Medical Xpress news

Medical Xpress / High prenatal exposure to PFAS may increase the risk of childhood asthma

Asthma can lead to childhood hospitalizations, missed school days, missed workdays for caregivers, and a lower quality of life for both children and their caregivers. The global prevalence of asthma has increased over the ...

Apr 9, 2026
Medical Xpress / Multifaceted clinic strategy helps low-income patients lower blood pressure faster

A multifaceted, team-based care strategy significantly reduced blood pressure (BP) in low-income patients with uncontrolled hypertension, according to a study led by researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center. Their findings, ...

Apr 9, 2026
Medical Xpress / Breastfeeding at least three months tied to lower weight gain decades later

Breastfeeding not only affects your weight while you are breastfeeding—women gain up to 6.5 kilos less on average later in life if they breastfeed for at least three months, according to a new study.

Apr 9, 2026
Medical Xpress / Mini-brain model reveals how mild head hits trigger neurodegenerative cascades

Concussions are a common injury, responsible for as many as 3 million emergency room visits every year. Children playing sports or other recreation activities sustain nearly 4 million concussions every year, according to ...

Apr 9, 2026
Medical Xpress / Kids most in need of dental care are least likely to benefit from school programs

Children who don't go to the dentist are less likely to participate in school-based cavity prevention programs, according to research published in JAMA Network Open. The paper is titled "School-Based Caries Prevention Programs ...

Apr 9, 2026
Medical Xpress / Reported 2025 drug overdose 'spike' was an illusion, new study finds

In June 2025, several mainstream media outlets reported a surge in U.S. drug overdose deaths in early 2025 that was based on data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Apr 9, 2026
Medical Xpress / Cancer risk is significantly higher for adults who have never married, finds large study

Adults who have never been married face a significantly higher risk of developing cancer than those who have been married, according to a large U.S. study of more than four million cases. The increased risk spans nearly every ...

Apr 8, 2026
Medical Xpress / Little-used cholesterol test could prevent more heart attacks and strokes

A routine blood test taken by millions in the U.S. each year to measure "bad" cholesterol is not the best measure to guide treatment and prevent heart attacks and strokes, suggests a new Northwestern Medicine study published ...

Apr 8, 2026
Medical Xpress / Mental and physical illnesses go hand in hand. A new genetic study explains why

For centuries, mental illness and physical disease have been viewed as two distinct categories, each with its own field of study, its own doctors, and its own menu of treatments. New University of Colorado Boulder research ...

Apr 8, 2026
Medical Xpress / Why smoking may raise dementia risk: Lung exosomes could disrupt brain iron balance

The correlation between smoking and neurodegeneration is well-documented, with one study from 2011 finding that heavy smoking in midlife was associated with a greater than 100% increase in risk of dementia, Alzheimer's and ...

Apr 8, 2026
Medical Xpress / Are we ever truly free to make decisions? New study tracks a universal process in the brain

Imagine you're in line at your favorite bakery, deciding whether to have a doughnut or a tart. You weigh them up, the doughnut wins, and you settle on that. By the time you're at the front of the line, however, only tarts ...

Apr 8, 2026
Medical Xpress / Mapping mutations at scale in a single gene reveals new neurodevelopmental condition

The ability of different genetic variants—changes to one or more building blocks of DNA—to cause disease, and to what extent, has historically been opaque. Geneticist and Crick group leader Greg Findlay has pioneered a new ...

Apr 8, 2026