The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) have published a health impact assessment of the sweetener aspartame. Citing "limited evidence" of carcinogenicity in humans, IARC has classified aspartame as possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B). For its part, JECFA has not changed the acceptable daily intake of this sweetener, which is set at 40 mg/kg body weight. According to these bodies, with one can of diet soft drink containing 200-300 mg aspartame, a 70 kg adult would need to consume more than 9-14 cans per day to exceed the acceptable daily intake - assuming no other intake from other dietary sources.

A study of nearly 3,000 Latin Americans who attended the Hospital Clínic in Barcelona over 17 years showed that 47% were infected by the parasite that causes Chagas disease. Of these, 17% also presented cardiac alterations derived from the disease. The study reveals that there is under-diagnosis in Spain, as there is in endemic areas. However, due to the characteristics of the research, the authors point out that "these data cannot be used to estimate the prevalence of infection in the general Latin American population living in Spain", which is notably lower according to other studies. The results are published in the journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

The Anthropocene Working Group of the International Commission on Stratigraphy has  proposed Crawford Lake in Canada as a reference site for studying the Anthropocene as a possible geological epoch. This proposal for a Global boundary and Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) was presented today at the International Congress of Stratigraphy in Lille, France. It is a necessary, but not sufficient step for the Anthropocene to enter the International Chronostratigraphic Table, the worldwide reference for geological units. Once approved by the AWG, this proposal has to go through three more votes in international geological bodies. 

A Canadian study has examined whether there is a link between occupation and risk of ovarian cancer. After analysing data from nearly 500 women diagnosed with the disease and nearly 900 controls, they found that working for more than ten years in professions such as hairdressing or beauticians triples the risk of ovarian cancer. The risk also increases in occupations such as accountants or those related to the textile industry. The results are published in the journal Occupational & Environmental Medicine.

The heat waves that took place in Europe during the summer of 2022 were associated with more than 61,000 deaths on the continent, more than 11,000 of them in Spain. These are the results of a modelling study published in the journal Nature Medicine and led by ISGlobal researchers.

The drug lecanemab (Leqembi™) has received full approval as a treatment for early Alzheimer's disease by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), after confirming its clinical benefit in a trial involving 1,795 patients. The FDA highlights the warning that in rare cases it can cause serious and potentially life-threatening side effects.

Two studies published in the journal Nature use artificial intelligence (AI) to try to predict the weather. One system, trained on nearly 40 years of global weather data, is capable of predicting global weather patterns up to a week in advance. The second, called NowcastNet, combines physics rules and deep learning for immediate prediction of precipitation, including extreme precipitation.

The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has declared the onset of El Niño conditions on Tuesday. "The declaration of El Niño by the WMO is the signal for governments around the world to mobilise preparations to limit the impacts on our health, our ecosystems and our economies," said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas. According to the WMO statement, El Niño conditions have developed in the tropical Pacific for the first time in seven years, setting the stage for a likely rise in global temperatures and altered weather and climate patterns.

Parkinson's disease is usually diagnosed when there is already extensive neuronal damage and symptoms are evident. Now, researchers at Cardiff University in the UK have used movement and sleep quality data from wearable accelerometers and concluded that they can help identify the disease early, years before clinical diagnosis. Although there is no effective preventive treatment, the authors propose that the tool can determine people at risk of developing Parkinson's disease and identify participants for clinical trials of neuroprotective treatments. The results are published in the journal Nature Medicine.

Klotho is a protein whose concentrations tend to decline with age and which has been linked to ageing processes. Now, researchers have found that administration of the protein improves cognitive function in aged rhesus macaques, including benefits in spatial and working memory. According to the authors, who publish the results in the journal Nature Aging, its use "may be therapeutic in humans".