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Progesterone levels linked to brain patterns underlying mood changes

The influence of the hormone progesterone on mood is well known. Now researchers from the University of Barcelona have shown how higher levels of progesterone during the menstrual cycle are linked to less distinct patterns of activity in areas of the brain involved in controlling emotions.

2 Sep 2026

Daily steps may match aerobic training for asthma control

For people with moderate to severe asthma, increasing the number of daily steps may be as effective as structured aerobic training sessions for managing the disease.

2 Sep 2026

Shared biological pathways may explain chronic fatigue across diseases

A shared biological secret that helps explain chronic exhaustion in conditions including long Covid and PTSD has been discovered by researchers at the University of East Anglia and Oxford BioDynamics.

2 Sep 2026

Alcohol-linked cancer deaths doubled over three decades in America

Alcohol-attributable cancer deaths in the U.S. doubled between 1990 and 2023, a new study found. The study also revealed that alcohol-linked cancer deaths are not limited to older adults or liver cancer.

2 Sep 2026

AI learned from cardiologists’ notes, and needed far less labeled ECG data

By teaching an AI system to connect raw heart signals with the clinical insights contained in cardiologists’ reports, researchers tested whether routine ECGs could reveal more with far fewer labeled examples.

2 Sep 2026

Menopause may start changing the gut years before periods stop

A longitudinal study of 964 women found that blood markers of gut epithelial barrier dysfunction and microbial product translocation began to rise around 2 to 2.5 years before the final menstrual period and remained elevated after menopause. The findings suggest that changes in gut barrier integrity may form part of the biological transition through menopause and could help explain links between menopause, inflammation, and later health outcomes.

2 Sep 2026

Why addiction researchers are paying closer attention to GLP-1 drugs

A Journal of Clinical Investigation Viewpoint highlights growing evidence that GLP-1 receptor agonists, particularly semaglutide, may reduce alcohol consumption and some other substance-related outcomes by acting on brain systems involved in reward, motivation, stress, and emotion. However, the authors caution that efficacy for substance use disorders is not yet firmly established and call for further research into optimal dosing, treatment duration, patient selection, mechanisms, and effects across different addictions.

2 Sep 2026

Your weekend meal schedule may matter more than you think

In a prospective analysis of 104,806 adults from the NutriNet-Santé cohort, greater differences in meal timing between weekdays and weekends were associated with higher risks of cardiovascular disease and coronary heart disease in men over a median 8.1 years. The associations were strongest when weekend eating shifted earlier, while delayed weekend eating was linked specifically to coronary heart disease, with no association detected for cerebrovascular disease.

2 Sep 2026

Mount Sinai researchers discover new radiation option for childhood brain cancer

Children with one of the deadliest forms of brain cancer may benefit from an additional course of radiation therapy after their disease returns, according to new research from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

2 Sep 2026

Blocking a naturally occurring molecule reverses deadly lung disease in preclinical models

Researchers blocked a naturally occurring molecule to reverse pulmonary arterial hypertension in preclinical models, a finding that could point to a new treatment approach for people with a rare and often fatal lung disease.

2 Sep 2026

New drug class shows major promise for shrinking nerve tumors

A scientist at Cincinnati Children's who has hunted for decades for ways to shrink the painful and disfiguring nerve tumors caused by neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) has made a new breakthrough in the quest.

2 Sep 2026

Two scientists win Horwitz Prize for Rett syndrome breakthrough

Columbia University will award the 2026 Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize to Adrian Bird and Huda Zoghbi for their pioneering work on epigenetic regulation in the nervous system and its role in human neurological disease, particularly Rett syndrome.

2 Sep 2026

Post-trauma mental health conditions increase future cardiovascular risks

Mental health conditions, such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), substance abuse, depression and anxiety, can develop after people experience trauma.

2 Sep 2026

Study reveals why many patients fail to recover after stroke

A clot forms. Blood flow to the brain is blocked. Starved of oxygen, neurons begin to die.

2 Sep 2026

Post-surgery immunotherapy may not benefit specific lung cancer patients

A new real-world observational study has found that adding adjuvant immunotherapy after surgery does not significantly improve survival outcomes in patients with resectable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have already achieved a pathological complete response (pCR) following neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy.

2 Sep 2026

Scientists develop lab-grown heart tissue model for heart failure

Scientists study the underlying causes of a disease or test new potential drugs in animal models or cells obtained from human biopsy specimens before clinical trials.

2 Sep 2026

Semaglutide extends lifespan and slows physiological aging in healthy mice

A National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded study has shown that the GLP-1 drug semaglutide extended lifespan in older, healthy mice by tempering the detrimental effects of aging.

2 Sep 2026

Plant-based fats improve long-term survival for prostate cancer patients

Men diagnosed with nonmetastatic prostate cancer can generally expect to live for many years after their diagnosis. However, cardiovascular disease and other cancers remain important threats to their long-term health.

2 Sep 2026

Genetic marker links popular seizure drug to life-threatening reaction

A genetic marker already used to flag risk of a life-threatening reaction to the antibiotic vancomycin also identifies patients at risk of that reaction to lamotrigine - and it is missing from the gene panels clinicians order before prescribing the drug, Vanderbilt Health-led researchers report Sept. 2 in JAMA Network Open.

2 Sep 2026

Study identifes genetic variants that shape human personality traits

An international consortium of researchers found that more than 1,200 different genetic variants are associated with the Big Five personality traits - and surprisingly, these personality genetics are linked to dozens of life outcomes.

2 Sep 2026