https://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. A recent study in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, found that how families engage with the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) during the first months after a child's birth may influence whether they remain enrolled through the child's first year. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-early-engagement-wic.html Wed, 12 Aug 2026 20:20:01 EDT news705770521 Adverse pregnancy outcomes—such as preeclampsia, gestational hypertension, gestational diabetes, low birth weight and preterm birth—are associated with risks of further complications, chronic disease and cardiovascular disease. They also disproportionately affect Black and Latina women. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-women-adverse-pregnancy-outcomes-higher.html Wed, 12 Aug 2026 20:00:04 EDT news705768245 Imagine a future in which a stroke survivor regains movement through an intelligent neural interface. A patient with Parkinson's disease receives highly personalized brain stimulation that adapts in real time to changing symptoms. Someone living with paralysis controls assistive technologies using thought alone. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-neurotechnology-revolution-roadmap-future-field.html Wed, 12 Aug 2026 19:40:02 EDT news705768063 Pain, bleeding, itching and other bowel-related problems after childbirth are not merely a matter of physical discomfort. A study conducted by researchers from Wroclaw Medical University shows that more severe pelvic floor symptoms, particularly colorectal-anal symptoms, are associated with more severe depressive symptoms and lower self-esteem. The findings are published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-postpartum-pelvic-floor-symptoms-linked.html Wed, 12 Aug 2026 19:20:03 EDT news705767941 Men are more likely than women to catch tuberculosis (TB), finds a new study led by UCL (University College London) researchers. Globally, men account for around two-thirds of people diagnosed with TB, but until now, the reasons for this disparity had remained unclear. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-men-higher-tb-burden-stem.html Wed, 12 Aug 2026 19:10:06 EDT news705678241 Taking the stairs could help you live longer—according to new research from the University of East Anglia and the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital. The study, published today, suggests that climbing stairs significantly reduces the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-stairs-early-death.html Wed, 12 Aug 2026 19:10:03 EDT news705671582 Vanillin, a common flavoring chemical in e-cigarettes, may disrupt the normal development of embryos in pregnant women who vape, according to a study published in Human Reproduction. The finding explains how vaping may be linked to women having difficulty conceiving and to miscarriages. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-vanillin-flavoring-cigarettes-disrupt-human.html Wed, 12 Aug 2026 19:10:01 EDT news705656342 Women carrying breech babies have a better chance of avoiding a cesarean delivery (C-section) when spinal or epidural anesthesia is used during external cephalic version (ECV), a procedure used to turn the baby head-down before labor, according to the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA). https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-epidural-breech-babies-section.html Wed, 12 Aug 2026 19:00:04 EDT news705767761 For patients with blood cancers like leukemia and lymphoma, the immunotherapy known as CAR-T cell therapy can be lifesaving. Doctors remove a patient's immune cells, called T cells, engineer them in the lab to better recognize and attack cancer, and infuse them back into the bloodstream. But for solid tumors—which include lung, pancreatic, ovarian, colon, breast and other cancer types—these engineered immune cells still face too much resistance to effectively treat the disease. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-vivo-crispr-screen-gene-car.html Wed, 12 Aug 2026 18:40:03 EDT news705772141 Intensive, long-term blood pressure-lowering treatment reduced the risk of recurrent stroke by 38%, without increasing serious adverse events, in people who have survived an intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). The findings of the major meta-analysis were published in The Lancet Neurology. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-intensive-blood-pressure-lowering-recurrent.html Wed, 12 Aug 2026 18:30:01 EDT news705658756 A new large-scale survey of NHS nurses by the University of Southampton and the University of Portsmouth has revealed what matters most to them. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-workplaces-key-retaining-experienced-nhs.html Wed, 12 Aug 2026 18:20:05 EDT news705767041 What if one of the keys to a healthier metabolism is understanding how and when the liver communicates with the rest of the body? https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-liver-boost-fat-breakdown-potential.html Wed, 12 Aug 2026 18:20:02 EDT news705769741 A new study published in the Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing reveals that four in 10 inpatient psychiatric mental health registered nurses (PMH-RNs) experience high burnout. However, researchers found that supportive work environments significantly reduce burnout, job dissatisfaction and nurse turnover. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-inpatient-psychiatric-nurses-high-burnout.html Wed, 12 Aug 2026 18:00:03 EDT news705765163 For more than 70 years, the drug 6-thioguanine (6-TG) has been used to treat leukemia. Although its clinical effects have been studied extensively, scientists are still uncovering the molecular mechanisms that determine whether cells succumb to the drug or survive its attack. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-layer-decades-leukemia-drug.html Wed, 12 Aug 2026 18:00:01 EDT news705766741 Two of the nation's most powerful health officials predict artificial intelligence will play a key role in solving rural America's health challenges. Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told a panel of U.S. senators that AI nurses can provide "concierge care" to rural patients. Dr. Mehmet Oz, who leads the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, has said "the best way to help some of these communities is going to be AI-based avatars" that connect rural patients to mental health services. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-patients-wary-companies-ai-rural.html Wed, 12 Aug 2026 17:40:08 EDT news705741164 Some of the symptoms of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs), such as autism spectrum disorder and epilepsy, may result from dysfunction of certain neurons in the brain and their ability to change their properties in response to experiences—a process called experience-dependent plasticity. In preclinical research published in Nature, a team led by investigators at Mass General Brigham identified genes involved in these neurons' plasticity and then demonstrated benefits of overexpressing one key gene. