study from the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins Medicine suggests that artificial intelligence may help address long-standing gaps in eye care for people with diabetes. Researchers found that African American patients were more likely to receive referrals for eye exams when screened with an AI-assisted diagnostic tool. The findings offer early evidence that technology could improve access to care for underserved populations. The results focus on diabetic retinopathy, a leading cause of blindness that often develops without warning. A Silent Threat To Vision Diabetic retinopathy is the most common eye disease linked to diabetes. It damages the blood vessels in the retina and can lead to permanent vision loss. Many people do not notice symptoms in the early stages, which makes regular screening critical. Doctors recommend annual eye exams for people with diabetes. Early detection allows treatment to begin before serious damage occurs. Despite these guidelines, many patients do not receive routine screenings. Flow Diagram Illustrating Patient Movement Through Both Diabetic Retinopathy Screening Pathways, AI Referral and Eye Care Provider Referral. (CREDIT: …

20-Minute Walk Could Help You Keep Bee Populations Healthy

Published by Sam Flores

Today (Monday, 20 May) is World Bee Day, an annual event that commemorates the birthday of Anton Janša, a beekeeping pioneer and respected bee expert. The 2026 celebration focuses on “how humans and bees have been working together to nourish and sustain people and the environment,” the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations said. The pollinators, which are key to our ecosystem and food supply, have seen their numbers wane by a third in the last 30 years, the RSPCA explained. And according to the Bumblebee Conservation Trust (BCT), a one to two-kilometre walk could help to keep experts better-informed on how those numbers are doing via a “BeeWalk”. What’s a “BeeWalk”? It’s a short, fixed walk – as we said, usually around a kilometre or two, which takes most people about 10-30 minutes depending on the terrain and your usual walking speed. On a monthly walk from March to October, volunteer BeeWalkers are asked to record the number and types of bees they see on their stroll. Then, enter these into the …

Expanding high-speed rail systems provides unexpected cognitive benefits for aging populations

Published by José Betancourt

A new study published in Social Science & Medicine provides evidence that access to high-speed rail networks can significantly improve the cognitive health of middle-aged and older adults. The findings suggest that large-scale transportation infrastructure acts as an unexpected tool for public health, offering mental well-being benefits alongside pure economic efficiency. By reducing depression, lowering air pollution, and boosting personal income, high-speed trains appear to offer a unique pathway to healthier aging. As populations age globally, cognitive decline has become a major public health challenge. Diminishing mental abilities not only impact a person’s daily life but also place a heavy financial and logistical burden on healthcare systems. Scientists have extensively studied individual factors that protect the aging brain, such as social engagement, high education levels, and routine physical activity. Environmental elements like fine particulate air pollution and access to public green spaces also play a recognized role in brain health. Yet, the impact of transportation infrastructure on cognitive aging has received little attention in the scientific community. High-speed rail networks transform how people travel, making …

Human populations evolved in similar ways after we began farming

Published by skeptic

The advent of farming led to new evolutionary pressures on humans CHRISTIAN JEGOU/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY A study combining the growing number of ancient genomes from living people has given us our best picture yet of how humans have evolved over the past 10,000 years or so. It shows that people in different parts of the world evolved in similar – and sometimes even identical – ways after we adopted farming. “Some of the same traits and the same genes are under selection in different populations,” says Laura Colbran at the University of Pennsylvania. Evolution occurs when a genetic variant becomes more common in a population – usually, but not always, because it provides an advantage. By comparing human genomes, then, we can find signs of recent human evolution. The genomes of long-dead people are especially helpful, says Colbran. “Ancient DNA lets us look at genetic history live, as it were, whereas a lot of other methods tend to try and infer that.” Studies of recent evolution have focused on Europe because that’s where researchers have …

Simple blood tests can detect dementia in underrepresented Latin American populations

Published by José Betancourt

A recent study published in Nature Aging demonstrates that simple blood tests can accurately detect Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia across highly diverse populations in Latin America. By combining these blood markers with standard memory tests and brain scans, clinicians can dramatically improve their ability to diagnose memory-robbing conditions in historically underrepresented regions. Dementia is an umbrella term for a variety of conditions that cause a progressive loss of thinking and memory skills. Alzheimer’s disease is the most frequent cause of dementia in older adults. Frontotemporal lobar degeneration is another distinct type of dementia that primarily affects the front and sides of the brain, often leading to changes in personality and language. Diagnosing these conditions traditionally requires expensive brain scans or invasive spinal taps. These traditional methods are often completely unavailable in lower-income regions. Medical professionals in these areas often have to rely solely on observing a patient’s behavior and administering basic memory quizzes. Recently, researchers developed blood tests that look for specific proteins associated with these brain diseases. These proteins act as …

Roman occupation of Britain damaged the population’s health

Published by skeptic

Reconstruction of the city of Wroxeter in Roman Britain Ivan Lapper/English Heritage/Heritage Images/Getty Images The health of populations in Britain declined under Roman occupation, particularly in more urban areas. There is a widely held belief that the Romans brought civilisation and its many benefits to those they conquered, perhaps best exemplified in Monty Python’s Life of Brian, in which John Cleese’s character Reg asks “Apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the freshwater system and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?” Yet researchers have been aware for at least a decade that there was a decline in the health of the population in Iron Age Britain after the Romans conquered the territory in AD 43 – and that populations thrived after they left. Now, Rebecca Pitt at the University of Reading, UK, has studied 646 ancient skeletons, 372 belonging to children who were less than 3.5 years old when they died, as well as 274 from adult females aged between 18 and 45 years old. These came from …

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