The US will face a shortfall of 5.3 million workers with postsecondary education by 2032, including 362,000 registered nurses and nurse practitioners, according to a report from Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce. The need for more RNs is a pressing concern with implications for the nation's health care system, said Nicole Smith, an economist and lead author of the report.

A 15-year review of myocardial injury events in a Minnesota community in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found that non-atherosclerotic causes are more common in younger women than men. Spontaneous coronary artery dissection was found in 11% of heart attacks among women ages 65 and younger, but only in 0.7% of men. "This research shines a spotlight on heart attack causes that have historically been underrecognized, particularly in women," co-author Claire Raphael said.

The US has made the least progress among high-income Western countries in reducing deaths from chronic diseases, according to a study in The Lancet. From 2010 to 2019, chronic disease mortality declined in most age groups in the US but rose for adults ages 20 to 45. Between 2010 and 2019, chronic disease deaths decreased in some 80% of countries worldwide.

At the Immunization Summit in Little Rock, Ark., hosted by Immunize Arkansas, 160 health leaders discussed how to help patients make vaccination a consistent part of lifelong health. Three key strategies emerged: making protection personally relevant, embedding vaccination into clinical practice and building trust over time.

A study in JAMA Network Open found that childhood loneliness was associated with a higher risk of dementia and cognitive decline later in life. The study, based on data from 13,592 participants in the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, found that those who experienced loneliness as children had faster cognitive decline and a higher risk of dementia compared with those who did not report being lonely as children.

AI tools developed for mental health support may not recognize suicidality while stigmatizing some conditions in ways that create barriers to care, researchers have found. Psychiatrist Ravi Hariprasad suggests steps mental health clinicians can take, starting with asking patients about their AI use, educating them about safe and unsafe practices, and helping them set boundaries.

A Paubox survey found 52% of health care sector email breaches in 2024 involved Microsoft 365, up from 43% in 2023. Ineffective DMARC protection was seen in 79% of breached organizations, compared with 65% in 2024, and 16% of breaches involved business associates. More than 40% of respondents said that secure messaging had been bypassed at least once over the past year. "What we're seeing is a perfect storm of limited resources, expanding attack surfaces and security strategies that rely too heavily on human vigilance," said Paubox Chief Compliance Officer Rick Kuwahara.