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. Higher ultra-processed food (UPF) intake is linked to a heightened risk of several major chronic health issues, such as digestive diseases, high blood pressure and metabolic syndrome/diabetes, as well as death, finds a pooled data analysis of the available evidence published in the open-access journal Family Medicine and Community Health. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-extra-grams-ultra-food-linked.html Tue, 22 Sep 2026 18:30:05 EDT news709220642 Most medical devices do not enter the market through rigorous safety testing but by being deemed similar enough to something already approved—the "predicate" device—through a mechanism known as the FDA's 510(k) pathway. But similar is not a synonym for safe. While the assumption may be that substantial equivalence is a reasonable stand-in for a safety review, some devices cleared with this method are still recalled, and the FDA spends valuable time reviewing devices the same way, regardless of how risky they appear on paper. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-ai-medical-device-recalls.html Tue, 22 Sep 2026 17:00:04 EDT news709314902 Researchers have identified a brain circuit that normally supports flexible behavior but is recruited by cocaine to drive increasingly rigid and repetitive behavior. Published in the journal Current Biology, the findings show that shifting the balance between opposing neural pathways can either promote behavioral rigidity or, conversely, rapidly interrupt cocaine-driven repetitive behavior and restore a broader range of actions, offering new insight into the brain mechanisms underlying compulsive and stereotyped behavior. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-cocaine-hijacks-brain-circuit-naturally.html Tue, 22 Sep 2026 16:40:06 EDT news709312081 Just seven days of strength training increased visceral fat burning in obese mice, even before any weight loss could be seen on a scale. In an experiment conducted at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), researchers observed that a short period of strength training activated mechanisms involved in fat breakdown, reduced fat cell size and decreased fat around the animals' intestines. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-strength-fat-cells-weight-loss.html Tue, 22 Sep 2026 16:20:07 EDT news709311781 New research from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research has revealed for the first time that two closely related bowel diseases, currently treated in the same way, are fundamentally different. The findings help explain why one carries a much higher risk of colon cancer—and point to the need for different approaches to treatment. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-invisible-inflammation-rare-bowel-disease.html Tue, 22 Sep 2026 13:20:01 EDT news709299176 A PET/CT radiotracer demonstrated high sensitivity and specificity for diagnosing cardiac amyloidosis, a rare disease that causes abnormal protein buildup in the heart and heart failure, according to a recent clinical trial published in JAMA. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-imaging-agent-rare-heart-disease.html Tue, 22 Sep 2026 13:00:04 EDT news709298672 After a day spent perusing reports, juggling emails, resolving conflicts and making decisions, a bike ride will seem more taxing, even though your legs aren't any weaker. To shed light on this phenomenon, Benjamin Pageaux, a professor at Université de Montréal's School of Kinesiology and Physical Activity Sciences, and researchers at Nantes Université tested the effect of mental fatigue on physical endurance. Their study was published in Peer Community Journal. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-brain.html Tue, 22 Sep 2026 12:40:09 EDT news709298531 A team at the Centre de recherche Azrieli du CHU Sainte-Justine has reached a major milestone in understanding a rare and severe form of genetic encephalopathy associated with the DHDDS gene. By developing the first mouse model that faithfully reproduces one of the human forms of the disease, researcher Alexey Pshezhetsky, a professor in the Department of Pediatrics, and Dr. Elsa Rossignol, a professor in the Department of Neuroscience, both at UdeM, provide the scientific community with an unprecedented tool to investigate the biological mechanisms underlying this neurodevelopmental disorder and accelerate the development of new therapeutic strategies. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-mouse-reveals-mechanisms-rare-genetic.html Tue, 22 Sep 2026 12:00:08 EDT news709291306 Type 1 diabetes isn't an overnight attack against the body's ability to make insulin. It can be a sustained campaign over years that relentlessly targets insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. Scientists have not fully understood why this autoimmune attack—when the body's immune system mistakenly destroys its own healthy cells—persists so long rather than petering out. