https://medicalxpress.com/ en-us provides the latest news from University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston The risk of Alzheimer's disease significantly decreases in older adults who receive a higher dose of the influenza vaccine compared to the standard dose, according to new research led by UTHealth Houston. The findings are published in Neurology. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-alzheimer-high-dose-influenza-vaccination.html Wed, 01 Apr 2026 17:40:03 EDT news694280161 Oral Cancer Awareness Month is observed every April, and it highlights the urgent need for early detection. According to the American Cancer Society, oral and oropharyngeal cancers still claim about one life every hour in the U.S. This year, 59,600 Americans will be diagnosed with oral or oropharyngeal cancer. Many people are unaware of symptoms because early stages often cause no pain and may be inconspicuous. Most cases are diagnosed late, when treatment is harder and survival drops. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-hidden-dangers-oral-cancer.html Wed, 01 Apr 2026 16:30:05 EDT news694274708 Multiple regions of the brain engage in fast-moving conversations to understand language, UTHealth Houston researchers have discovered, dispelling a prior school of thought that only one region of the brain was responsible for language processing. The research, led by Nitin Tandon, MD, professor of neurosurgery at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston and director of the Texas Institute for Restorative Neurotechnologies at UTHealth Houston, was published in PLOS Biology. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-language-requires-rapid-brain-regions.html Wed, 01 Apr 2026 14:20:02 EDT news694265041 The community-based opioid treatment program Honor's HEROES at UTHealth Houston may significantly improve treatment retention and quality of life for people with opioid-use disorder, even among those facing major barriers such as homelessness, lack of insurance, and prior overdose, according to a new study published in the Journal of Addiction Medicine. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-03-recovery-significantly-quality-life-people.html Sun, 22 Mar 2026 19:30:03 EDT news693068738 Colorectal cancer, a type of cancer that affects the colon or rectum, is the second leading cause of cancer-related death and the third most common cause of death or type of cancer. It is the No. 1 cause of cancer-related death for men and women under 50. Roughly one in 24 people will develop colorectal cancer. Though declining in older adults due to screening, cases are rising by nearly 3% per year in adults under 50. While often asymptomatic in early stages, it is highly preventable through screening and highly treatable if detected early. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-03-qa-colorectal-cancer-prevalence-young.html Sun, 22 Mar 2026 15:30:05 EDT news693155790 The prevalence of physical activity among the global population has remained low for the last two decades despite a majority of countries making notable progress in developing policies that include physical activity, UTHealth Houston researchers have found. The study is published in Nature Health and was led by principal investigator Andrea Ramírez Varela, MD, Ph.D., MPH, assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology at UTHealth Houston School of Public Health. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-03-global-physical-decades-guideline.html Mon, 09 Mar 2026 17:40:01 EDT news692285761 A study by researchers at UTHealth Houston concludes that fetoscopic ablation is an alternative treatment for select cases of vasa previa. The findings were published in Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-fetoscopic-ablation-shown-prematurity-vasa.html Tue, 24 Feb 2026 08:11:51 EST news691142922 The Spanish-language stroke-recognition acronym RÁPIDO, which was developed at UTHealth Houston, shows encouraging results in boosting early stroke awareness among Spanish-speaking adults. These results were recently published in the journal Stroke. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-early-symptom-recognition-tool-spanish.html Wed, 11 Feb 2026 09:17:47 EST news690023402 Therapies that target the utilization of fat by tumors and activate a type of cell death dependent on fat molecules may be a promising avenue to treat cancer, according to new research by UTHealth Houston. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-therapies-specific-cell-death-effective.html Tue, 13 Jan 2026 20:30:01 EST news687534267 A new study led by researchers at UTHealth Houston investigated both gene expression and regulation at single cell levels to reveal disruptions in gene function in three brain regions of patients with sporadic early onset Alzheimer's disease. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-gene-disruptions-sporadic-early-onset.html Tue, 13 Jan 2026 16:42:23 EST news687544862 An average of seven guns were stolen out of cars in San Antonio each day in 2024, according to researchers at UTHealth Houston. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-san-antonio-average-guns-day.html Tue, 09 Dec 2025 16:30:11 EST news684520201 A new oral GLP-1 medication can help adults with obesity and type 2 diabetes lose more weight and improve their blood sugar levels compared to a placebo, according to findings from the ATTAIN-2 trial led by a UTHealth Houston researcher. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-11-daily-oral-glp-pill-alternative.html Sun, 23 Nov 2025 10:30:01 EST news682867661 Patients who undergo general anesthesia while receiving a specialized surgery to treat strokes have better outcomes than patients who are moderately sedated, according to new research led by UTHealth Houston. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-11-general-anesthesia-clot-surgery-neurological.html Wed, 05 Nov 2025 13:20:06 EST news681570834 Individuals with a genetic profile that puts them at risk of obesity may not necessarily be at risk of having high cholesterol, UTHealth Houston researchers discovered. