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PAHO/WHO assists Colombia with recovery following major earthquake

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization (WHO), is providing technical cooperation to Colombian authorities to support the health response following the magnitude 7.4 earthquake that struck western Colombia on August 10.

25 Aug 2026

Researchers find alarming rates of CTE in former football players

In a new study from Mass General Brigham, Boston University (BU), and the Concussion & CTE Foundation, researchers found evidence that at least 1-in-4 former NFL players who died between 2016 and 2021 had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) at the time of their death, a much higher prevalence compared to the general population.

25 Aug 2026

The certification illusion: Why safety seals miss hidden chemical hazards

None of the certification programs consumers rely on to find safer personal care products require laboratory testing of the products they certify, according to a new peer-reviewed analysis.

25 Aug 2026

Study finds distinct patterns of innate immune activity in mental disorders

The immune system may also play a role in mental disorders. Scientists are investigating these links with brain function in greater detail, and new findings show that immune changes may differ by disorder type.

25 Aug 2026

Novel blood-based method diagnoses Alzheimer’s disease with high accuracy

Alzheimer's disease (AD) accounts for 60–80% of global dementia cases, with its core pathological feature being the misfolding and aggregation of β-amyloid (Aβ) proteins in the brain.

25 Aug 2026

New NATO guidelines aim to protect soldiers' brains from blast exposures

Two University of Virginia researchers helped develop new NATO guidelines for protecting soldiers' brains from blast exposures common in military combat and training.

25 Aug 2026

New discovery helps identify colorectal cancer patients at risk for metastasis

Researchers from the University of Turku in Finland and Gustave Roussy Institute in France have discovered a molecular mechanism that regulates whether the cells of an aggressive colorectal cancer are conventional or inverted when they spread in the body.

25 Aug 2026

Dysfunctional myelin-producing brain cells contribute to age-related cognitive decline

Brain cells that produce the protective coating around nerve fibers can become dysfunctional with age and may actively contribute to cognitive decline, according to new research.

25 Aug 2026

Loneliness can reprogram the brain to increase alcohol use

Loneliness can reprogram the brain in ways that push alcohol consumption, reports a new preclinical study led by Northwestern University and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.

25 Aug 2026

Study reveals high prevalence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy among former NFL players

At minimum, nearly a quarter of all former National Football League (NFL) players who died from 2016 to 2021 had confirmed chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) – a neurodegenerative disease linked to repeated head impacts – at death, finds a study published by The BMJ today.

25 Aug 2026

New machine learning tool identifies hidden epigenetic disease patterns

In a study recently published in Nature Communications, researchers from Berlin, Potsdam, and Jena present a new method for analyzing the epigenome, the genome's control system that determines which genes are switched on and off.

25 Aug 2026

Exposure to drought during pregnancy associated with higher risk of preterm birth

Climate change is making droughts more frequent, prolonged, and intense in many regions of the world, increasing the need to understand their effects on health.

25 Aug 2026

Physical activity declines significantly with age despite good initial health

A recent study from the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, shows that physical activity declines substantially with age, even among older adults who are in good physical condition.

25 Aug 2026

Visual storytelling transforms scientific evidence into meaningful public health action

Even as the scientific community has reached broad consensus that infectious pathogens, such as viruses, can spread through airborne transmission in virus-laden aerosols, one fundamental challenge remains.

25 Aug 2026

New review challenges the eight-hour ancestral sleep myth

Everyone knows the number. Eight hours. It sits on wellness dashboards, on pediatric handouts, on the label of the melatonin bottle in the medicine cabinet.

25 Aug 2026

Mitochondrial transplantation helps repair donor organs during machine perfusion

Transplant medicine still depends on a limited supply of donor organs, while many retrieved grafts are discarded because ischemia, cold storage, and reperfusion can rapidly damage their cells.

25 Aug 2026

What decades of wine research can, and cannot, tell us about health

A narrative review found that moderate wine intake has repeatedly been associated with lower all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, with proposed mechanisms involving ethanol and grape-derived polyphenols, but the evidence remains largely observational and cannot establish causation. The authors argue that drinking pattern, beverage type, age, cancer risk, and risk-modeling choices all influence how the J-shaped association should be interpreted and how alcohol guidelines are developed.

25 Aug 2026

Ancient dental calculus reveals diverse diets of Japanese commoners

What did ordinary people really eat in premodern Japan, beyond the dishes described in cookbooks and the bones discarded at urban waste pits? Reconstructing past diets at the level of individual food items is remarkably difficult.

25 Aug 2026

From caffeine to trigonelline, coffee has surprising links to muscle biology

A scoping review of 54 studies found that coffee and several coffee-derived bioactive compounds influence pathways linked to skeletal muscle metabolism, including insulin signaling, mitochondrial function, oxidative stress, inflammation, glucose uptake, and protein turnover. Human studies reported associations with greater muscle mass and lower frailty or functional impairment, but most evidence remains observational or preclinical and cannot establish causality.

25 Aug 2026

The diet-Alzheimer’s connection is more complicated than “eat this, avoid that”

A mini-review finds that dietary patterns may influence Alzheimer’s disease through interconnected pathways involving neuroinflammation, insulin resistance, oxidative stress, blood-brain barrier dysfunction, homocysteine, and the gut-brain axis. The authors argue that genetics, sex, age, physical activity, and socioeconomic context may modify these relationships, supporting more individualized approaches to nutrition research and dementia prevention.

25 Aug 2026