https://medicalxpress.com/common-illnesses-prevention-news/ en-us Latest health news and information about Common Illnesses & Prevention Placebo effects, in which patients experience relief without therapeutic treatment, increasingly have been considered as potentially powerful clinical treatments for ailments such as depression and pain. Yet the neurological mechanisms underlying such processes are not fully understood. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-neurobiologists-hack-brain-circuits-placebo.html Thu, 16 Apr 2026 11:00:03 EDT news695547901 Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden have developed an improved method for creating insulin-producing cells from human stem cells. The results, published in Stem Cell Reports, demonstrate that these cells effectively regulate blood sugar levels in laboratory tests and can reverse diabetes in mice. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-lab-grown-insulin-cells-reverse.html Thu, 16 Apr 2026 11:00:01 EDT news695471943 UCLA researchers have identified a rogue population of immune cells that quietly accumulates in aging tissues and in the livers of people with fatty liver disease. Clearing these cells, they found, dramatically reduced inflammation and reversed liver damage in mice—even while the animals remained on an unhealthy diet. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-hidden-army-zombie-immune-cells.html Thu, 16 Apr 2026 05:00:14 EDT news695464057 Scientists have found the strongest evidence to date that a condition known as Barrett's esophagus is the starting point for all cases of esophageal adenocarcinoma—the most common type of esophageal cancer in the developed world—even when telltale signs of this pre-cancerous stage are no longer visible. The findings, published in Nature Medicine, could help improve screening for and early detection of esophageal cancer, the sixth-most deadly cancer, helping improve outcomes for the disease. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-precursor-commonest-esophageal-cancer-opportunities.html Thu, 16 Apr 2026 05:00:04 EDT news695493242 While it was previously thought that keratinocytes (skin cells) were only passive conductors that allow the rabies virus to pass through, novel research reveals that these cells play a much more active role. The findings of a new study in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology (JID), provide direct evidence that keratinocytes can support viral replication and transmit the rabies virus to neurons. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-skin-cells-rabies-invade-nerves.html Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:10:01 EDT news695477521 A research team led by the University of California, Irvine's Joe C. Wen School of Population & Public Health has uncovered a critical biological link explaining why individuals with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD, also known as fatty liver disease) face significantly worse outcomes from certain foodborne infections. The study published in Gut Microbes is the first to show how changes in the connection between the gut and liver can make foodborne infections more severe—an illness that is becoming a growing global health concern. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-gut-microbiome-key-driver-bacterial.html Wed, 15 Apr 2026 19:40:07 EDT news695486702 Doctors recommend getting your flu shot annually, since the specific influenza strain it targets varies from year to year. But what if the shot could be more effective while protecting against more strains? Researchers from the University of Missouri School of Medicine are one step closer to making this happen. When the immune system sees a new strain of a familiar virus, it typically focuses on the parts it "remembers" most, even if those regions have changed. "Epitope-spanning antigenic variation reprograms immunodominance and broadens immunity in sequential influenza vaccination" was recently published in Nature Communications. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-flu-shot-epitope-widen.html Wed, 15 Apr 2026 19:00:03 EDT news695491082 Extending vaccination opportunities, involving community members alongside health care professionals in communicating about vaccines, and providing financial incentives are among the most effective ways to increase vaccine uptake, finds an analysis of international trial evidence published by The BMJ. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-vaccination-access-community-outreach-incentives.html Wed, 15 Apr 2026 18:30:06 EDT news695467686 Air pollution is associated with increased migraine activity, according to a study published in Neurology. Both short-term and cumulative exposure to air pollution as well as climate factors such as heat and humidity were associated with increased migraine activity. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-air-pollution-migraine.html Wed, 15 Apr 2026 16:00:08 EDT news695463751 A new study examines the role of palmitic acid and oleic acid—among the main fatty acids in the diet—in the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus, a chronic condition associated with high morbidity and mortality worldwide. The research, published in Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism, is led by teams from the CIBER Area for Diabetes and Associated Metabolic Diseases (CIBERDEM) at the University of Barcelona. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-quality-quantity-fat-diet-affects.html Wed, 15 Apr 2026 15:20:10 EDT news695481661 If scientists could shrink themselves to microscopic size and take a journey through the human body—like the submarine crew in the 1966 science fiction classic "Fantastic Voyage"—one of their first stops would no doubt be the liver. The unique structure of our largest internal organ comprises small, hexagonal functional units called lobules, each carrying out more than 500 functions simultaneously. Studies from the 1970s and 1980s revealed that liver cells divide these many tasks among themselves according to their location within each subunit; however, the technology available at the time provided only a blurred picture of this division of labor. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-genetic-atlas-reveals-human-liver.html Wed, 15 Apr 2026 15:00:06 EDT news695481601 Syphilis has been rising sharply in the United States, with especially high rates in Southern states. Now, a new study from Tulane University researchers suggests the long-term infection may carry another risk that is often overlooked: serious damage to the heart and blood vessels. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-syphilis-cases-links-infection-higher.html Wed, 15 Apr 2026 14:40:05 EDT news695481422 Dozens of unexpected genes are strongly linked to type 2 diabetes, new research from The Jackson Laboratory (JAX) shows. The findings, based on a new genomic atlas of pancreatic cells from non-diabetic, prediabetic, and diabetic people, suggest the disease depends on expression of genes key to cell death and vitamin A metabolism. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-diabetes-reveals-previously-overlooked-genes.html Wed, 15 Apr 2026 14:20:13 EDT news695481361 A natural compound made by Australian bees to seal their hives may help stop scarring in human skin after surgery, injury and burns, according to University of the Sunshine Coast researchers. The scientists say the laboratory finding has "immense potential" for future applications in people with scarring ranging from shallow and cosmetic to deep and debilitating, known as hypertrophic. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-australian-bee-scar-compound-scars.html Wed, 15 Apr 2026 08:40:04 EDT news695461023 One in four U.S. adults—the equivalent of over 66 million Americans—report having used artificial intelligence tools or chatbots for physical or mental health care information or advice, according to new research released by the West Health-Gallup Center on Healthcare in America. Rather than replacing traditional care, more than half say they turn to AI to supplement their health care experiences, using the technology before or after seeing a doctor. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-poll-reveals-millions-americans-ai.html Wed, 15 Apr 2026 00:10:01 EDT news695394541 The average human has about 1.8 trillion immune cells. These cells patrol the body for bacteria, viruses, cancers, and other threats. Vaccines enhance this security system by teaching our immune cells to target specific pathogens. According to the World Health Organization, vaccine-induced immunity saves about six lives every minute. But how long does this protective immune "memory" last? https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-closer-immune-memory-spur-lethal.html Tue, 14 Apr 2026 17:00:04 EDT news695403061