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-immune-cells-sustain-diabetes.html Tue, 22 Sep 2026 11:40:07 EDT news709291081 State laws to combat disability-based discrimination in the organ transplant process aren't working, according to new research from The Ohio State University College of Medicine. The study, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, examines national policies designed to help all patients have a fair chance to receive an organ transplant. Despite 40 states passing laws prohibiting disability-based discrimination in the organ transplant process, people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (IDD) are still less likely to receive a kidney transplant than those without IDD. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-patients-developmental-disabilities-kidney-transplant.html Tue, 22 Sep 2026 11:20:10 EDT news709290973 A new preclinical study led by investigators from Mass General Brigham offers a potential explanation for two longstanding questions in allergy: Why do allergies often emerge only after repeated exposure, and why do people with one allergy frequently develop others? The findings are published in Immunity. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-exposures-allergies-worse.html Tue, 22 Sep 2026 11:00:04 EDT news709228201 An abdominal CT scan packs an extraordinary amount of information into a single image, layering dozens of organs and hundreds of possible conditions. It's widely considered one of the most complex scans in medicine to read, and even expert radiologists need time to carefully untangle what they're looking at. To help ease some of their workload, researchers presented a new AI assistant called RADAR (Rapid Abdominal Diagnosis with AI and Radiology). https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-ai-radiology-problems-abdominal-scans.html Tue, 22 Sep 2026 10:40:07 EDT news709287657 Researchers from City of Hope have developed a new "plug-and-play" technology that adds engineered molecules to chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells after treatment, allowing scientists to better control the cells and redirect them to attack different types of cancer. Published in Cancer Immunology Research, the preclinical study offers a more flexible way to help CAR T cells keep pace with mutating tumors. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-play-car-technology-cancer.html Tue, 22 Sep 2026 10:20:13 EDT news709287628 A groundbreaking discovery at the University of Missouri could help older adults maintain the muscle strength they need to stay active and independent, whether that means safely crossing the street or playing with their grandchildren. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-age-discovery-muscle-strength.html Tue, 22 Sep 2026 10:00:03 EDT news709282621 Researchers at Johns Hopkins University found that lower bone mineral density in the spine was associated with faster cognitive decline and accelerated age-related white matter injury, according to a study published in Radiology. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-spinal-bone-density-flag-people.html Tue, 22 Sep 2026 10:00:01 EDT news709213921 For many autistic children, everyday sensations such as the feel of scratchy fabric or a loud car alarm can be intensely distressing. Known as sensory over-responsivity, this common symptom can affect all aspects of everyday life, from school and family life to friendships, yet few research-based treatments exist. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-game-sensory-brain-autistic-youth.html Tue, 22 Sep 2026 09:40:08 EDT news709287622 A UCLA research team has engineered a new type of immune cell that attacks atherosclerotic plaques—the fatty buildup inside artery walls that drives most heart attacks and strokes. These engineered cells work by recognizing three harmful cell types within plaques. The paper is published in the journal Circulation Research. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-triple-threat-immune-cells-plaque.html Tue, 22 Sep 2026 09:20:06 EDT news709286934 E. coli in uncooked meat can cause diarrhea and food poisoning. Scientists, however, have found a way to turn the bacterium into a delivery agent that takes drugs straight to a tumor and transforms it into a tiny cancer drug dispensary. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-probiotic-bacteria-cancer-drugs-tumors.html Tue, 22 Sep 2026 08:40:06 EDT news709284942 In August 2024, the World Health Organization declared the mpox upsurge in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and its spread to neighboring countries a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. The emergence of a new strain and its rapid spread across eastern DRC, and later to other African countries and beyond, made reliable diagnosis essential for understanding the scale of the epidemic and guiding vaccination and other public health measures. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-positive-mpox-false.html Tue, 22 Sep 2026 08:40:02 EDT news709284841 Researchers at National Jewish Health have identified a key way estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) helps protect the right side of the heart in pulmonary hypertension. The preclinical findings reveal that ERα preserves the survival and movement of endothelial cells, which line blood vessels, allowing the stressed heart to maintain the small vessels it needs to function. