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. Researchers at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC have identified a natural protective protein that maintains healthy lung blood vessels. Increasing the expression of this protein in preclinical models of pulmonary arterial hypertension reversed key features of the disease, including pulmonary vascular remodeling and heart dysfunction. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-scientists-lost-protein-reverse-lung.html Sun, 02 Aug 2026 20:30:02 EDT news704633786 Researchers at Tel Aviv University have presented new findings indicating that the experimental drug Davunetide may significantly slow the progression of progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) in women, who exhibited a markedly different response to treatment than men. These results reinforce the need for sex-specific medicine in neurodegenerative diseases. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-experimental-treatment-significantly-fatal-brain.html Sun, 02 Aug 2026 17:00:01 EDT news704385104 Ancient mummy DNA recovered in Chile has yielded the firmest evidence yet that European colonization brought smallpox to the Americas. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-ancient-mummy-dna-scientific-evidence.html Sun, 02 Aug 2026 14:00:01 EDT news704645643 Major depressive disorder, commonly referred to as depression, is a debilitating psychiatric disorder estimated to affect roughly 5% of the global population. Depression is characterized by persistent sadness and hopelessness, difficulty concentrating on tasks, a lack of interest in everyday activities and changes in sleep and/or appetite. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-large-scale-brain-scan-reveals.html Sun, 02 Aug 2026 12:20:01 EDT news704625156 REM sleep is already called "paradoxical sleep." The body is largely still, yet the brain is highly active. In humans, this is also the stage most closely associated with vivid dreaming. Our study, published in Communications Biology, has revealed another paradox hidden within REM sleep: Brain blood volume increased, but the ATP available inside neurons decreased. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-blood-neuronal-energy-rem.html Sun, 02 Aug 2026 11:00:04 EDT news704454464 Researchers at the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences (LMS), Imperial College London and UCL Genetics Institute have created a detailed map of cells within breast tumors and identified distinct neighborhoods of proliferating and dormant cells. The study, published in Genome Medicine, reveals that protective immune and connective cells surround the hibernating cancer cells, potentially shielding them from treatments. It suggests future therapies may need to target not only different cancer cell states but also the local environments that help them survive, to both halt tumor growth and prevent cancer from coming back later. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-scientists-dormant-cancer-cells-hideouts.html Sun, 02 Aug 2026 10:00:01 EDT news704769879 Hutchinson–Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS) is a genetic disorder that causes remarkable premature aging. Most patients die during their teenage years from cardiovascular disease, but the precise mechanisms underlying vascular damage remain unclear. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-somatic-mutations-linked-vascular-progeria.html Sun, 02 Aug 2026 09:20:01 EDT news704719804 A new path has opened toward stopping cancer-associated cachexia, a devastating complication that gradually wastes patients away. A KAIST research team has developed an RNA-based therapeutic strategy that blocks a brain signal to prevent muscle loss and extend survival. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-silencing-brain-receptor-curbs-cancer.html Sun, 02 Aug 2026 08:40:01 EDT news704858704 In a promising sign for the potential of focused sound waves to improve care for brain tumors, UVA Health researchers have determined that tumors called gliomas may be even more receptive to targeted drug delivery than normal brain tissue. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-deadly-brain-tumors-vulnerability-approach.html Sun, 02 Aug 2026 08:00:01 EDT news704645465 The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is intensifying at an "exceptional" pace, the World Health Organization warned on Saturday, calling for a significant scaling up of the health response. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-outbreak-dr-congo.html Sun, 02 Aug 2026 03:11:38 EDT news704859060 Infants use eye contact with speakers to work out what to pay attention to and synchronize their brainwaves, helping them learn language, scientists in Cambridge and Singapore have shown. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-eye-contact-infants-tune-speaker.html Sat, 01 Aug 2026 15:00:01 EDT news704450080 Personality traits have long been seen as set in stone, with many believing they stop changing once we reach adulthood. A recent study, however, challenges this long-held belief, suggesting that personality changes far more than most people realize. In the first part of the study, researchers surveyed 887 U.S. residents who rated the Big Five personality traits—extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness—as some of the most stable characteristics of a person's life. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-personality-life.html Sat, 01 Aug 2026 13:20:01 EDT news704712175 High-salt (HS) intake is a major global health concern, closely linked to hypertension and growing evidence of cognitive and emotional decline. Although salt is a routine part of daily diets, long-term overconsumption can negatively affect both the cardiovascular system and the central nervous system, underscoring the need for practical dietary strategies to mitigate these adverse health effects. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-soy-lysolecithin-counters-high-salt.html Sat, 01 Aug 2026 13:00:01 EDT news704706342 Compression wraps are unlikely to help venous leg ulcers heal faster than standard compression treatments, according to a clinical trial led by University of Manchester and York researchers. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-compression-advantage-venous-leg-ulcers.html Sat, 01 Aug 2026 12:40:02 EDT news704718973 A pair of wearable stickers may transform diagnostic sweat testing for cystic fibrosis (CF), a genetic disorder that causes problems with digestion and breathing. