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Narrow surgical margins may safely remove childhood soft tissue sarcomas

It's a question that surgeons often face: How much surrounding healthy tissue should they take out when removing a patient's cancer to be sure it is fully eliminated? Removing more can sacrifice nearby nerves, blood vessels, tendons and even joints, with lasting effects on quality of life.

28 Oct 2026

Limited app use adds a twist to a nurse-led dementia risk trial

A cluster-randomized trial involving 403 Australian adults aged 45–65 found that a 12-month nurse-led behavioral intervention supported by a mobile app modestly improved estimated dementia risk scores compared with brief counseling and usual care. The study found no significant improvements in cognitive performance or other secondary outcomes, leaving its long-term effects on dementia prevention uncertain.

28 Oct 2026

Researchers tested an unexpected addition to vaginal treatment: oxygen

Researchers investigated the effects of topical vaginal oxygen treatment, alone or combined with antimicrobials, on the vaginal microbiota of 22 women with bacterial vaginosis or vaginitis. The combined treatment reduced the relative abundance of strict anaerobes and increased Lactobacillus abundance, but the absence of an antimicrobial-only control group prevented researchers from establishing whether oxygen contributed independently to these changes.

28 Oct 2026

Identical twins showed a survival divide when only one had Parkinson’s

Researchers followed 54 twin pairs discordant for Parkinson’s disease and found substantially higher 10-year mortality among affected twins, including in genetically identical pairs. They also observed more frequent constipation among affected twins, but dietary and nutritional differences were limited, with secondary findings requiring confirmation.

28 Oct 2026

Most teens who used AI for mental health support wanted more help

Researchers surveyed 24,132 students in England and found that 2.7% had used general-purpose AI for mental health support during the previous year. Among users who answered the relevant questions, 55.9% rated the support helpful, yet 63.2% wanted additional assistance, with greater unmet needs reported among adolescents experiencing mental health difficulties and social adversity.

28 Oct 2026

High-fat diets in mouse parents alter offspring brain development

Researchers fed breeding pairs of mice five diets with different fat and sugar contents to examine how parental nutrition affects offspring brain development. High-fat diets, alone or combined with high sugar, delayed early motor development and altered brain structure in young adult offspring, while the high-sugar-only diet produced no significant changes in individual brain regions after correction for multiple comparisons.

28 Oct 2026

Ketones may change sleep patterns, but not always for the better

Researchers reviewed animal and human studies and found that ketone bodies may affect sleep stages through energy metabolism and cellular signaling, with the clearest direct evidence involving acetoacetate in mice. They reported mixed human findings and called for controlled studies to separate ketone-specific effects from changes linked to diet, disease, circadian timing, and physiological stress.

28 Oct 2026

UCSF scientists develop smart CAR-T cells to fight childhood brain tumors

Scientists at UC San Francisco have engineered CAR-T cells that stay dormant until they reach the brain, where they switch on and destroy tumor cells.

28 Oct 2026

Study shows income gaps drive disparities in universal healthcare access

Higher levels of human development are associated with better universal health coverage worldwide, and disparities in coverage between income groups are generally larger than disparities between world regions.

28 Oct 2026

Inflammatory macrophages identified as drivers of chronic joint osteoarthritis

Researchers have identified a group of inflammatory macrophages that drive osteoarthritis by sustaining inflammation in the synovium – a layer of connective tissue within joints – and show that they can target these immune cells to treat the disease in mice.

28 Oct 2026

Researchers identify protein that drives chronic inflammation in psoriasis

In new preclinical studies, researchers have identified a protein that propels a vicious cycle of skin inflammation in psoriasis.

28 Oct 2026

Human challenge study reveals how preexisting immunity affects dengue

Dengue virus is especially pernicious compared with many other viruses, as secondary infections can actually be worse than the first one.

28 Oct 2026

Dual-targeting antibody successfully tackles multiple tumor types in mice

A novel antibody therapy empowers the immune system's tumor-fighting capabilities in mice by targeting immune-suppressing T cells with greater precision than previous approaches, according to new work.

28 Oct 2026

Rutgers study highlights alarming rise in youth gambling rates

More than half (52.5%) of Americans ages 13 to 27 reported gambling in the past year, including 42.7% of teens ages 13 to 17, according to researchers at the Center for Gambling Studies at the Rutgers School of Social Work.

28 Oct 2026

University of Utah researchers discover backup energy system in the heart

The heart is the hardest-working muscle in the body, beating constantly no matter what the body's energy reserves look like.

28 Oct 2026

Mindfulness-based behavioral therapy changes brain responses to reduce opioid cravings

Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE), a behavioral therapy used alongside medication treatment, may help people with opioid use disorder respond differently to drug-related cues and natural rewards, according to a randomized clinical trial led by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

28 Oct 2026

Michigan Medicine study reveals how diabetes drug reduces stroke risk

For millions living with type 2 diabetes, heart disease remains one of the greatest threats to their health.

28 Oct 2026

Brain development eliminates flawed neurons to ensure genomic integrity

During fetal development, the human brain generates an excess of neurons, most of which are eliminated shortly before and after birth.

28 Oct 2026

Prefrontal cortex activity fails to predict individual emotion regulation

A supervisor criticizes a report in front of the entire team – you feel exposed and hurt. But if you tell yourself, "She takes my work seriously and wants the project to succeed," the same situation can lose some of its intensity. In psychology, this deliberate reinterpretation is called cognitive reappraisal.

28 Oct 2026

Landmark studies map how genetic differences drive human diseases

In three landmark studies published in Nature today, Australian researchers have made major advances in our understanding of how genetic differences between people influence disease.

28 Oct 2026