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Obesity, sleep, smoking, and inactivity show the strongest links to hypertension in U.S. adults

A cross-sectional analysis of 20,912 U.S. adults found that obesity, overweight, inadequate physical activity, smoking, and short or long sleep were each associated with higher odds of hypertension, while overall diet quality by HEI-2015 was not significantly associated. Sleep associations differed by sex, and lower sodium intake remained linked to lower odds of hypertension in sensitivity analyses.

2 Apr 2026

American Heart Association's 9 diet rules to lower heart disease risk

The AHA's dietary guidance emphasizes food choices over fad diets to reduce heart disease risk and improve cardiovascular health across all life stages.

2 Apr 2026

Trial tests fast-acting brain stimulation for postpartum depression treatment

The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai today announced the enrollment of its first patient in a U.S. Department of Defense-funded pivotal clinical trial to evaluate whether a fast-acting, drug-free brain stimulation therapy can safely and quickly relieve symptoms of postpartum depression.

1 Apr 2026

Antibiotic use before and during pregnancy linked to psychological distress

Perinatal depression, which occurs during pregnancy or in the period after childbirth, is one of the most common mental health conditions experienced by women.

1 Apr 2026

Fiber supplement stabilizes blood sugar in gestational diabetes

Dietary fiber supplementation shows potential in managing blood sugar levels and preventing preterm births in pregnancies at risk for gestational diabetes.

1 Apr 2026

Aging reshapes breast tissue creating environment favorable for cancer

Scientists have created the most detailed map to date, comprised of over 3 million cells, showing how breast tissue changes as women age – including dramatic changes during menopause.

31 Mar 2026

Loving-kindness meditation links to lower anxiety through self-compassion

A new study suggests that loving-kindness and compassion meditation may be linked to lower anxiety over time, not just through longer practice, but also by building self-compassion and loosening the grip of distressing thoughts.

31 Mar 2026

What happens when more of your exercise is vigorous instead of moderate?

In a large UK Biobank analysis, a higher proportion of vigorous physical activity relative to total activity volume was associated with lower risks of eight major chronic diseases and all-cause mortality, even after accounting for overall activity volume. Device-based data suggested that activity intensity generally offered greater preventive potential than total volume alone across most outcomes.

31 Mar 2026

Innate immunity genes may influence earlier breast cancer onset in BRCA1 carriers

Damaging variants in genes involved in a rapid immune response (innate immunity) are significantly linked to earlier breast cancer onset in carriers of the harmful BRCA1 genetic mutation, reveal preliminary findings published online in the Journal of Medical Genetics.

31 Mar 2026

Study reveals how extracellular matrix stiffness regulates breast cancer metastasis

A study by researchers at the University of California San Diego could make it easier to treat breast cancer by uncovering a new way the body helps prevent its spread.

31 Mar 2026

Planetary health diet meets key nutrient needs during early pregnancy

Following The Planetary Health Diet in pregnancy can meet key nutrient requirements, suggesting that women who eat more sustainably in pregnancy may have higher intakes of several key-pregnancy-related nutrients, including folate, iron, calcium, and dietary fiber.

31 Mar 2026

Why vaginal microbiota transplants aren’t working yet

Vaginal microbiota transplantation without antibiotics fails to restore microbiome balance, yet engraftment suggests avenues for enhancing treatment efficacy.

31 Mar 2026

How video gaming may shape sleep, diet, and activity across the lifespan

This narrative review found that video gaming can have both benefits and risks for health across the lifespan. It may provide short-term stress relief and social connection, but frequent or prolonged gaming is also associated with sedentary behaviour, poorer sleep, disrupted eating patterns, and lower diet quality, with effects shaped by age, sex, timing, content, and motivation.

31 Mar 2026

How gut imbalance may drive obesity, diabetes, and heart disease

A new review argues that gut dysbiosis is closely linked to metabolic dysfunction through intertwined effects on inflammation, oxidative stress, gut barrier integrity, microbial metabolites, and epigenetic regulation. It also highlights microbiome-targeted strategies such as high-fiber diets, probiotics, prebiotics, postbiotics, exercise, and fecal microbiota transplantation as promising ways to support metabolic health.

30 Mar 2026

How do diet, smoking, alcohol, and stress reshape the female microbiome?

This review examines how modifiable lifestyle and environmental factors shape the female vaginal, gut, oral, and skin microbiomes, with diet, alcohol, smoking, obesity, stress, hygiene, physical activity, and sexual behaviours all linked to site-specific microbial shifts. It argues that understanding these patterns could help guide future female-focused prevention and intervention strategies.

30 Mar 2026

Study links atrial fibrillation to poorer brain clearance and cognitive decline

Researchers found that people with atrial fibrillation had lower MRI-based glymphatic activity and poorer cognitive performance than healthy controls, with the greatest impairment seen in non-paroxysmal AF. In patients who underwent catheter ablation, glymphatic activity improved after sinus rhythm was restored, suggesting a possible link between heart rhythm, brain waste clearance, and cognition.

30 Mar 2026

Time-restricted eating improves hormone levels in women with PCOS

Polycystic ovary syndrome, or PCOS, affects as many as 18% of all childbearing-age women. The condition occurs when a woman's body produces too much of a group of hormones called androgens, chiefly testosterone. Menstrual irregularity, obesity and even infertility can result.

30 Mar 2026

Probiotic therapy may offer a simple strategy to help prevent premature births

Preterm birth is a major cause of neonatal illness and death, especially among women with a history of premature delivery.

30 Mar 2026

Chronic colitis reshapes colon stem cells in ways that can accelerate tumour growth

Researchers showed that chronic colitis leaves a long-lasting epigenetic memory in colonic stem cells, persisting for more than 100 days after recovery in mice. This memory is marked by durable AP-1-linked chromatin changes and later amplifies tumour outgrowth after oncogenic mutation.

29 Mar 2026

APOE4 alters brain immunity and cognition differently in females and males

APOE4 drove sex-specific changes in meningeal immunity, lymphatic drainage, brain lipids, neuroinflammation, and cognition in mouse models, with females showing greater inflammatory and cognitive vulnerability. Suppressing innate immunity improved some cognitive outcomes in female E4/E4 mice but worsened them in male E4/E4 mice, underscoring the need for sex-tailored approaches.

29 Mar 2026