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Study defines average human genome and normal genetic disease risk

A new study has characterized the "average" human genome, providing key information on normal human genetic variation and genetic disease risk.

22 Oct 2026

Study identifies new genetic factors underlying fat accumulation in the liver

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have identified additional genetic factors underlying fat accumulation in the liver.

21 Oct 2026

Your age may not tell the whole story about your health, but your blood could

Researchers analyzed plasma metabolites from 18,476 individuals aged 1 to 96 years and developed two metabolomic aging measures to assess biological aging, chronic disease, and mortality risk. Accelerated metabolomic aging was associated with greater risks of chronic disease and death, while a separate mortality-linked measure provided additional information about health status and disease burden beyond conventional clinical assessments.

18 Oct 2026

Nearly 400,000 adults, six body measurements, and a surprising result for heart attack risk

A UK Biobank study involving 395,831 adults found that a higher body roundness index (BRI) was associated with an increased risk of myocardial infarction over a median follow-up of 13.3 years. BRI showed slightly better predictive performance than BMI and four other anthropometric measures, although the improvements were modest and require independent validation before clinical adoption.

13 Oct 2026

New immune aging map helps decode future chronic disease risks

While birthday candles measure the number of years someone has lived, they don't always tell the full story about someone's health.

9 Oct 2026

New global definition changes how childhood obesity is identified

A new global definition of clinical obesity classifies far fewer children as obese than the widely used body mass index (BMI), according to a large international study. And the findings could lead to changes to how childhood obesity is identified and managed.

6 Oct 2026

Greater variation in blood pressure associated with higher risk of death and strokes

Greater variation in blood pressure between research visits was associated with a higher risk of death in a study of more than 57,000 UK Biobank participants.

29 Sep 2026

Blood markers linked to healthy eating may reflect more than food choices

Researchers analyzed dietary data from 204,938 UK Biobank participants and identified blood protein and metabolite profiles associated with adherence to the EAT-Lancet diet. These profiles showed stronger links to several health outcomes and modeled life expectancy than the diet score, but the observational study cannot establish that the diet caused those differences.

28 Sep 2026

Research makes strong case for broader use of GLP1 drugs to protect hearts

New research being presented at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Milan, Italy (Sept 28 – Oct 2) makes a case for extending the indication for GLP1- receptor agonists (GLP1-RAs) to millions more people, to protect their heart health.

28 Sep 2026

Cutting ultra-processed foods and exercising slashes diabetes risk

Eating a diet low in ultra-processed foods (UPFs) and exercising can cut the risk of type 2 diabetes, even in those with a strong genetic disposition to the condition, new research being presented at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Milan, Italy (Sept 28 – Oct 2) suggests.

27 Sep 2026

Menopause leaves a blood protein signature linked to brain aging and Alzheimer’s risk

Researchers identified a 16-protein blood signature associated with menopause that tracked more strongly with reproductive hormones than chronological age and was largely replicated in an independent UK Biobank cohort. Higher menopause proteomic scores were also associated with less favorable proteomic aging estimates and poorer cognitive outcomes in older women, including incident Alzheimer’s dementia, although the observational evidence does not establish causality.

23 Sep 2026

Early life sugar exposure linked to higher adult anxiety risk

Exposure to sugar in the first 1,000 days of a child's life increases the risk of developing anxiety in adulthood, a new study from the University of Surrey reports.

21 Sep 2026

More physical activity linked to lower type 2 diabetes risk in adults

Chronic stress and inflammation cause silent structural heart damage

Chronic stress from people's everyday lives may be causing lasting structural changes to the heart, harming health and reducing life expectancy.

18 Sep 2026

Genetic risk for PTSD varies across different types of trauma

A groundbreaking study reveals that your genes may make you more vulnerable to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) from certain types of trauma-particularly childhood neglect-than from others.

17 Sep 2026

Eye scans detect signs of atrial fibrillation years before diagnosis

People with atrial fibrillation have signs of the condition in the retinas of their eyes that can be detected as early as four years before diagnosis, finds a new study led by University College London (UCL) and Moorfields researchers.

14 Sep 2026

More data, more answers? A 1.9 million-person health study shows why scale has limits

Researchers analyzed phenotypic and linked health-record data from more than 1.9 million adults in Our Future Health, comparing demographic characteristics, disease patterns, clinical associations, and rare-condition case counts with national data and other major cohorts. The cohort's size provides unusually large samples for many common and less common conditions, although its demographic composition and current data sources require careful consideration when interpreting population-level estimates.

14 Sep 2026

Risk factors for cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic disease can be identified in young children

Risk factors for cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic disease, a health condition made up of heart disease, kidney disease, diabetes, and obesity, can be identified in children as young as 8, UTHealth Houston researchers discovered.

11 Sep 2026

Proteomic signatures reveal early signs of cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic disease in children

Researchers at Vanderbilt Health, UTHealth Houston and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have identified early signs of cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic disease (CKMD) in children as young as 8 years old that potentially can be reversed with a new class of weight loss drugs used widely by adults

11 Sep 2026

You may not need 10,000 steps if some of them are taken at a faster pace

A prospective UK Biobank study of 103,684 adults found that higher peak 30-minute stepping cadence was associated with lower all-cause and cardiovascular mortality across several daily step-count levels. The findings indicate that both total daily steps and the intensity of the most active stepping minutes may matter for mortality risk, particularly for people who find higher step totals difficult to achieve.

10 Sep 2026