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Medical Xpress / Hospitals acquired by real estate investment trusts associated with greater risk of bankruptcy and closure

Real estate investment trust (REIT)-acquired U.S. hospitals were associated with a greater risk of bankruptcy or closure than non-REIT-acquired hospitals, according to a new study led by researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School ...

Dec 18, 2025 in Medical economics
Medical Xpress / Chill factor: Body's skin and organs feel cold through distinct molecular sensors

A research team led by Félix Viana, co-director of the Sensory Transduction and Nociception laboratory at the Institute for Neurosciences (IN), a joint research center of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and ...

Medical Xpress / People's facial mimicry predicts their choices, study finds

In social situations, humans often copy the facial expressions of others who they are interacting with. This phenomenon, known as facial mimicry, is widely reported and has been linked to social connection and an empathic ...

Dec 17, 2025 in Psychology & Psychiatry
Medical Xpress / Recreational marathoners show no long-term heart damage after 10 years

A collaboration of researchers in Switzerland, Germany, and the US tracked cardiac function in recreational marathon runners over a 10-year span. Repeated endurance training and racing aligned with stable right ventricular ...

Dec 17, 2025 in Cardiology
Medical Xpress / WISDOM trial weighs risk-based cancer screening

University of California, San Francisco investigators led WISDOM, a randomized comparison of risk-based breast cancer screening and annual mammography. Rates of stage ≥IIB breast cancers met a noninferiority threshold under ...

Dec 17, 2025 in Oncology & Cancer
Medical Xpress / Could cheese protect your brain health? Study links high-fat cheese and cream to lower dementia risk

Eating more high-fat cheese and high-fat cream may be linked to a lower risk of developing dementia, according to a new study published in Neurology. This study does not prove that eating high-fat cheese and high-fat cream ...

Dec 17, 2025 in Health
Medical Xpress / Engineered dendritic cells boost cancer immunotherapy

EPFL researchers have successfully engineered cells of the immune system to more effectively recognize cancer cells. The work, covered in two papers, turns the previously lab-based method into a full-blown immunotherapy strategy.

Dec 17, 2025 in Oncology & Cancer
Medical Xpress / Observing synapses in action: Images capture real-time neurotransmitter release

It takes just a few milliseconds: A vesicle, only a few nanometers in size and filled with neurotransmitters, approaches a cell membrane, fuses with it, and releases its chemical messengers into the synaptic cleft—making ...

Dec 17, 2025 in Neuroscience
Medical Xpress / Learning to play music can improve older people's brain function, study suggests

Improvising music could help to improve older people's cognitive skills, such as learning and memory, according to research from the University of Sheffield and Western Sydney University.

Dec 17, 2025 in Neuroscience
Medical Xpress / Disappointment alters brain chemistry and behavior, mouse study shows

From work meetings to first dates, it's essential to adjust our behavior for success. In certain situations, it can even be a matter of life or death. So how do we switch our behavior when situations change?

Dec 17, 2025 in Psychology & Psychiatry
Medical Xpress / Brain on jazz: Musical improvisation moves beyond pure inspiration to dynamic reconfiguration

An international research team investigated the brains of 16 jazz pianists while they played a piece from memory, improvised based on the melody, and freely improvised based on the chord changes. The analysis of how different ...

Dec 17, 2025 in Neuroscience
Medical Xpress / Microbiome may aid in healthy pregnancies by training maternal immune system

Gut microbes may play a key role in training a mother's immune system to adapt to the developing fetus during pregnancy, according to a preclinical study by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators.

Dec 17, 2025 in Obstetrics & gynaecology