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Drink spiking is not just a nightclub problem, new UK data suggest

A UK-wide analysis of Drinkaware surveys found that suspected drink spiking and needling are widely underreported, with only 7% of affected 2022 respondents reporting the incident to the police. The findings also reveal gaps in public awareness, demographic differences in reported experiences, and psychological and physical effects that some respondents said persisted for decades.

17 Aug 2026

A 30-year study found a surprising link between alcohol, survival and heart attack risk

In a 30-year study of 973 middle-aged Swedish male automotive workers, alcohol consumption was associated with lower all-cause mortality and longer estimated time to death, while beer consumption was linked to a higher likelihood of myocardial infarction. No significant association was found between alcohol consumption and stroke, and the authors cautioned that socioeconomic differences, self-reported intake, and other unmeasured factors may have influenced the findings.

14 Aug 2026

Meat, stress and risk-taking: what 38 experiments reveal about masculinity threat

Experimental evidence suggests that masculinity threat can push some men toward health-risk behaviors, with the clearest and most consistent effects seen in meat-related food choices. Across 38 experiments, effects on stress, fitness, risk-taking, and relationships were mixed or limited, while individual beliefs about masculinity shaped how men responded.

14 Aug 2026

Your sleep and stress may be connected in a more complicated way than expected

A seven-day intensive longitudinal study of 106 university students found little evidence that higher-than-usual daytime stress predicted poorer sleep that night. In contrast, better-than-usual subjective sleep was followed by lower perceived stress the next day, while objective sleep associations were generally weak and uncertain.

13 Aug 2026

Trauma-informed guideline can reduce CPS reporting for infants with prenatal opioid exposure

A new study conducted at Boston Medical Center (BMC), New England's largest essential hospital, found that a trauma-informed clinical guideline can help reduce reflexive Child Protective Services (CPS) reporting without compromising child safety.

13 Aug 2026

Poison center calls for liver injuries surged 400% between 2000 and 2024

Calls to poison centers involving liver injuries caused by medications, supplements, alcohol and other substances jumped nearly 400% between 2000 and 2024, according to a new study from UVA Health.

13 Aug 2026

Men’s higher TB burden linked to greater exposure

Men are more likely than women to catch tuberculosis (TB), finds a new study led by UCL (University College London) researchers.

12 Aug 2026

Social media isn’t simply good or bad for young people, and this review shows why

Social media can support connection, self-expression, help-seeking, and community among adolescents and young adults, but problematic use is associated with depression, anxiety, loneliness, poor sleep, and body image concerns. The review finds that mental health effects depend less on screen time alone than on how social media is used, what content people encounter, and their individual, developmental, and cultural context.

12 Aug 2026

Healthy lifestyle cuts hearing impairment risk by 14%, metabolism is key driver

Hearing impairment ranks as the third largest contributor to global disability among sensory disorders, with prevalence rising across younger and middle-aged populations alongside older adults.

12 Aug 2026

Adolescents using nicotine face higher risks of mental health problems

Adolescents who use nicotine are more likely to report symptoms of anxiety, depression, and other mental health problems than their peers who do not use nicotine.

11 Aug 2026

Nighttime light linked to conflicting signs of biological aging

Higher residential nighttime light exposure was associated with contrasting biological aging patterns in nearly 300,000 UK Biobank participants, depending on the aging algorithm used. PhenoAge and homeostatic dysregulation suggested a potentially adverse aging pattern, while KDM-BA showed the opposite association, underscoring uncertainty about how nighttime light relates to biological aging.

6 Aug 2026

People with eczema face higher risk of developing shingles

An analysis in JDDG: Journal der Deutschen Dermatologischen Gesellschaft found that people with eczema (also known as atopic dermatitis) face an elevated risk of developing shingles (or herpes zoster).

5 Aug 2026

Tadalafil may increase glaucoma risk in men with enlarged prostates

An erectile dysfunction drug that is also used to treat symptoms like sudden urgency and frequency, which are associated with an enlarged prostate in men, may heighten the risk of the serious eye condition, glaucoma, finds a large comparative study published online in the British Journal of Ophthalmology.

4 Aug 2026

Current NICE criteria miss most younger women at breast cancer risk

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) criteria used to decide who should be referred by GPs for further breast cancer risk assessment and specialist care misses up to 95% of women under 50 who will go on to develop the disease in the next 10 years, new research by researchers at the University of Cambridge and The Institute of Cancer Research, London, has found.

3 Aug 2026

Perilla oil may curb platelet reactivity and inflammatory signaling in smokers

An eight-week randomized trial found that daily perilla oil increased plasma and red-cell ALA, plasma EPA, and platelet closure time in healthy smokers. Perilla oil also reduced TNF-α and TBX21 gene expression, but it did not improve broader coagulation, lipid, endothelial, or postprandial markers.

3 Aug 2026

Daily tomatoes lowered a key marker of liver fat in MASLD trial

An exploratory randomized trial found that 200 g of raw tomatoes plus 50 g of tomato sauce daily for six weeks produced a greater reduction in CAP-defined hepatic steatosis than a tomato-free diet in adults with MASLD. The improvement occurred without major weight or metabolic changes, but larger and longer trials are needed to confirm its clinical significance.

2 Aug 2026

Study links higher body fat to lower sperm counts despite normal BMI

Among 1,058 Danish men, higher body fat percentage was associated with lower total sperm count and altered reproductive hormone levels, but not testicular volume. Body fat percentage showed stronger links with several semen measures than BMI or waist-to-height ratio, with the sperm-count association strengthening among men with normal BMI.

2 Aug 2026

AI-powered blood test detects liver cancer across distinct populations

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center validated an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered blood test that accurately detected liver cancer in people from two geographically and biologically distinct populations and also uncovered the underlying biological signals that make the test effective.

31 Jul 2026

Secondhand smoke alters tooth enamel development in early life

Exposure to secondhand cigarette smoke during the first days of life can cause changes in tooth enamel mineralization without causing visible changes to the teeth.

31 Jul 2026

Tea, tap water and child IQ: What a Canadian pregnancy study found

Researchers analyzed 485 mother-child pairs in Canada to examine whether estimated fluoride intake from tea during pregnancy was associated with IQ at ages 3 to 4. Each 0.5 mg/day increase was associated with a 2.24-point lower full-scale IQ score, although the observational design and estimated exposure prevent causal conclusions.

31 Jul 2026