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Rethinking Mendelian assumptions in inherited retinal degenerations

A new study challenges what's long been assumed about genetic variants thought to always cause inherited blindness.

22 Dec 2025

ACE2 protein may play a protective role against high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes

A collaborative study from the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences (LMS) and Imperial College London has found that the protein ACE2 may play a protective role against two common conditions, high blood pressure and type-2 diabetes, which affect millions of people worldwide.

19 Dec 2025

Ultra-processed foods linked to higher mortality in Black women with breast cancer

A study from Rutgers Cancer Institute researchers in eClinicalMedicine is the first to link ultra-processed foods to reduced survival in Black women with breast cancer.

18 Dec 2025

Large-scale study reveals joint functional and structural patterns of brain aging

Healthy aging induces parallel changes in brain functional activity and structural morphology, yet the interplay between these changes remains unclear.

18 Dec 2025

Combined physical frailty and depression may sharply raise dementia risk

Concurrent physical frailty and depression likely boost the risk of dementia in older people, with the interaction of these 2 factors alone contributing around 17% of the overall risk, suggest the findings of a large international study, published in the open access journal General Psychiatry.

16 Dec 2025

How ultra-processed foods shape Crohn’s disease risk and what dietary strategies can really help

This narrative review synthesizes evidence showing that higher intake of ultra-processed foods is consistently associated with increased Crohn’s disease risk, with mechanistic pathways implicating emulsifiers, carrageenan, maltodextrin, titanium dioxide, sweeteners and salt. It also highlights that minimally processed dietary strategies, including EEN and CDED, show therapeutic promise, particularly in pediatric Crohn’s disease.

11 Dec 2025

Filtered coffee shows a causal link to healthier HbA1c levels

Genetically predicted filtered coffee consumption is causally associated with lower HbA1c levels, while other coffee preparation methods show no such benefit. This effect appears to be partly mediated by increases in propionate producing gut bacteria, particularly Veillonella.

10 Dec 2025

Long-term exposure to polluted air weakens the health benefits of exercise

Long-term exposure to toxic air can substantially weaken the health benefits of regular exercise, suggests a new study by an international team including UCL (University College London) researchers.

28 Nov 2025

Shared genetic roots between delirium and Alzheimer’s disease

This study reveals genetic and proteomic risk factors for delirium, offering insights into its etiology and potential biomarkers for prediction and prevention.

26 Nov 2025

Researchers discover new mutation hotspot in the human genome

Researchers have discovered new regions of the human genome particularly vulnerable to mutations. These altered stretches of DNA can be passed down to future generations and are important for how we study genetics and disease.

26 Nov 2025

Daily walking patterns help flag early Parkinson’s signs in large UK study

Accelerometer data from nearly 95,000 adults show that higher daily step counts predict lower short-term Parkinson’s disease risk. But as follow-up extends, the association fades, indicating that reduced steps are more likely an early marker than a cause.

25 Nov 2025

Sex-specific changes in gluteus maximus shape linked to aging and metabolic health

The shape of the gluteus maximus muscle in the buttocks changes in different ways with aging, lifestyle, frailty, osteoporosis and type 2 diabetes, and these changes differ between women and men, according to new research being presented next week at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

25 Nov 2025

Elevated levels of five blood proteins can help predict mortality risk

Elevated levels of five proteins in our blood can help predict risk of mortality, a new study from the University of Surrey finds.

24 Nov 2025

UK Biobank releases the world’s largest metabolomic dataset for disease research

UK Biobank has today [Thursday 20 November] released the final set of data on nearly 250 metabolites – the molecules in our blood produced by our bodies as we go about our lives – in half a million volunteers.

20 Nov 2025

Study develops highly accurate polygenic risk models tailored for Han Chinese populations

Researchers at Academia Sinica have developed the first population-specific polygenic risk score (PRS) models for people of Han Chinese ancestry, achieving unprecedented accuracy in predicting risks for common diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, autoimmune disorders.

20 Nov 2025

Acute and chronic depression involve different mechanisms in the brain

A new study investigating neuroinflammation in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) of the brain, a small, midbrain dopaminergic region, has found that acute and chronic depression are associated with distinct pathophysiological mechanisms.

18 Nov 2025

Why early- and late-onset depression are fundamentally different

Genetic differences in early- and late-onset depression highlight distinct risk profiles, informing targeted strategies for improved clinical outcomes.

17 Nov 2025

Chronic pain in adults linked to increased risk of developing high blood pressure

Chronic pain in adults may increase their risk of high blood pressure, and the location and extent of pain and if they also had depression were contributing factors, according to new research published today in Hypertension, an American Heart Association journal.

17 Nov 2025

Whole genome sequencing reveals how much human heritability we can finally explain

Whole genome sequencing in nearly 500,000 UK Biobank participants shows that observed rare and common variants now explain about 88% of family based heritability for many human traits. By partitioning heritability into rare versus common and coding versus non-coding components, the study narrows where missing heritability still hides and highlights traits that remain only partly understood.

13 Nov 2025

Two main methods for discovering disease genes reveal distinct aspects of biology

The two main approaches for discovering disease genes reveal distinct aspects of biology, a new study shows. While both methods are widely used, the research found that they identify different genes, with major implications for drug development.

6 Nov 2025