Medical Xpress news

Medical Xpress / Study finds Medicaid disenrollment spikes at age 19, with rates up to 83.9%

In most states, Medicaid eligibility rules shift at age 19, when individuals transition from child to adult classification. A new study led by the University of Chicago finds that this policy threshold coincides with a sharp ...

Feb 19, 2026 in Pediatrics
Medical Xpress / Early hydrocortisone treatment can protect extremely premature babies from lung disease

Early hydrocortisone treatment of extremely premature babies increases their chances of survival without lung disease, according to a study led by Linköping University. The study also shows that the treatment is safe to ...

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 / 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 / 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 / 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 / Our brains may learn more from rare events than from repetition

More than a century ago, Pavlov trained his dog to associate the sound of a bell with food. Ever since, scientists have assumed the dog learned this through repetition. The more times the dog heard the bell and then got fed, ...

Feb 18, 2026 in Neuroscience
Medical Xpress / The neurobiology of why some brains cannot move on from loss

For most people, the intense ache that follows the death of a loved one eventually softens, and daily life resumes. But for some, the pain does not ease with time—a condition known as prolonged grief disorder (PGD). In ...

Feb 18, 2026 in Psychology & Psychiatry