Medical Xpress news

Medical Xpress / Dementia risk factors may depend on which country you live in

A new study led by Curtin University has revealed millions of dementia cases across the Western Pacific Region could potentially be prevented by implementing country-specific strategies to address key risk factors such as ...

May 19, 2026
Medical Xpress / Nicotine e-cigarettes reduce harmful chemical exposure and help smokers quit, study finds

Cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, even as rates of cigarette smoking have fallen to an all-time low of approximately 10% in 2024. Some studies suggest that electronic cigarettes ...

May 19, 2026
Medical Xpress / Written in the eye: How the retina's biological age could help predict osteoporosis risk

Eyes, the high-resolution biological devices that help us visualize the outside world, are now being used as a portal to assess our internal health. Scientists have found that a closer evaluation of how one's retina is aging ...

May 18, 2026
Medical Xpress / Why brain cells learn better: NMDA receptor maps may explain memory-linked calcium flow

The human brain constantly adapts in response to experiences, forming new connections between neurons and reorganizing existing ones. The brain's ability to adapt in response to experiences is known as neuroplasticity.

May 18, 2026
Medical Xpress / A new way to recharge aging muscle stem cells by restoring a key metabolic component

Losing muscle strength is a natural part of aging. At the core of this decline is a drop in the number of muscle stem cells (MuSCs), the specialized cells responsible for maintaining and regenerating muscle tissue throughout ...

May 18, 2026
Medical Xpress / Once-nightly pill treats causes of airway collapse to control obstructive sleep apnea in large clinical trial

A once-nightly oral pill helped control obstructive sleep apnea in a large, Phase III clinical trial presented at the 2026 ATS International Conference. The drug, called AD109, is the first therapy to treat OSA by addressing ...

May 18, 2026
Medical Xpress / Blood test spots failing prostate cancer treatment within 6-12 weeks, study finds

A new blood test could help doctors identify whether a treatment for advanced prostate cancer is failing weeks earlier than current tests, according to a U.K.-wide study led by UCL researchers. The study, published in Nature ...

May 18, 2026
Medical Xpress / By age 4, one side of the brain is already calling the shots on language

The brain's capacity to use and understand language expands rapidly in the first years of life, as babies start to make sense of the words they hear and eventually begin to piece together sentences of their own. The language-processing ...

May 18, 2026
Medical Xpress / Baseline MRI lets AI predict Alzheimer's progression without cognitive testing

Millions of people are diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease each year, comprising 60% to 70% of dementia cases worldwide. While cognitive impairment and structural brain changes are indicative of Alzheimer's disease progression, ...

May 18, 2026
Medical Xpress / How chemotherapy can backfire: An immune shift tied to tumor resistance and poorer outcomes

Chemotherapy can be life-saving for many patients, but not all tumors respond—and some that do, may eventually become resistant. Investigators at Houston Methodist have identified a possible explanation for this resistance, ...

May 18, 2026
Medical Xpress / At 'most favored nation' prices, can Medicare break even on GLP-1 drugs?

In November 2025, the White House announced pricing deals with multiple pharmaceutical manufacturers to lower domestic prices for glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist drugs (GLP-1RAs) including Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, ...

May 18, 2026
Medical Xpress / A protective gel for a future without insulin injections

Researchers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and Geneva University Hospitals (HUG) have reached a significant advance in the fight against type 1 diabetes. Using an innovative hydrogel that supports insulin-producing ...

May 18, 2026