Medical Xpress news

Medical Xpress / Drought during pregnancy increases the risk of preterm birth and impaired fetal growth, international study suggests

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.

2 hours ago
Medical Xpress / Loneliness rewires the brain to drive alcohol use, preclinical study finds

Loneliness can reprogram the brain in ways that increase alcohol consumption, according to a new preclinical study led by Northwestern University and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. The scientists identified, for ...

8 hours ago
Medical Xpress / At least 1 in 4 former NFL players who died between 2016 and 2021 had CTE, study finds

In a new study from Mass General Brigham, Boston University (BU), and the Concussion & CTE Foundation, researchers found evidence that at least one in four former NFL players who died between 2016 and 2021 had chronic traumatic ...

8 hours ago
Medical Xpress / 'Supportive' brain cells may actively drive 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.

8 hours ago
Medical Xpress / Researchers map the development and behavior of B cells in melanoma

Researchers have created one of the most detailed maps to date of how white blood cells called B cells develop and behave inside melanoma tumors, a type of skin cancer. The study, led by King's College London and published ...

4 hours ago
Medical Xpress / Bladder cancer detected up to five years before diagnosis—thanks to AI

Bladder cancer claims 220,000 lives globally each year, with symptoms sometimes mistaken for other conditions such as kidney stones. Now researchers have developed an artificial intelligence system that can identify bladder ...

3 hours ago
Medical Xpress / New clues to the genetic roots of hair-pulling and skin-picking

Two disorders with big names—trichotillomania (repeated hair-pulling) and excoriation disorder (repeated skin-picking)—were the focus of a recent Yale study looking at potential genetic causes. The two disorders are part ...

6 hours ago
Medical Xpress / The brain isn't hardwired to read—here's how we pull it off and why some are better at it than others

For an experienced reader, recognizing the words on this page feels effortless. Yet, evolutionarily speaking, your brain shouldn't be able to read. Reading has existed for too short a time to have shaped a dedicated center ...

3 hours ago
Medical Xpress / How much sleep do I need? Why you can forget the eight‑hour sleep rule

For decades, the answer to "how much sleep does an adult need?" has been simple: eight hours. The idea dates back to the mid-19th century, when the notion of eight hours of work, eight for recreation and eight for sleep first ...

3 hours ago
Medical Xpress / Restoring aging T cell function to make them effective at fighting cancer

In a new study, Mass General Brigham researchers explore the causes of immune aging, a barrier to successful cancer immunotherapy, and identify a gene that may serve as an age-related prognostic marker and potential target ...

4 hours ago
Medical Xpress / Small-molecule inhibitors shown to promote robust antitumor immunity

Researchers in Purdue University's College of Pharmacy have developed and validated a new series of small-molecule inhibitors that promote antitumor immunity and hold promise as anticancer agents.

21 hours ago
Medical Xpress / Biological changes in firefighters' urine and blood seen 24 hours after fighting a fire

New research from UTHealth Houston found firefighters experience measurable biological changes in their blood and urine within 24 hours of fighting a fire—changes that may help identify early cancer risk, the leading cause ...

20 hours ago