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Living Near Fast Food Restaurants Could Affect Heart Health, New Study

(FILES) A driver in a vehicle places his order from a drive-thru lane at a Wendy's fast food resturant in Alhambra, California on May 5, 2020. (Photo by Frederic J. BROWN / AFP)
(FILES) A driver in a vehicle places his order from a drive-thru lane at a Wendy's fast food resturant in Alhambra, California on May 5, 2020. (Photo by Frederic J. BROWN / AFP)
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Living Near Fast Food Restaurants Could Affect Heart Health, New Study

(FILES) A driver in a vehicle places his order from a drive-thru lane at a Wendy's fast food resturant in Alhambra, California on May 5, 2020. (Photo by Frederic J. BROWN / AFP)
(FILES) A driver in a vehicle places his order from a drive-thru lane at a Wendy's fast food resturant in Alhambra, California on May 5, 2020. (Photo by Frederic J. BROWN / AFP)

A new British study, involving 500,000 adults, has found that living near fast food restaurants could harm the health of the heart.

These kinds of ready-to-eat food environments typically provide unhealthy foods and drinks, and have been linked to cardiovascular diseases, mostly heart failure. The findings were published in Circulation, an American Heart Association journal.

Heart failure is a condition in which the heart muscle can’t pump enough blood to meet the body’s needs for blood and oxygen. In this case, fluids can accumulate in the lungs, causing shortness of breath. This condition can lead to narrowing the heart arteries and raising blood pressure.

This study is likely the first to assess the association between food environment and heart failure with long-term observation, according to the researchers.

The study involved more than 500,000 adults, ages 37-73 years old, in the UK.

During the research, the team measured the link between living within one-kilometer from three types of food environments — pubs or bars, restaurants or cafeterias and fast-food restaurants.

The study documented nearly 13,000 heart failure cases during a 12-year follow-up period.

The analysis found that a closer proximity and a greater density of ready-to-eat food outlets were associated with a 16% risk of heart failure compared to those with no ready-to-eat food environments near their homes.

It also found that those in the highest density areas of pubs and bars showed a 14% higher risk for heart failure; while those in the highest density areas for fast-food outlets had a 12% higher risk.

Heart failure risk was stronger among participants without a college degree and adults in urban areas without access to formal physical activity facilities such as gyms.

According to the researchers, these findings add to previous studies that have suggested that exposure to ready-to-eat food environments is associated with risks of other disorders, such as Type 2 diabetes and obesity, which may also increase the risk of heart failure.

Authors said the findings suggest that improving access to healthier food environments and physical fitness facilities in urban areas, along with helping more people attain higher levels of education, could reduce the increased risk of heart failure linked to quick-meal options.

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KAUST Stem Cell Research Advances Understanding of Early Human Development

Researchers at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) developed a new method to improve the formation and control of stem cell-derived embryo models. (SPA)
Researchers at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) developed a new method to improve the formation and control of stem cell-derived embryo models. (SPA)
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KAUST Stem Cell Research Advances Understanding of Early Human Development

Researchers at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) developed a new method to improve the formation and control of stem cell-derived embryo models. (SPA)
Researchers at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) developed a new method to improve the formation and control of stem cell-derived embryo models. (SPA)

Researchers at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), through the university’s Center of Excellence for Smart Health (KCSH), have developed a new method to improve the formation and control of stem cell-derived embryo models, enabling unprecedented insights into the early stages of human development.

These early stages of human development are essential for reproductive health, and disturbances during this period can lead to infertility, early miscarriage, or developmental disorders. Despite decades of research, the mechanism that initiates and drives the formation of the human embryo is still not fully understood, reported the Saudi Press Agency on Thursday.

To study this process, the research team used blastoids derived from human stem cells. These are laboratory models that mimic key features of early human development, enabling the observation of processes that would otherwise be inaccessible in a controlled laboratory environment.

Using advanced imaging techniques and molecular analysis, the researchers tracked how cavity formation occurs alongside cellular reorganization.

The results show how molecular activities within cells generate physical forces necessary for the formation of early embryonic structures, providing a direct link between intracellular processes and mechanisms of embryonic organization.

When the activity of the V-ATPase pump is inhibited, fluid accumulation no longer occurs, and the blastocoel cavity fails to form properly. By improving the accuracy and reliability of human embryo models, this research offers a powerful new platform for studying such conditions and supporting research in reproductive medicine.

Varieties

Critically Endangered Orangutan Born at Madrid Zoo

Surya, a female Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus), cradles her newborn on April 15, 2026 at the Madrid Zoo Aquarium, in Madrid. (Photo by Pierre-Philippe MARCOU / AFP)
Surya, a female Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus), cradles her newborn on April 15, 2026 at the Madrid Zoo Aquarium, in Madrid. (Photo by Pierre-Philippe MARCOU / AFP)
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Critically Endangered Orangutan Born at Madrid Zoo

Surya, a female Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus), cradles her newborn on April 15, 2026 at the Madrid Zoo Aquarium, in Madrid. (Photo by Pierre-Philippe MARCOU / AFP)
Surya, a female Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus), cradles her newborn on April 15, 2026 at the Madrid Zoo Aquarium, in Madrid. (Photo by Pierre-Philippe MARCOU / AFP)

A critically endangered Borneo orangutan has been born at Madrid's zoo, described by keepers as strong and developing normally.

After an eight-and-a-half-month pregnancy, mother Surya gave birth to a male weighing about 1.5 kilos (3.3 pounds) on April 2, the Madrid Zoo Aquarium said in a statement.

According to AFP, the zoo released a video showing Surya cradling the newborn, which will be named through a public vote from a list of options proposed by the caretakers.

