https://medicalxpress.com/common-illnesses-prevention-news/ en-us Latest health news and information about Common Illnesses & Prevention There is no cure for HIV. While scientists have made considerable progress in controlling the infection, patients still must take daily antiretroviral medication for the rest of their lives. Results from a clinical trial led by Rockefeller, Imperial College London, and the University of Oxford (RIO) have offered a new strategy, suggesting that just one or two doses of broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) can suppress the virus long term, keeping it at undetectable levels for months and even years. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-immune-hiv.html Thu, 17 Sep 2026 15:00:08 EDT news708871262 Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) are the clinical gold standards for screening blood sugar levels, yet they provide only static snapshots that fail to reflect the highly dynamic and heterogeneous nature of metabolic impairment. However, continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) is reshaping our understanding of these levels. While the medical community already has begun capitalizing on CGM for diabetes management, a new study has the potential to change current clinical practices for cardiovascular disease risk stratification in individuals without diabetes. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-glucose-reveal-hidden-heart-patterns.html Thu, 17 Sep 2026 14:00:37 EDT news708863041 Researchers at the University of Konstanz have demonstrated at a molecular level how bacteria in the human gut influence the entire body. Among other things, they can lower blood sugar levels and reduce fatty liver disease. The work is published in the journal EMBO Molecular Medicine. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-gut-microbe-molecule-reveals-molecular.html Thu, 17 Sep 2026 13:00:08 EDT news708865681 Dizziness, fatigue, brain fog and a racing heart. They're commonly associated with long COVID, but new Adelaide University research suggests that for some people, these symptoms may also be indications of postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), a debilitating and difficult-to-diagnose condition. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-heart-reveal-overlap-covid-pots.html Thu, 17 Sep 2026 12:40:25 EDT news708865621 Chronic pain, including arthritis pain, affects more than one-third of U.K. adults. Current painkillers such as methotrexate and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) work by damping down the immune system, which is overproducing inflammatory agents that cause pain, but relief is often short-lived and incomplete, and they can leave patients more vulnerable to infection. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-body-warmth-sensor-secretly-pain.html Thu, 17 Sep 2026 12:20:07 EDT news708863822 As climate change drives more frequent and intense wildfires, researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have published two large-scale studies showing that wildfire smoke may pose greater health risks than other sources of air pollution, with higher risks of hospitalization for cardiovascular and respiratory disease and poorer survival among patients with lung cancer. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-wildfire-air-pollution.html Thu, 17 Sep 2026 11:40:01 EDT news708860221 Women with a higher body mass index (BMI) in early adulthood may have a lower risk of developing breast cancer after menopause because of lasting changes in the structure of their breast tissue, according to researchers at The University of Manchester and Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-early-adult-bmi-postmenopausal-breast.html Thu, 17 Sep 2026 11:20:12 EDT news708859861 Redness and pain at the injection site, fever, fatigue or headaches: Vaccines can cause side effects, but their frequency and severity vary considerably from person to person. Why? https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-vaccination-dont-side-effects.html Thu, 17 Sep 2026 10:40:38 EDT news708859801 Every year, around 1.9 million people worldwide are diagnosed with bowel cancer. To prevent the disease, many countries have introduced screening programs that enable more polyps to be detected and removed before cancer develops. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-trial-frequent-colonoscopies-safely-high.html Thu, 17 Sep 2026 10:20:13 EDT news708856921 The foundations of brain development are laid during a crucial period of pregnancy, and a common household plasticizer called DEHP may be quietly interfering with this process. Scientists have now found that prenatal exposure to DEHP is linked to higher autism spectrum disorder (ASD)- and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)-related symptoms at ages 2 and 4. The effects could be traced back to changes in gene networks that play a key role in brain development. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-plasticizer-exposure-pregnancy-linked-autism.html Thu, 17 Sep 2026 10:00:02 EDT news708856331 Type 2 diabetes increases the risk of chronic kidney disease, making prevention of kidney failure a key part of treatment. Newer diabetes medications, including GLP-1s and SGLT2 inhibitors, can reduce the risk of kidney disease, but previous studies have included large proportions of patients who already had signs of kidney damage, making it unclear whether the findings applied to patients without kidney damage. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-simple-urine-kidney-treatment-choices.html Wed, 16 Sep 2026 18:30:04 EDT news708794101 A team from the Department of Computational Biology at the University of Lausanne has developed an artificial intelligence model capable of estimating a person's retinal age from a simple photograph of the back of the eye. This measure provides information about health and the future risk of developing age-related diseases. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-ai-retinal-age-revealing-sex.html Wed, 16 Sep 2026 15:40:08 EDT news708788461 A little-known chronic lung disease is silently emerging as a growing public health threat in the U.S. and around the world. Nontuberculous mycobacteria—a group of 200 known environmental bacteria found in soil and water, including household plumbing—can cause chronic, tuberculosis-like lung infections. NTM lung disease afflicts as many as 300,000 Americans a year. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-diagnosis-hard-lung-infections.html Wed, 16 Sep 2026 14:00:21 EDT news708778382 An analysis of more than 60,000 respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) sequences from around the world found that viral variants associated with resistance to current RSV prevention tools remain rare, according to a study published in Nature. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-effectiveness-rsv-antibodies-infants-viral.html Wed, 16 Sep 2026 12:00:03 EDT news708778321