Medical Xpress news

Medical Xpress / Blood test 'clocks' can predict when Alzheimer's symptoms will start

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have developed a method to predict when someone is likely to develop symptoms of Alzheimer's disease using a single blood test. In a study published in ...

Medical Xpress / Low-field MRI is safe, feasible and more comfortable for breast screening, finds study

Researchers at Mass General Brigham have demonstrated the technical feasibility of using ultra-low field (ULF) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for breast imaging. With further refinement and evaluation, the technology could ...

Feb 19, 2026 in Radiology & Imaging
Medical Xpress / Scientists discover 'bacterial constipation,' a new disease caused by gut-drying bacteria

Scientists at Nagoya University in Japan have found two gut bacteria working together that contribute to chronic constipation. The duo, Akkermansia muciniphila and Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, destroy the intestinal mucus ...

Feb 19, 2026 in Gastroenterology
Medical Xpress / Recurrent prostate cancer: Two treatment strategies with uncertain outcomes compared

Imperial College London investigators compared focal therapy with prostate removal surgery for men with prostate cancer that returned after radiotherapy. Matched analyses estimated 10-year cancer-specific survival at 92% ...

Feb 18, 2026 in Oncology & Cancer
Medical Xpress / People prefer the empathy of humans, but rate 'fake' AI empathy higher

Artificial Intelligence (AI) agents, particularly the large language models (LLMs) underpinning the functioning of ChatGPT and other popular conversational platforms, are now used daily by millions of people worldwide. As ...

Feb 18, 2026 in Psychology & Psychiatry
Medical Xpress / Kirigami-inspired sensors precisely map activity of neurons in the primate brain

Recent technological advances have opened new exciting possibilities for the development of smart prosthetics, such as artificial limbs, joints or organs that can replace injured, damaged or amputated body parts. These same ...

Feb 18, 2026 in Neuroscience
Medical Xpress / Scientists find a mechanism showing how exercise protects the brain

Researchers at UC San Francisco have discovered a mechanism that could explain how exercise improves cognition by shoring up the brain's protective barrier. With age, the network of blood vessels—called the blood–brain ...

Medical Xpress / Ancient mind-body practice proven to lower blood pressure in clinical trial

A traditional Chinese mind-body practice that combines slow, structured movement, deep breathing and meditative focus lowered blood pressure as effectively as brisk walking in a large randomized clinical trial published in ...

Feb 18, 2026 in Cardiology
Medical Xpress / The cells that never sleep: How slumber lets neurons clean up and stay healthy

When HHMI Investigator Amita Sehgal started studying sleep 25 years ago, the topic elicited a yawn from most biologists. "In the year 2000, if I had suggested to my department that we hire people working on sleep, they would ...

Feb 18, 2026 in Sleep disorders
Medical Xpress / COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy may help prevent preeclampsia

A new multinational study from the INTERCOVID Consortium, including Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, has found that COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy, particularly when combined with a booster dose, ...

Feb 18, 2026 in Cardiology
Medical Xpress / Stopping fatal blood loss with clay

Traumatic injury is the third leading cause of death in the state of Texas, surpassing strokes, Alzheimer's disease and diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A massive number of these deaths ...

Feb 18, 2026 in Biomedical technology
Medical Xpress / How dopamine-producing neurons arise in the developing brain

In a new study from Karolinska Institutet, published in Nature Neuroscience, researchers have identified the neurogenic progenitor that gives rise to dopaminergic neurons, the primary neurons affected in Parkinson's disease. ...

Feb 18, 2026 in Neuroscience