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Vaginal birth after cesarean more common at Black-serving hospitals

Low-risk patients at predominantly Black-serving hospitals (BSH) who previously gave birth through Cesareans are likelier to attempt and successfully deliver vaginally in a subsequent pregnancy than they are at hospitals treating few Black patients, new UCLA-led research finds.

17 May 2026

Targeted radiotherapy may delay progression in metastatic breast cancer patients

Treating breast cancer that has begun to spread around the body with targeted radiotherapy could help patients to live longer without their cancer getting worse, according to the results of a small randomised controlled trial presented at the Congress of the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO 2026).

17 May 2026

Prenatal chemical mixtures may influence fetal growth and placental health

Common environmental chemicals could affect birthweight and placental function, according to a new study published in Environmental Science & Technology and led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), a centre supported by "la Caixa" Foundation. Conducted within the Barcelona Life Study Cohort (BiSC), the research underscores the importance of considering real-life exposure to complex chemical mixtures and highlights the role of angiogenic biomarkers in linking these exposures to fetal development.

17 May 2026

New research reassures mothers on NSAID safety during the first trimester

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen and naproxen, taken during the first trimester of pregnancy are not associated with an increased risk of major birth defects, according to a new study published May 14th in the open-access journal PLOS Medicine by Sharon Daniel of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and Clalit Health Services, Beer-Sheva, Israel, and colleagues.

15 May 2026

Maternal occupations linked to increased autism diagnosis odds

Findings indicate that certain maternal jobs are associated with increased autism odds in children, highlighting the importance of prenatal occupational health.

15 May 2026

Perimenopause nearly doubles women’s odds of poor heart health

Perimenopause is linked to worsening cardiovascular health, with significant declines in lipid and glucose scores, emphasizing the need for early assessment.

15 May 2026

Healthy plant-based foods may improve pregnancy cardiometabolic markers

Higher-quality plant-based diets were associated with more favorable cardiometabolic biomarkers in pregnant U.S. women, especially higher HDL-C and lower TG/HDL-C ratio. Indices that emphasized healthy plant foods, rather than simply penalizing animal foods, showed the strongest links with insulin resistance and lipid markers.

15 May 2026

Can supplements slow Parkinson’s disease? Review reveals where the evidence stands

Dietary supplements are widely used by people with Parkinson’s disease, but this review finds that none have yet been proven to slow disease progression. Biotics, nicotinamide riboside, and omega-3 fatty acids combined with vitamin E show the most promise, but larger, longer, and better-designed trials are needed.

14 May 2026

The Goldilocks sleep zone: study links too little and too much sleep to biological aging

The Nature study introduces “Sleep Chart,” a framework linking self-reported sleep duration with 23 biological aging clocks derived from MRI, plasma proteomics, and metabolomics. Across UK Biobank participants, the lowest biological age gaps generally appeared between 6.4 and 7.8 hours of sleep, while shorter and longer sleep were associated with higher disease and mortality risk.

14 May 2026

Regular arts and physical activity linked to slower aging

Research shows that leisure activities, including arts engagement and physical exercise, are linked to slower epigenetic aging and improved health outcomes.

14 May 2026

Gene panel predicts chemotherapy response in triple-negative breast cancer

Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have characterized cancer cell-specific features in the tumor microenvironment (TME) of early-stage triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) tissues, identifying specific macrophage subtypes associated with chemotherapy response.

13 May 2026

Tranexamic acid modestly reduces bleeding after cesarean delivery in women

Giving tranexamic acid to women with placenta praevia (when the placenta covers the cervical opening) undergoing cesarean birth leads to a significant yet modest reduction in severe bleeding after delivery with no evidence of an increase in serious adverse events, finds a trial from China published by The BMJ today.

13 May 2026

Brain-controlled hearing aid concept helps solve the cocktail party problem

Researchers developed a real-time brain-controlled hearing system that uses neural signals to identify and amplify the speaker a listener is focusing on in noisy, multi-talker environments. Using intracranial brain recordings, the system improved speech intelligibility, reduced listening effort, tracked attention shifts, and provided a benchmark for future brain-guided hearing aids.

13 May 2026

Pregnancy not linked to increased myasthenia gravis flare-up risk

For female participants with myasthenia gravis, pregnancy is not associated with an increased risk of serious flare-ups of the disease, or new or worsening symptoms, according to a study published May 13, 2026, in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

13 May 2026

Why experts say PCOS needs a new name

A Lancet Health Policy paper reports an international consensus process that selected polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS) as the new name for polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). The change aims to shift the focus away from ovarian cysts and better reflect the condition’s endocrine, metabolic, and ovarian features.

13 May 2026

Gut microbes may reveal why diabetes raises heart disease risk

Integrated gut microbiome and plasma metabolomics profiling identified distinct microbial and metabolic signatures in people with T2DM and T2DM-CAD. In a small exploratory cohort, Bacteroides sp._CAG_875 and 12-ketoLCA emerged as candidate markers that may help distinguish diabetic patients with coronary complications, pending larger validation.

13 May 2026

Survey finds one in three women suffer silently with pelvic prolapse

Up to half of all women will experience some degree of pelvic organ prolapse in their lifetime. The condition can cause incontinence, constipation and the descent of the bladder or uterus into the vagina.

13 May 2026

Perimenopausal women face higher risk of low heart health

Perimenopausal women were two times more likely to have a low cardiovascular health score compared to women having regular menstrual cycles, according to an analysis of nationwide U.S. data published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open-access, peer-reviewed journal of the American Heart Association.

13 May 2026

Blood-cell X chromosome loss may predict lower natural fertility

A study reveals that mosaic loss of the X chromosome in blood cells may indicate reduced natural conception likelihood in women, linking fertility and aging.

13 May 2026