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-10-genetic-variants-simultaneously-bmi-cholesterol.html Tue, 28 Oct 2025 07:31:04 EDT news680855462 Body mass index (BMI) alone may not be enough to measure someone's risk of cardiometabolic disease, according to researchers at UTHealth Houston. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-10-bmi-cardiometabolic-disease-adults.html Mon, 20 Oct 2025 08:29:04 EDT news680167742 Epilepsy patients who experience breathing interruptions after a seizure may be at a higher risk of sudden unexpected death later in life, according to researchers at UTHealth Houston. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-09-seizures-factor-unexpected-death-epilepsy.html Thu, 18 Sep 2025 15:54:03 EDT news677429641 Teaching healthy relationship skills to middle school students can help prevent adolescent relationship abuse and lead to better mental health outcomes—including reduced depression—years later, according to researchers at UTHealth Houston. The study was published today in the Journal of Adolescent Health. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-05-reveals-term-mental-health-benefits.html Mon, 12 May 2025 13:08:04 EDT news666274082 Some public transit shelter designs can actually do more harm than good when it comes to shielding from summer temperatures, according to a study led by UTHealth Houston. https://phys.org/news/2025-05-bus-relief-result-higher-temps.html Thu, 01 May 2025 14:25:04 EDT news665328302 The molecular mechanism behind why heart attacks can vary in severity depending on the time of day has been uncovered by researchers at UTHealth Houston, potentially paving the way for innovative treatments that align with the natural circadian rhythm. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-04-molecular-link-heart-severity-circadian.html Wed, 23 Apr 2025 14:37:04 EDT news664637821 An imbalance in ligands, which are molecules produced by the body and the gut microbiota, can affect a key receptor protein that plays a role in brain inflammation after stroke, according to researchers at UTHealth Houston, who recently published their preclinical findings in Nature Communications. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-03-gut-microbiota-imbalance-brain-inflammation.html Tue, 25 Mar 2025 10:20:03 EDT news662116801 Male adolescents and young adults with cancer have a slightly elevated risk of having preterm birth and children with low birth weight, but no increased risk of birth defects in their offspring, according to research by UTHealth Houston. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-01-children-born-young-men-cancer.html Thu, 16 Jan 2025 16:21:42 EST news656266893 Large and rare duplications and deletions in a chromosome region known as 22q11.2 , which involves genes that regulate cardiac development, are linked to nonsyndromic bicuspid aortic valve disease, according to a new study led by UTHealth Houston researchers. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-01-team-links-gene-duplications-deletions.html Wed, 15 Jan 2025 16:27:19 EST news656180830 Recent research led by UTHealth Houston scientists has uncovered two genes associated with variants linked to epilepsy, which showed specific traits that make them promising diagnostic biomarkers. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-01-genetic-discovery-personalized-epilepsy-treatments.html Mon, 06 Jan 2025 16:58:04 EST news655405082 As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more prevalent in health care, organizations and clinicians must take steps to ensure its safe implementation and use in real-world clinical settings, according to an article co-written by Dean Sittig, Ph.D., professor at McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics at UTHealth Houston, and Hardeep Singh, MD, MPH, professor at Baylor College of Medicine. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-11-publish-guidance-ai-safety-clinical.html Wed, 27 Nov 2024 16:05:14 EST news651945912 Alcohol use was the most common predictor of escalating cannabis vaping among youth and young adults, independent of demographic factors, according to research by UTHealth Houston published in the journal Social Science & Medicine. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-11-alcohol-common-predictor-escalated-cannabis.html Mon, 25 Nov 2024 06:25:23 EST news651738318 Adolescents who meet the recommended guidelines of 9 to 11 hours of sleep per day were shown to have a significantly lower risk of hypertension in a new study from UTHealth Houston. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-11-adequate-significantly-hypertension-adolescents.html Mon, 11 Nov 2024 17:05:03 EST news650567101 Medicare-certified home health agencies, which are key to allowing older adults to age in place, are increasingly going through ownership changes, raising concerns about health care spending, workforce, and quality of care, according to a study by UTHealth Houston. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-11-ownership-home-health-agencies-medicare.html Mon, 04 Nov 2024 12:18:40 EST news649945115 A device that delivers direct stimulation to the brain was found to be a safe and effective means of treating depression at home, according to a study by researchers at UTHealth Houston; the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King's College London; and the University of East London. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-10-home-brain-depression-safe-effective.html Mon, 21 Oct 2024 11:00:02 EDT news648718562 Cardiovascular health behaviors and overall cardiovascular health were directly associated with adolescent brain development and cognitive function, according to UTHealth Houston research published recently in the journal Mental Health and Physical Activity. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-09-heart-healthy-indicators-behaviors-adolescents.html Mon, 16 Sep 2024 11:38:03 EDT news645705481 Avian influenza A(H5N1) virus, which spread to cattle and infected 14 people this year, was detected using virome sequencing in the wastewater of 10 Texas cities by researchers at UTHealth Houston and Baylor College of Medicine. The virome is the collection of viruses in a sample, in this case a wastewater sample. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-09-avian-flu-wastewater-texas-cities.html Thu, 12 Sep 2024 10:09:03 EDT news645354541