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-inhibitory-neuron-plasticity-reverse-neurodevelopmental.html Wed, 12 Aug 2026 17:40:01 EDT news705766560 A large population-based study led by researchers at Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center and Mass General Brigham suggests that genetic testing added to routine newborn screening could identify some babies at increased risk of developing cancer before symptoms appear, opening a window for cancer surveillance and early detection. The paper was published in Nature Communications. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-genomic-newborn-screening-children-early.html Wed, 12 Aug 2026 17:20:05 EDT news705766449 A cancerous tumor is not a single enemy. It is made up of many different cell populations that can behave in very different ways. Among them, even at the time of diagnosis, there may already be cells that months or years later could give rise to metastases or become resistant to treatment. The challenge is that these critical cell populations are extremely difficult to detect in time. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-ai-tumor-cells-seed-metastases.html Wed, 12 Aug 2026 17:20:01 EDT news705763852 Researchers and physicians at the Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ) and other leading cancer centers report an exceptional treatment outcome in an adolescent with an advanced, treatment-resistant kidney tumor. Using a novel, personalized T-cell therapy, they succeeded in completely reversing the disease despite multiple metastases. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-personalized-cell-therapy-metastatic-kidney.html Wed, 12 Aug 2026 17:00:07 EDT news705749342 Leucovorin prescriptions for children spiked after federal officials claimed the drug was an effective treatment for autism during a September 2025 press conference, according to a new Michigan Medicine-led study published in The New England Journal of Medicine. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-leucovorin-prescriptions-children-federal-autism.html Wed, 12 Aug 2026 17:00:03 EDT news705758342 Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) appears to predict the benefit of chemotherapy plus endocrine therapy (CET) versus ET alone in premenopausal women younger than 55 years with hormone receptor-positive/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative breast cancer with a recurrence score (RS) ≤25, according to a study published online July 24 in the Annals of Oncology. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-anti-mllerian-hormone-benefit-chemo.html Wed, 12 Aug 2026 17:00:02 EDT news705763817 Implementing a hospitalwide program for documenting informal clinician consultations improved patient safety through better communication and multidisciplinary care in a pediatric health care system, according to a recent study published in JAMA Pediatrics. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-documenting-curbside-patient-safety.html Wed, 12 Aug 2026 16:40:08 EDT news705766323 For decades, food manufacturers have been able to decide which food chemicals were safe enough to add to their products based on general government guidelines. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-fda-food-makers-chemicals.html Wed, 12 Aug 2026 16:40:03 EDT news705763812 As cases of the potentially deadly drug-resistant fungal infection Candida auris have spread to 27 states, including Texas, which has the second-highest number, a scientist at UT Health San Antonio, the academic health center of The University of Texas at San Antonio, warns that strains resistant to frontline antifungal medications are becoming an increasingly urgent global problem. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-candida-auris-scientist-highlights-threat.html Wed, 12 Aug 2026 16:20:04 EDT news705763790 If you see a doctor regularly, chances are you have had a lipid panel ordered and your blood drawn at a lab. The results told your physician your levels of cholesterol and triglycerides, factors that play a role in diagnosing conditions such as cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. Now, a team led by Wei Gao, a professor in Caltech's Cherng Department of Medical Engineering, has developed a stick-on patch capable of gathering the same lipid measurements by analyzing sweat. And it can do so not just once but continuously. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-sensor-enables-noninvasive-cholesterol.html Wed, 12 Aug 2026 16:20:01 EDT news705765645 Use of hormone therapy later in life was associated with a lower risk of developing dementia, according to a study published in Neurology. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-estrogen-hormone-therapy-dementia.html Wed, 12 Aug 2026 16:00:05 EDT news705659402 Public health policies are commonly evaluated by their financial costs and expected outcomes. However, policy decisions must also be supported by strong evidence, political feasibility, effective implementation and public trust to achieve lasting public health benefits. Although public deliberation has been increasingly recognized as a way to involve citizens in policymaking, its role in improving policy efficiency has not been clearly defined. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-importance-deliberation-efficient-health-policies.html Wed, 12 Aug 2026 16:00:03 EDT news705747281 Cancer occurs when cells divide uncontrollably and displace healthy cells. Tumor suppressors provide an important defense against this. As molecular growth inhibitors, they prevent healthy cells from becoming cancerous. A key protein among them is p53, also known as the "guardian of the genome." If p53 detects errors in a cell's DNA, it stops the cell from dividing. If the DNA is irreparably damaged, p53 triggers cell death. To perform these tasks, the protein interacts with many other proteins. However, if p53 is inhibited or altered, cells continue to divide despite damage—and a tumor develops. More than half of all tumors are associated with p53 failing to fulfill its function properly within cells. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-cancer-protein-p53-action-reveals.html Wed, 12 Aug 2026 15:40:05 EDT news705765640 Although influenza and COVID-19 vaccination are offered free of charge to people at increased risk of severe illness, many still choose not to get vaccinated. A new study from Umeå University shows that the main barriers are not financial or related to distance from vaccination services. Instead, those most likely to forgo vaccination were younger individuals, men, smokers, and people with reduced independence. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-high-groups-forgo-vaccination-free.html Wed, 12 Aug 2026 15:40:02 EDT news705757681 City St George's researchers have found that sexual minority individuals with long-term mental health conditions report poorer experiences in some areas of primary care, while also revealing patterns that suggest potential buffering effects that could help inform efforts to reduce health care inequalities https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-explores-sexual-minority-status-mental.html Wed, 12 Aug 2026 15:20:04 EDT news705755428