Medical Xpress news

Medical Xpress / Promising active substance against hepatitis E identified

Around 70,000 people die each year from infections with the hepatitis E virus. There is currently neither a vaccine nor a specific drug against this virus. This could change with the identification of bemnifosbuvir as a compound ...

Mar 20, 2026
Medical Xpress / Identifying older adults at risk for heat-related illness can help health systems prepare

Nationally, heat-related mortality has risen by nearly 17% per year since 2016. As a result, New York City now issues heat alerts and opens cooling centers when the heat index is forecast to reach 95 degrees Fahrenheit or ...

Mar 20, 2026
Medical Xpress / Gut microbiome thrives on fiber—tapeworms confirm it

Intestinal worms can help reduce inflammation in the human body—but only if they have enough dietary fiber. Without it, they switch into a hibernation-like state and their protective effect disappears. This is the finding ...

Mar 19, 2026
Medical Xpress / Largest study of its kind tests hydration strategy for kidney stones

Kidney stones can cause some of the most intense pain people ever experience, affecting daily life and leading many to hospital emergency visits. It affects one in 11 people in the U.S., and almost half will experience a ...

Mar 19, 2026
Medical Xpress / High meat consumption linked to lower dementia risk in APOE4 carriers

Older people with a genetic risk of Alzheimer's disease did not experience the expected increase in cognitive decline and dementia risk if they consumed relatively large amounts of meat. This is shown in a new study from ...

Mar 19, 2026
Medical Xpress / How an imbalanced gut microbiome worsens chronic kidney disease

Researchers at UC Davis School of Medicine have uncovered how an imbalanced gut microbiome escalates the production of metabolic byproducts by certain gut bacteria. This imbalance drives a feedback loop that worsens chronic ...

Mar 19, 2026
Medical Xpress / Switching from milk to solid food in early life helps reprogram the gut's immune defenses, researchers find

According to a team of researchers at Baylor College of Medicine, Tongji University and collaborating institutions, weaning or switching from milk to solid food in early life doesn't just change what babies eat, it helps ...

Mar 19, 2026
Medical Xpress / New 'fishhook' bonds help T cells stick longer to prostate cancer cells

UCLA and Stanford Medicine researchers, in collaboration with scientists from the University of Utah and Columbia University, have engineered a new class of supercharged T cells that are stronger, longer-lasting, and more ...

Mar 19, 2026
Medical Xpress / Newly-discovered dopamine signal may help the brain steer us in the right direction

A Boston University-led research team has discovered a dopamine signal in the brain that helps determine whether you are moving toward or away from a goal, potentially shedding new light on how the brain uses visual information ...

Mar 19, 2026
Medical Xpress / Post-video game depression: Scientists create tool to measure the phenomenon

Experiencing a sense of loss and sadness after dozens of hours spent on a video game? Researchers from SWPS University and the Stefan Batory Academy of Applied Sciences examined the feeling of emptiness that accompanies completing ...

Mar 19, 2026
Medical Xpress / The brain region associated with moral inconsistency

Why don't some people practice what they preach? Researchers reveal that a brain region called the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) is involved. The researchers used fMRI imaging to identify brain activity patterns ...

Mar 19, 2026
Medical Xpress / Pythons' feast-and-famine life hints at new weight loss pathway

Pythons don't nibble. They chomp, squeeze, and swallow their prey whole in a meal that can approach 100% of their body weight. But even as they slither stealthily around the forest, months or even a year may pass between ...

Mar 19, 2026