Medical News

RSS

Smartwatch data may help detect opioid misuse risk

Opioid overdoses continue to take a devastating toll across the United States. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2023, the nation recorded roughly 105,000 drug overdose deaths overall, with nearly 80,000 deaths involving opioids.

5 Feb 2026

How personality and social media support together relate to anxiety levels

Emotional support perceived through social media was statistically associated with lower anxiety among U.S. young adults, particularly females, in a large cross-sectional survey study. Personality traits, including openness, extraversion, agreeableness, and lower conscientiousness, predicted greater perceived online emotional support, although causal direction remains unclear.

5 Feb 2026

Dyslexia linked to broader brain network vulnerabilities

A University of Houston psychology professor is challenging the notion that dyslexia, or specific reading disorder, stems from a single faulty gene in the brain, suggesting instead that it is caused by an overall brain network vulnerability.

5 Feb 2026

Large trials show statins rarely cause reported side effects

Cardiovascular disease results in around 20 million deaths worldwide and causes around a quarter of all deaths in the UK.

5 Feb 2026

Maternal perinatal depression linked to autistic traits in toddlers

A research team from the Department of Psychiatry at Tohoku University, led by Dr. Zhiqian Yu and Professor Hiroaki Tomita, has uncovered compelling evidence that maternal perinatal depression - psychological distress occurring during pregnancy or postpartum - elevates the risk of autistic-related traits in toddlers, with a particularly strong impact on girls.

5 Feb 2026

Paid sick leave emerges as key workplace support for frontline workers, new study shows

Access to paid sick leave among South Korean in-home service workers during COVID-19 was associated with lower perceived infection risk, reduced job stress, and higher job satisfaction. Workers without paid leave reported greater perceived risk and stress, with indirect negative effects on job satisfaction, highlighting paid leave as an important workplace resource.

5 Feb 2026

Review highlights smarter medicine delivery as key to better adherence

Health system design plays a major role in medication adherence for chronic diseases, with delivery models influencing access, affordability, and continuity of care. Flexible, well-regulated dispensing systems that address structural barriers can improve long-term treatment outcomes across diverse populations.

5 Feb 2026

Does motherhood influence brain aging? New research suggests a positive cognitive association

Longitudinal data from postmenopausal women suggest that cumulative pregnancy duration and breastfeeding history are associated with modestly better cognitive performance later in life. These associations reflect higher cognitive trajectory levels rather than proven slowing of decline, and causality remains uncertain.

5 Feb 2026

New workflow boosts nuclear delivery for safer gene therapy

Gene therapy holds the promise of preventing and curing disease by manipulating gene expression within a patient's cells. However, to be effective, the new gene must make it into a cell's nucleus.

5 Feb 2026

Study elucidates key steps in the ubiquitin tagging of mutated huntingtin protein

Researchers have elucidated key steps in the ubiquitin tagging of the mutated huntingtin protein, providing hope for future therapies.

5 Feb 2026

Stem cell implants aim to restore dopamine in Parkinson’s disease

Parkinson's disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that affects more than one million people in the United States, with approximately 90,000 new cases diagnosed each year.

5 Feb 2026

Inhibiting PTP1B protein improves memory in Alzheimer’s disease models

Alzheimer's disease is often measured in statistics: millions affected worldwide, cases rising sharply, costs climbing into the trillions.

5 Feb 2026

Ulcerative proctitis not linked to increased rectal cancer risk

People with ulcerative proctitis, a milder and more limited form of ulcerative colitis, are not at higher risk of developing rectal cancer than the general population.

5 Feb 2026

Enhanced natural killer cells show promise for HIV remission

More than 30 million people with HIV must take antiretroviral therapy (ART) medications daily to keep the virus under control, according to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

5 Feb 2026

New report highlights a rare case of 5-fluorouracil-induced hyperammonemic encephalopathy

A new case report was published in Volume 12 of Oncoscience on December 23, 2025, titled "Silent toxicity: A rare case of 5-fluorouracil-induced hyperammonemic encephalopathy."

5 Feb 2026

Liver-derived protein supports bone health in males

New research suggests the liver plays a previously unrecognized role in bone health, but only in males.

5 Feb 2026

Psychosocial factors strongly influence diet quality in rural adults

A large cross-sectional study in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior (JNEB), published by Elsevier, examined how psychosocial and environmental factors relate to diet quality among 2,420 adults living in rural and micropolitan communities in New York and Texas.

5 Feb 2026

Reprogrammed neutrophils promote tumor growth

Predicting tumor progression is one of the major challenges in oncology. Scientists at the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research have discovered that neutrophils, a type of immune cell, undergo reprogramming when they come into contact with the tumor ecosystem and contribute to its progression.

5 Feb 2026

Study calls for inclusive dementia research practices in Canada

A new Canadian study has found that people living with dementia (PLWD) are often excluded from research due to assumptions of incapacity and variations in institutional processes.

5 Feb 2026

AI-enabled stethoscope doubles detection of valvular heart disease

New research shows that the use of an AI-enabled digital stethoscope more than doubled the identification of moderate to severe valvular heart disease during routine clinical examinations, compared to a traditional stethoscope.

5 Feb 2026