Surya has now given birth to four offspring, with keepers describing her maternal care from the outset as exemplary, and the baby feeding regularly, a key indicator of healthy development.

"When the baby is nursing, everything stops. She stays completely still until he finishes, and only then moves to eat or do anything else. She is a real supermom," said Maica Espinosa, a primate keeper at the zoo.

Orangutans usually give birth to a single baby or occasionally twins. They give birth, at the most, once every six years, and the interval between babies can be as long as 10 years.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature classifies Bornean orangutans -- known for their dark brown fur and gentle temperament -- as "critically endangered,” citing rapid habitat loss and illegal wildlife trade as major threats.

The species lives in the wild only on the Indonesian island of Sumatra and on the island of Borneo, which is divided among Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.

Varieties

Super Typhoon Sinlaku Pounds Remote US Islands in the Pacific Ocean with Ferocious Winds

Trees sway in strong winds as Super Typhoon Sinlaku approaches, in Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands, US, April 14, 2026 in this screengrab obtained from a social media video. (Jhon Aaron Borinaga via Facebook/via Reuters)
Trees sway in strong winds as Super Typhoon Sinlaku approaches, in Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands, US, April 14, 2026 in this screengrab obtained from a social media video. (Jhon Aaron Borinaga via Facebook/via Reuters)
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Super Typhoon Sinlaku Pounds Remote US Islands in the Pacific Ocean with Ferocious Winds

Trees sway in strong winds as Super Typhoon Sinlaku approaches, in Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands, US, April 14, 2026 in this screengrab obtained from a social media video. (Jhon Aaron Borinaga via Facebook/via Reuters)
Trees sway in strong winds as Super Typhoon Sinlaku approaches, in Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands, US, April 14, 2026 in this screengrab obtained from a social media video. (Jhon Aaron Borinaga via Facebook/via Reuters)

A super typhoon steadily battered a pair of remote US islands in the Pacific Ocean with ferocious winds and relentless rains, shredding tin roofs and forcing residents to take cover from flying tree limbs.

Super Typhoon Sinlaku pounded the Northern Mariana Islands for hours before daybreak Wednesday, slowing just to inflict more damage across the islands of Tinian and Saipan, home to nearly 50,000 people.

In the village Susupe on Saipan, the wind tore the roof off a commercial building and broke tree branches. A blue sedan lay on its side.

Resident Dong Min Lee shot some video of a car sitting on top of two others in his apartment building’s parking lot below. The winds also tore off part of his balcony railing.

"I hope people will take an interest and help. The damage is really huge here," Lee said in a Facebook message.

Preliminary reports include a lot of flooding, uprooted trees and downed power lines, said Jaden Sanchez, spokesperson for the Saipan mayor’s office. There were no reports of deaths, he said.

Authorities were advising residents to remain indoors and away from strong winds, but Mayor Ramon "RB" Jose Blas Camacho was out in the community assessing the damage, Sanchez said.

The typhoon — the strongest tropical cyclone on Earth this year — was packing sustained winds of up to 150 mph (240 kph) when it made landfall on the islands, the National Weather Service said.

Tropical force winds and torrential rainfall also led to flash flooding on Guam, a US territory to the south with several US military installations and about 170,000 residents, the weather service said. Earlier, it hit the outer islands and atolls of Chuuk in the Federated States of Micronesia.

The American Red Cross and its partners were sheltering more than 1,000 residents across Guam and the Northern Marians, agency spokesperson Stephanie Fox said.

Winds at 75 mph (121 kph) or greater were expected to continue through Wednesday afternoon as the eye of the storm was moving northwest of Saipan and Tinian, said Ken Kleeschulte, acting science and operations officer for the National Weather Service on Guam.

Even as winds slowly subside to about 50 mph (80 kph), they will remain too strong for people to safely go outside for at least a day and a half, he said.

Sinlaku will start to curve toward sparsely populated volcanic islands in the far northern Marianas, he said.

Still recovering from a 2018 typhoon In Guam, where Typhoon Mawar knocked out power for days in 2023, US military officials warned personnel to shelter in place. The military controls about one-third of the land on Guam, a critical hub for US forces in the Pacific.

Tourism-dependent Saipan — the site of one of World War II’s bloodiest battles in the Pacific — was still recovering from 2018’s Super Typhoon Yutu when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Hunter said. The economy has yet to rebound, he said.

Yutu destroyed 85% of the Saipan campus of Northern Marianas College, said the school's president, Galvin Deleon Guerrero. The institution secured $100 million in grant funding to rebuild.

"Just as we were finally beginning to recover and rebuild, we get hit with this," he said. "Climate change is real."

He said he worries about people still suffering from the post-traumatic stress of Yutu.

"We are an incredibly resilient people," he said, noting that he’s Chamorro, the Indigenous people of the Mariana Islands. "But just because we’re resilient doesn’t mean that we should be subjected to this on this frequent basis."

Disaster declaration President Donald Trump approved emergency disaster declarations ahead of the latest storm for Guam and the Mariana Islands. The Federal Emergency Management Agency said it was coordinating support across multiple agencies, dispatching nearly 100 FEMA staff as well as other personnel.

Super typhoons are the equivalent of Category 4 or 5 hurricanes in the Atlantic, with winds of at least 150 mph (240 kph). There have been more than 300 super typhoons identified over the past 80 years by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center in Guam.

Typhoons are "very common" in the Pacific, but the peak season is similar to the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from summer to fall, said Jason Nicholls, AccuWeather’s lead international forecaster.

"As we’ve seen this year, you can get tropical systems in the West Pacific any time of year," Nicholls said. "But getting them in April is a little unusual."