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-estrogen-receptor-key-protector-heart.html Tue, 22 Sep 2026 08:00:01 EDT news709276622 In the brain, information travels among distributed networks, groups of interconnected regions that work together and contribute to specific behaviors, feelings or thoughts. To study how information travels through these networks under different conditions, many neuroscientists rely on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a noninvasive imaging technique that measures blood-oxygen changes indirectly linked to neural activity. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-brain-framework-reveals-shifts-pain.html Tue, 22 Sep 2026 06:20:01 EDT news709207805 New research has found that mothers with poor sleep quality in late pregnancy had babies with lower weight in the first six months of life but higher weight at ages 1–2 years. This effect was strongest in male infants and in babies born at term. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-mothers-poor-quality-late-pregnancy.html Tue, 22 Sep 2026 00:10:01 EDT news709213801 Engaging core muscles—through movement, exercise or even coughing—may be a key regulator of blood flow in the brain. When the body moves, the contraction of abdominal muscles increases pressure in blood vessels connected to the brain through the spinal column. A new study by researchers at Penn State shows that the increased pressure creates ultrafast constrictions of major veins in the brain, momentarily increasing blood flow. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-engaging-core-blood-brain.html Mon, 21 Sep 2026 17:40:04 EDT news709224533 Some genetic disorders have a clear connection between the affected gene product and the suite of symptoms produced. But genes do not work in isolation, and many other conditions can be bafflingly complex, as when an affected gene product affects the function of many tissues throughout the body. Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a collection of genetic disorders of connective tissue, is particularly challenging for those who live with it because of its varied and poorly understood effects. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-stubborn-medical-mystery-insights-disorder.html Mon, 21 Sep 2026 17:00:01 EDT news709227541 Brown fat burns energy to generate heat and is therefore considered a promising target for new obesity treatments. Researchers at the University of Basel and University Hospital Basel have tested whether a drug can activate brown fat in humans. Their results show that a pharmaceutical approach may be more difficult than expected. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-experimental-drug-energy-expenditure-brown.html Mon, 21 Sep 2026 16:40:05 EDT news709224879 Children prescribed GLP-1 medications for weight loss, prediabetes or type 2 diabetes are at risk for nutritional deficiencies—diagnosed in nearly one in six patients (16.8%) within the first year—according to a new study published in the journal Childhood Obesity. Vitamin D deficiency was the most common, identified in 12.4% of children within one year of GLP-1 treatment. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-glp-1s-linked-nutritional-deficiencies.html Mon, 21 Sep 2026 16:20:06 EDT news709223881 Have you ever seen something that doesn't quite add up? Maybe a shape in the dark resembles a face, or an orange momentarily looks like an apple. Scientists now have a new idea about how different brain regions may work together to resolve these visual mix-ups. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-eyes-play-brain-consensus.html Mon, 21 Sep 2026 16:00:09 EDT news709220761 Social behavior is heritable but heterogeneous. A mother reporting on her toddler learning to share, a teacher observing a schoolchild navigating friendships and peer relations, and a teenager describing their own social relations are all examples of social behavior within a social context. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-social-context-genetics-behavior.html Mon, 21 Sep 2026 15:40:04 EDT news709214941 Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia worldwide. Although the APOE ε4 allele is the strongest genetic risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer's disease, not all carriers develop dementia, indicating that other genetic factors can modify disease risk. In recent years, PLCG2 has emerged as one of the most important protective genes associated with Alzheimer's disease. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-genetic-pathways-converge-alzheimer-disease.html Mon, 21 Sep 2026 15:20:06 EDT news709213561 GLP-1 drugs have revolutionized obesity treatment, but they can lead people to lose muscle mass along with fat. And when patients stop treatment, they often regain their weight—primarily as fat. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-rna-therapy-muscle-glp-weight.html Mon, 21 Sep 2026 15:00:09 EDT news709204861