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Finnish study finds poor oral health increases jawbone necrosis risks in breast cancer patients

Antiresorptive drugs, which reduce bone breakdown, are an important part of treatment for breast cancer that has spread to the bones. However, their use can be associated with osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ), a condition in which bone tissue in the jaw dies.

14 Oct 2026

New research links postmenopausal ovarian tissue remodeling to elevated cancer vulnerability

In a new, paradigm-shifting study in ovaries from 28 women, scientists at Northwestern University and the Buck Institute for Research on Aging found in the decades well past menopause, the ovary remains biologically active and continues to remodel with age, showing increased inflammation and changes in tissue structure. The study also found a molecular link between ovarian aging and cancer.

14 Oct 2026

People who walk more each day tend to score better on several brain tests

Researchers analyzed 14 years of physical activity and blood pressure records from 3,093 US adults and found that higher daily step counts were associated with better performance on tests of attention, cognitive control, and reward-related decision-making. Higher systolic blood pressure was associated with poorer delay-discounting performance, but accounted for only 4.8% of its association with physical activity, while the single cognitive assessment prevented conclusions about causation or cognitive decline.

14 Oct 2026

Coffee, citrus and genetics: What scientists found inside human breast milk

In a bioRxiv preprint, researchers analyzed 458 metabolites in breast milk samples from 349 mothers to investigate how maternal diet, genetics, clinical characteristics, and milk-cell gene expression relate to milk composition. Maternal diet explained the greatest share of metabolite variation among the measured maternal factors, while specific genetic variants and gene-expression patterns were associated with individual metabolites, although the study did not establish effects on infant health.

14 Oct 2026

Your diet may have more to do with your sense of smell than you think

Researchers analyzed dietary patterns and odor identification in 6,690 adults in Italy, finding that healthier plant-rich diets, particularly those emphasizing fruits and vegetables, were associated with better olfactory function and lower odds of hyposmia. Diets emphasizing less healthy plant foods showed the opposite association, although the cross-sectional study could not establish whether diet influences smell or impaired smell affects food choices.

14 Oct 2026

Cigarette smoke exposure alters ovarian and testicular function in mice

New research has shed light on how exposure to cigarette smoke could affect reproductive health in both men and women, identifying changes in biological processes involved in ovarian function and sperm production.

13 Oct 2026

Pregnancy reshapes the maternal brain through remarkable neurological changes

For generations, women have been told that the forgetfulness, emotional shifts, sensory changes, and altered sense of self that accompany pregnancy and new motherhood are simply "mommy brain."

13 Oct 2026

Scientists studied diet and lung cancer in 95,612 adults. One eating pattern stood out

A prospective study of 95,612 U.S. adults found that those with the highest sulfur microbial diet scores had a 23% higher adjusted lung cancer incidence hazard and a 19% higher lung cancer-related mortality hazard than those with the lowest scores. However, the associations weakened after accounting for overall dietary quality and competing causes of death, and the findings do not establish a causal relationship.

13 Oct 2026

Doctors avoided two common words when talking about weight with patients

Researchers analyzed 123 recorded primary care consultations involving adults with type 2 diabetes and elevated BMI, finding that weight was discussed in just 39% of visits. Clinicians avoided potentially stigmatizing terms such as "overweight" and "obesity," while weight-related conversations occurred more frequently among patients taking GLP-1 receptor agonists.

13 Oct 2026

Maternal opioid use in pregnancy linked to childhood hospitalizations

Children whose mothers received opioid prescriptions during pregnancy have a higher rate of hospital admission in childhood than unexposed children, including unexposed siblings, according to a new study published October 13th in the open access journal PLOS Medicine by Dong Keon Yon of Kyung Hee University College of Medicine, South Korea, and colleagues.

13 Oct 2026

Extended Medicaid coverage increases postpartum care for high-risk women

Extending Medicaid coverage to 12 months after childbirth increased postpartum health care utilization among women with pregnancy complications such as diabetes and hypertension, according to a new study at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.

13 Oct 2026

Women with polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome more likely to have Alzheimer's and dementia

Alzheimer's disease and dementia may be more common in women with polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS), formerly known as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), according to a review of existing evidence published in the Journal of the Endocrine Society.

13 Oct 2026

Replacement chemical for harmful phthalates may restrict fetal growth

A chemical used to make plastic more flexible, once introduced as a safer substitute for older additives now known to be harmful, may itself also be harmful, slowing babies' growth in the womb, a new study shows.

13 Oct 2026

Exercise boosts psychological wellbeing for menopausal women

Engaging in physical activity during menopause can improve depression, mood and overall quality of life, a new study led by UCL researchers has found.

13 Oct 2026

Nearly 400,000 adults, six body measurements, and a surprising result for heart attack risk

A UK Biobank study involving 395,831 adults found that a higher body roundness index (BRI) was associated with an increased risk of myocardial infarction over a median follow-up of 13.3 years. BRI showed slightly better predictive performance than BMI and four other anthropometric measures, although the improvements were modest and require independent validation before clinical adoption.

13 Oct 2026

Women with autoimmune diseases more likely to receive psychiatric misdiagnoses

Females with autoimmune diseases are significantly more likely than males to have their autoimmune disease misdiagnosed as a psychiatric or psychosomatic condition, according to a study of more than 6,600 patients.

12 Oct 2026

Study finds a surprising downside to having favourite foods

In a study of 279 adults, researchers found that initially reinforcing existing food preferences reduced learning flexibility when associations between foods and outcomes changed. Participants learned positive associations more readily than negative ones, while associations involving disliked foods were more adaptable than those involving liked foods.

12 Oct 2026

Who moves first at night, you or your dog?

Researchers monitored 25 adults and 38 dogs and found no significant association between bedsharing and objectively measured human sleep duration or efficiency, although owners of multiple dogs reported poorer sleep quality in an analysis requiring cautious interpretation. Human and dog movements were positively correlated, with human activity more often preceding canine activity among pairs with identifiable associations, although the study could not determine which species drove the other's movements.

12 Oct 2026

Three months of yoga before surgery revealed a surprising difference in stress hormones

In a non-randomized study of 40 adults with severe obesity awaiting bariatric surgery, researchers found significantly lower plasma noradrenaline levels in yoga participants than in controls after adjusting for baseline measurements. The researchers detected no significant DNA methylation changes in three inflammatory genes and found no clear psychological or metabolic benefits.

12 Oct 2026

Conventional diagnostic tools overlook gaming disorder in female players

Playing more and more, struggling to cut back, or continuing to game despite its negative impact on everyday life can all be signs of gaming disorder.

12 Oct 2026