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-wearable-stickers-cystic-fibrosis-diagnosis.html Sat, 01 Aug 2026 12:00:04 EDT news704707796 A new study led by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has identified a way to reshape the gut microbiome that can enhance the delivery of certain chemotherapies to tumors, offering a potential strategy to make nanoparticle-based cancer drugs more effective. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-reshaping-gut-microbiome-boost-chemotherapy.html Sat, 01 Aug 2026 11:20:01 EDT news704770502 How does the brain make sense of what we see, hear and feel, and transform these separate signals into a coherent perception of the world? https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-logic-sensory-vertebrate-brains.html Sat, 01 Aug 2026 11:00:04 EDT news704556424 Newborns receive several routine immunizations shortly after birth. Prophylactic vitamin K is one such recommended shot. It activates several coagulation factors necessary for blood to clot properly, preventing vitamin K deficiency bleeding (VKDB), a condition that can be life-threatening. As more parents refuse prophylactic vitamin K for their children, researchers in Sweden wanted to examine trends in newborn vitamin K shots over time and any associations with infant bleeding diagnoses. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-million-newborns-vitamin-shot-higher.html Sat, 01 Aug 2026 09:40:04 EDT news704621079 A study led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), an institution supported by the "la Caixa" Foundation, found no increased risk of miscarriage, stillbirth or major congenital anomalies among women inadvertently exposed to ivermectin from two weeks before conception through the first four weeks of pregnancy. The findings, published in eClinicalMedicine, add to the available evidence on the safety of this antiparasitic drug during the very early stages of pregnancy, although the researchers stress that the number of cases remains too small to warrant changes to current recommendations. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-ivermectin-pregnancy-adverse-outcomes.html Sat, 01 Aug 2026 09:00:01 EDT news704728576 Emergency departments across the country face a common challenge: how to reduce long wait times without adding more beds, hiring more staff or expanding facilities. New research suggests one answer may be hiding in plain sight—making better decisions about where patients receive care. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-simple-triage-protocol-er-adding.html Sat, 01 Aug 2026 08:00:08 EDT news704463883 The main function of CRISPR-Cas systems is to defend bacteria against various threats, including viruses called bacteriophages. Researchers have continued to study all varieties of CRISPR-Cas systems (to date, two classes, seven types and 46 subtypes have been identified) to understand their capabilities. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-crispr-chief-backup-defenses-bacteria.html Sat, 01 Aug 2026 08:00:01 EDT news704367464 Exposure to secondhand cigarette smoke during the first days of life can cause changes in tooth enamel mineralization without causing visible changes to the teeth. This was demonstrated in an animal model study conducted by researchers at the Ribeirão Preto School of Dentistry at the University of São Paulo (FORP-USP) in Brazil. The results were published in May in the scientific journal Calcified Tissue International. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-rat-early-secondhand-exposure-tooth.html Sat, 01 Aug 2026 07:00:03 EDT news704769247 An evidence review of international research suggests widespread misconceptions within the medical community about early milk production, pacifiers and breast pumps may be undermining breastfeeding success in the critical first days after birth. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-hours-hospital-routines-undermine-breastfeeding.html Sat, 01 Aug 2026 00:10:01 EDT news704619421 For patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), the association between liver fibrosis and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) varies with glycemic status, according to a study published in Hepatology Communications. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-link-liver-fibrosis-masld-ascvd.html Fri, 31 Jul 2026 21:00:01 EDT news704703251 Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is significantly associated with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), according to a study published online July 22 in the Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-metabolic-dysfunction-steatotic-liver-disease.html Fri, 31 Jul 2026 20:20:02 EDT news704719906 Vape devices are flooding teens' bodies with increasingly heavy doses of addictive nicotine, a new study finds. Average urine levels of a key nicotine metabolite, cotinine, nearly tripled among teenagers over a period of a few months in late 2024, researchers report in JAMA Psychiatry. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-nicotine-teens-vape.html Fri, 31 Jul 2026 19:40:01 EDT news704703244 A considerable proportion of patients with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) exhibit anxiety symptoms, according to a study published in the Journal of Inflammation Research. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-patients-chronic-rhinosinusitis-nasal-polyps.html Fri, 31 Jul 2026 18:40:01 EDT news704703259 Hyperuricemia independently predicts mortality in chronic kidney disease (CKD), according to a study published online July 13 in the Journal of Clinical Medicine. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-hyperuricemia-mortality-chronic-kidney-disease.html Fri, 31 Jul 2026 17:40:01 EDT news704719757 For children with asthma, exacerbation risk is associated with distinct profiles depending on house dust mite (HDM) sensitization status, according to a study published online July 16 in the International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-exacerbation-profiles-vary-house-mite.html Fri, 31 Jul 2026 16:40:01 EDT news704719750 For patients with interstitial cystitis (IC)/bladder pain syndrome (BPS), the combination of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and low-intensity extracorporeal shock wave therapy (LI-ESWT) shows therapeutic efficacy, according to a study recently published in Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-platelet-rich-plasma-shockwave-therapy.html Fri, 31 Jul 2026 15:40:02 EDT news704719870