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Blood biomarkers predict risk of multimorbidity in older adults

A small set of common blood biomarkers predicts which older adults will develop specific combinations of chronic diseases - and how quickly, a new study from Karolinska Institutet published in Nature Medicine reports.

7 Jan 2026

Finger-prick blood test shows promise for detecting Alzheimer’s disease biology

Finger-prick dried blood sampling can accurately measure key Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers, including p-tau217, GFAP, and NfL, showing strong concordance with venous plasma and meaningful associations with CSF pathology. While analytical limitations remain, this minimally invasive approach shows promise as a scalable research and screening tool within biomarker-based diagnostic pathways.

6 Jan 2026

To knock down health-system hurdles between you and HIV prevention, try these 6 things

A couple of years ago, Matthew Hurley got the kind of text people fear.

5 Jan 2026

Immune cell energy metabolism shapes the progression of atherosclerosis

Two complementary studies reveal how an insufficient supply of energy in macrophages, key immune cells in artery walls, drives the progression of atherosclerosis - and how this knowledge could lead to better diagnostics and future therapies.

30 Dec 2025

Simple blood test maps hidden Alzheimer’s disease changes

This population-based study used plasma pTau217 to estimate how common Alzheimer’s disease neuropathological changes are across age and cognitive status in a Norwegian community cohort. Prevalence rose steeply with age and was strongly associated with APOE ε4 genotype, education level, and kidney function, with implications for future use of blood biomarkers in clinical practice.

21 Dec 2025

Lysophosphatidylcholines show gene-dependent effects in early Alzheimer’s disease

A new study presents robust evidence on the role of lysophosphatidylcholines (LPCs) in the onset of Alzheimer's disease. Researchers discovered that LPCs-compounds that transport a variety of healthy fatty acids to the brain-either promote Alzheimer's or protect against it, depending on a person's genetics.

17 Dec 2025

Urine-based microRNA clock predicts biological aging without a blood test

Researchers developed and validated a non-invasive urinary microRNA aging clock using extracellular vesicle miRNAs from more than 6,000 adults. The model predicts age with about 4 to 5 years error and links accelerated aging signals to type 2 diabetes.

16 Dec 2025

New rapid blood test enables early and accurate diagnosis of ALS

ALS is a debilitating paralytic disease characterized by the death of upper and lower motor neurons. Fortunately, ALS is relatively rare, with an incidence rate of 1.6 per 100,000 adults, resulting in about 30,000 cases in the United States at any one time.

16 Dec 2025

Blood test identifies colon cancer patients who benefit from anti-inflammatory medication

A blood test could help doctors decide which patients with colon cancer should receive anti-inflammatory medication along with chemotherapy after surgery, according to new study in JAMA Oncology.

15 Dec 2025

New blood biomarker predicts brain damage after cardiac arrest

A blood biomarker yet to be used in cardiac arrest care can give a clearer picture of the extent of brain damage after a cardiac arrest.

11 Dec 2025

Genetic risk score can guide early screening for type 1 diabetes

A test using genetics to predict who is at the highest risk of developing type 1 diabetes could one day be applied to largescale health studies, to identify adults who could benefit from new drugs, new research shows.

9 Dec 2025

Routine blood test may flag hidden osteoporosis risk, study finds

A large hospital-based cross-sectional study examined whether routinely measured serum alkaline phosphatase can indicate osteoporosis risk in adults undergoing health checks. Higher ALP levels, even within the normal range, were associated with greater osteoporosis likelihood, particularly in younger, female, and metabolically healthy individuals.

9 Dec 2025

Quality improvement project dramatically boosts iron deficiency screening in pregnancy

Within a year of initiation, a multidisciplinary project to improve screening and treatment for iron deficiency in pregnancy resulted in a sixfold rise in screening rates for iron deficiency in pregnant patients, a 20-fold rise in the number of intravenous (IV) iron infusions, and a significant improvement in median hemoglobin levels.

7 Dec 2025

Rice researchers develop resettable serum markers for clearer brain activity signals

Tracking how genes switch on and off in the brain is essential for understanding many neurological diseases, yet the tools to monitor this activity are often invasive or unable to capture subtler changes over time.

2 Dec 2025

AI-assisted liquid biopsies show promise for early cancer detection

The prospect of diagnosing cancer through painless methods—such as a simple AI-assisted blood or urine test that detects tiny particles known as exosomes—is becoming increasingly realistic.

2 Dec 2025

Epstein family support accelerates USC’s mission to end Alzheimer’s

The USC Alzheimer's Therapeutic Research Institute will be renamed the USC Epstein Family Alzheimer's Therapeutic Research Institute in honor of Life Trustee Daniel J. Epstein '62, his wife Phyllis and their family, who have been the philanthropic leaders behind the university's world-leading efforts to make Alzheimer's a memory.

1 Dec 2025

Mediterranean diet benefits identified by SPARC levels

A new study published in Life Metabolism reports that a single post-meal blood biomarker, 1-hour postprandial SPARC (SPARC-1H), can predict who will benefit most from adopting a Mediterranean diet.

29 Nov 2025

New 10-minute scan shows hidden cause of high blood pressure

A speedy new scan could improve how millions of people with high blood pressure are treated, suggests a new study led by UCL (University College London) researchers.

26 Nov 2025

Focused ultrasound combined with chemotherapy improves survival in glioblastoma patients

Patients with the deadliest form of brain cancer, glioblastoma, who received MRI-guided focused ultrasound with standard-of-care chemotherapy had a nearly 40 percent increase in overall survival in a landmark trial of 34 patients led by University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) researchers.

24 Nov 2025

New clues in pancreas lymph nodes, spleen could help detect and prevent type 1 diabetes

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) impacts nearly two million Americans, and by the time most people learn they have it, most of the body's insulin-producing cells are destroyed.

22 Nov 2025