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Your Instagram photos may reveal more about loneliness than you think

Researchers analyzing Instagram data from 415 US college students found that photographs, language, and online activity provided moderately useful indicators of subjective loneliness but were less informative about social isolation. Social loneliness was associated with lower interpersonal engagement, while emotional loneliness was linked to negative language, sad or angry facial expressions in profile photographs, and late-night posting.

9 Nov 2026

Drinking 2–3 cups of coffee a day? A study of 495,000 adults links it to lower AF risk

In a prospective study of 495,269 UK Biobank participants followed for approximately 13 years, researchers found that coffee consumption was associated with a 7% to 11% lower risk of atrial fibrillation (AF), with the strongest association observed at 2–3 cups daily. Tea consumption showed a more modest and less consistent association, with the authors reporting a 5% lower AF risk at 2–3 cups daily, although the observational findings cannot establish causation.

9 Nov 2026

A child's sex may change how early sugar intake relates to body fat

A longitudinal study of 130 mother-child pairs found that added sugar intake during pregnancy was more strongly associated with body fat in girls, whereas exposure during infancy was more strongly associated with adiposity in boys at age two. The findings, based largely on a smaller group of 42 children with usable body-composition scans, are preliminary and do not establish a causal relationship.

9 Nov 2026

Late night eating and sleep habits damage gut health, increase metabolic disease risk

A new study led by UTHealth Houston identified a link between late-night eating and sleeping habits, gut health, and metabolic disease, offering new insights into why some individuals with obesity may face risk of inflammation and related health problems.

9 Nov 2026

Most eligible teens miss out on advanced obesity treatments

Despite the arrival of powerful new anti-obesity medications and growing evidence supporting weight-loss surgery for adolescents, the vast majority of eligible teens are receiving neither treatment, according to a new study from Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago published in JAMA Pediatrics.

9 Nov 2026

DNA methylation patterns predict treatment response in MDS patients

DNA methylation patterns present at diagnosis could help predict which patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) will respond to azacitidine.

9 Nov 2026

UCLA study identifies lipid imbalance as pulmonary fibrosis trigger

A new UCLA Health study in mice has identified a new potential trigger for pulmonary fibrosis: lipid dysregulation (a fat imbalance) within alveolar macrophages.

9 Nov 2026

Rutgers receives grant to explore drug overdose trends among youth

With a $2.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, Rutgers researchers will conduct a five-year study exploring trends in drug overdoses in adolescents and young adults.

9 Nov 2026

Study highlights the need for better nutrition tracking in NICUs

During daily rounds in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), physicians need to balance many considerations in their decision-making about nutrition plans for premature infants.

9 Nov 2026

Minor sleep loss increases risk of phishing scam traps

Nearly a third of adults in the U.S. do not get enough sleep. A recent surge in attention to this issue raises serious concerns about its long-term health implications, and new research suggests that it can lead to hazardous outcomes, especially in the context of "phishing" emails.

9 Nov 2026

Animal study raises questions about semaglutide safety during pregnancy

They're the blockbuster drugs transforming weight loss, helping millions of people to shed unwanted kilos.

9 Nov 2026

Survey shows Americans miss key everyday fall risk factors

A fear of falling may cause people to avoid stairs, exercise and other daily activities. But that fear can also increase the risk of a fall.

9 Nov 2026

Blocking complement factor B halts pancreatic cancer growth

Researchers have identified a promising new target in the treatment of pancreatic cancer. A new study in The American Journal of Pathology, published by Elsevier, demonstrates that blocking complement factor B (CFB), a pivotal enzyme in the alternative complement pathway, halts cancer growth and alters the tumor microenvironment.

9 Nov 2026

Could a single brain scan reveal how quickly your body is aging?

Researchers examined whether DunedinPACNI, an MRI-derived measure of brain aging, was associated with blood-based indicators of biological aging in 746 adults across two independent midlife cohorts. Faster DunedinPACNI was associated with higher levels of multisystem biological aging in both cohorts and greater changes in aging-related blood biomarkers over 7–15 years in a longitudinal subgroup of 224 participants.

9 Nov 2026

Five AI models tackled 227 pharmacy exam questions. Here's where they struggled

Researchers evaluated five large language models using 227 infectious disease-related pharmacy examination questions and found that all achieved approximately 90% accuracy, with ChatGPT-4o-mini scoring highest at 91.2%. Accuracy was significantly lower for medicinal chemistry, clinical microbiology, higher-order cognitive questions, and image-containing questions, raising concerns about relying on AI-generated answers without independent verification.

9 Nov 2026