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High social media use increases mental health risks for adolescents

Adolescents who spend at least two hours a day on social media are more likely to experience depressive symptoms and poorer wellbeing, with the strongest effects in early adolescence, according to new research.

11 Jun 2026

Review uses evolutionary lens to examine modern human aging rates

A review article now published in "Nature Reviews Genetics" brings together evolutionary theory, comparative genomics and large-scale human genetics to explain why we age and why aging rates differ among individuals and species.

11 Jun 2026

Global warming increases childhood stunting rates in poor communities

In 2022, about 149 million children under age five worldwide suffered from childhood stunting. A critical marker of chronic undernutrition, stunting is more than a metric of physical height.

11 Jun 2026

First-in-the-world gene therapy delivers missing gene directly to infant’s brain, marking historic milestone in precision medicine

An eight-month-old baby from Israel has become the first human ever to receive an experimental gene therapy designed to replace a missing gene responsible for a devastating neurological disease that until now offered no hope of survival.

11 Jun 2026

Physical punishment linked to detrimental childhood outcomes, UCL researchers warn

Hitting children (often referred to as smacking) by parents or caregivers as a form of punishment is linked to behavioral problems and worse exam results and should be prohibited in England and Northern Ireland as soon as possible, UCL researchers say.

11 Jun 2026

Low-methionine diet shows promise against aggressive brain tumors

An unexpected lab observation led a team of scientists to discover how diet can influence survival in animal models of glioma, one of the most aggressive and deadly forms of brain cancer.

10 Jun 2026

Researchers identify genetic cause of severe childhood lung disease

A new report in the American Journal of Human Genetics describes a novel disorder caused by biallelic loss-of-function variants in the TMEM63B gene, which results in severe lung disease.

10 Jun 2026

Study identifies an important driver of inflammatory bowel disease

Researchers at the Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, together with Newcastle University's Translational and Clinical Research Institute and the Department of Immunology at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, have identified an important driver of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

10 Jun 2026

New study maps early genetic disruptions in Rett syndrome

To better understand what drives the emergence of symptoms in Rett syndrome, researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and the Duncan Neurological Research Institute (Duncan NRI) at Texas Children's Hospital took a closer look at brain cells in mice modeling Rett syndrome before symptoms appeared.

10 Jun 2026

NIH awards $1 million five-year grant to study the genetics of cataracts in children

Jennifer Rossen, MD, a pediatric ophthalmologist at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, recently received a $1 million five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health/National Eye Institute (NIH/NEI) to study the genetics of cataracts in children.

10 Jun 2026

Short four-minute workout boosts quality of life for seniors

Just four minutes of daily strengthening exercise dramatically increases key factors in quality of life for aging adults, according to a new study led by researchers at Penn State College of Medicine.

10 Jun 2026

Living with cats does not worsen childhood asthma outcomes

Children with asthma and allergies who live with one or more cats do not experience worse asthma outcomes than children without cats at home.

10 Jun 2026

Public health messaging still beats AI chatbots for HPV vaccine promotion

The study finds that AI chatbots boost HPV vaccination intent temporarily, but public health resources are crucial for lasting impact on vaccination decisions.

10 Jun 2026

Study finds indoor cats do not trigger child asthma flares

Asthma is the most common chronic disease and one of the main causes of hospitalization among children. The Global Asthma Network has estimated that its global prevalence is 9.1% for children and 11.0% for adolescents, but this percentage varies greatly between countries, regions, and environments.

10 Jun 2026

Fertility challenges may influence children's behavioral and developmental outcomes

Difficulty conceiving a pregnancy may be associated with small differences in children's learning and behavior, according to a new study funded by the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

9 Jun 2026

Oral swab detects hidden inflammation in rare lung disease

Researchers at UTHealth Houston have identified different types of hidden systemic inflammation in patients with primary ciliary dyskinesia, even when they are not experiencing acute illness.

9 Jun 2026

Injectable semaglutide may improve fertility outcomes in PMOS

Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz have published a proof-of-concept study in Fertility and Sterility demonstrating that injectable semaglutide may offer meaningful reproductive benefits for women with polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS), formerly known as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

9 Jun 2026

Moderate screen exposure linked to better concussion outcomes

Researchers at Nationwide Children's Hospital have found that moderate screen time might be better for concussion recovery than no screen time at all.

9 Jun 2026

New clinical guidelines target interconnected heart, kidney and metabolic risks

The American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology, along with two other leading medical organizations have developed the first-ever guideline aimed at preventing and managing cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic (CKM) syndrome, an interconnected set of health conditions that significantly increase the risk of multiorgan complications and negative cardiovascular outcomes.

9 Jun 2026

AI-powered chatbots no better than written public health materials for vaccine promotion

A new Penn-led randomized controlled trial has found that AI-powered chatbots can make vaccine-hesitant parents more likely to say they will immunize their children against human papillomavirus (HPV), but no more than standard written public health materials.

9 Jun 2026