https://medicalxpress.com/preventive-medicine-news/ en-us Latest medical news and research in Preventive medicine Malaria is the deadliest climate-sensitive infectious disease. Yet researchers and public health officials have long argued over how climate change has shaped its spread. A new Nature study resolves this debate, providing the most comprehensive assessment to date. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-climate-redrawing-malaria-africa.html Wed, 29 Jul 2026 12:40:04 EDT news704545321 Sugar restriction during the first 1,000 days after conception may significantly reduce a person's risk of developing Alzheimer's by up to 46%. Those are the findings of a new study published in the journal npj Aging that examined the long-term effects of early-life nutrition on brain aging and lifelong mental health. The findings also suggest that some benefits may begin before birth. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-sugar-early-life-alzheimer.html Wed, 29 Jul 2026 10:40:08 EDT news704539618 According to The Danish Diabetes Association, about 100,000 Danes are unaware that they have type 2 diabetes, and approximately half a million Danes are estimated to have a precursor to type 2 diabetes, also known as prediabetes. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-length-upper-leg-diabetes.html Wed, 29 Jul 2026 10:40:02 EDT news704539805 Many Americans have heard about cholera only from "The Oregon Trail," the retro computer game in which players try to get their 1830s pioneers to the Oregon Territory. If your wagon train comes down with this highly contagious bacterial infection, the pioneers could die from diarrhea and dehydration before they get out of Nebraska. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-cholera-thousands-year-history.html Wed, 29 Jul 2026 10:20:05 EDT news704535062 Vaccinations have traditionally been administered in primary care settings or pharmacies. However, for about a decade, some states have authorized dentists to administer vaccines, and many others did so during the COVID-19 pandemic. The effectiveness of this approach has led some countries and states to expand or consider expanding the role of dental providers in delivering routine vaccines, including those against COVID-19 and the human papillomavirus (HPV), and in providing vaccine education. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-role-dental-rethinking-vaccines.html Wed, 29 Jul 2026 08:40:05 EDT news704530922 A world's first scabies control program has drastically reduced cases of the highly contagious parasitic skin disease in the Solomon Islands and Fiji, according to a new study. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-mass-ivermectin-drastically-scabies-pacific.html Wed, 29 Jul 2026 05:00:06 EDT news704455621 Nearly 23 million Americans with blood pressure of 130/80 mm Hg or higher may be eligible for blood-pressure-lowering medications based on the 2025 American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology guideline, according to new, independent research published in the Journal of the American Heart Association. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-independent-reveals-adults-high-blood.html Wed, 29 Jul 2026 05:00:01 EDT news704365971 Authorities in Uganda declared the East Africa nation free of Ebola on Tuesday following the discharge of the country's last patient in mid-June, a delicate milestone as the virus continues to plague neighboring Congo. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-uganda-declares-free-ebola-congo.html Wed, 29 Jul 2026 04:23:10 EDT news704517752 While Europe has made steady progress in preventing hepatitis B and C, with the prevalence of hepatitis B now at near-zero levels among children younger than 5, uneven implementation of key measures means the region is set to miss the 2030 target to eliminate viral hepatitis as a public health threat, according to new data from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) on World Hepatitis Day. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-hepatitis-europe-gaps.html Tue, 28 Jul 2026 20:40:01 EDT news704440926 New research led by UMC Utrecht shows that school closures during a pandemic outbreak are most effective when carefully targeted. The study, published in Nature Communications, demonstrates that the right strategy depends on which age groups are driving transmission at different stages of an outbreak. This study provides guidance for authorities, allowing them to make informed decisions regarding school closures in the event of a pandemic outbreak. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-school-closures-pandemic-response.html Tue, 28 Jul 2026 15:40:01 EDT news704463542 There was an energetic push to install air-filtering devices in schools and nursing homes when the COVID pandemic struck. However, these devices had rarely been tested in real-world situations for their effects on infection outcomes in people. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-air-filters-dont-infectious-respiratory.html Tue, 28 Jul 2026 14:00:08 EDT news704463487 Portable air filters made no difference to rates of respiratory and other infections in older people's long-term care facilities, a University of Bristol–led trial published in JAMA Internal Medicine has found. The study's authors advise long-term care facilities to continue with standard infection-control measures, including vaccines. A related paper is published in PLOS One. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-portable-air-filters-dont-infection.html Tue, 28 Jul 2026 11:20:01 EDT news704451531 Winter has a way of making the office, train and school pickup line feel like a giant Petri dish of germs and potential infection. It's also when many of us quietly let our exercise routines slide. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-regular-sick-winter.html Tue, 28 Jul 2026 11:00:01 EDT news704454002 Maintaining and improving quality of life (QOL) and extending a healthy lifespan are among the most important objectives for an aging society. A research group led by Dr. Keiko Odera and Dr. Ryoya Takahashi, a former professor, from the Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, has revealed that lifelong supplementation with PQQ and its derivative IPQ in senescence-accelerated mouse (SAM) P8 mice reduces mortality risk during midlife and delays the progression of aging and age-related decline in muscular function. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-lifelong-supplementation-midlife-mortality-mice.html Tue, 28 Jul 2026 10:40:04 EDT news704450827 What makes a diet healthy—or not? According to a new study, nutritional quality matters more than processing level when it comes to long-term health. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-term-health-diet-quality-food.html Tue, 28 Jul 2026 08:50:01 EDT news704357961 Nearly one-third of women and one-quarter of men engage in intentional outdoor tanning, with variation observed by age, race, physical activity level and alcohol use, according to a study published in JAMA Dermatology. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-women-men-engage-intentional-outdoor.html Mon, 27 Jul 2026 20:40:01 EDT news704357659 As long as there have been vaccines, there have been people who doubted their science and safety. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-vaccine-skeptics-storytelling-effectively-powerful.html Mon, 27 Jul 2026 16:40:04 EDT news704376301 New research has revealed a shift in the strains of invasive meningococcal disease circulating in Scotland during the COVID-19 pandemic. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-pandemic-reshapes-meningococcal-strains-scotland.html Mon, 27 Jul 2026 16:00:07 EDT news704367301 A previously eliminated disease—measles—is resurgent in Canada amid declining vaccination rates https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-vaccine-mis-disinformation-threat-health.html Mon, 27 Jul 2026 15:40:01 EDT news704375941 A new way to measure comorbidity—when a patient suffers from multiple diseases or health conditions—can be used to accurately predict a patient's risk of hospitalization and future health care costs across a population, Cornell researchers report. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-high-patients-future-health.html Mon, 27 Jul 2026 15:00:09 EDT news704375402 America is undercounting the number of suicide deaths, despite the rise in suicide rates in the 21st century, experts caution in a commentary published in the journal Injury Prevention. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-experts-suicides-undercounted.html Mon, 27 Jul 2026 14:20:02 EDT news704374373 As cigarette smoking reaches historic lows in the U.S., new research from MUSC Hollings Cancer Center suggests a fundamental shift in tobacco use is driving that trend. Younger adults are increasingly switching to noncombustible nicotine products, particularly electronic cigarettes, also known as e-cigarettes. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-shift-cigarettes-reshape-future-cancer.html Mon, 27 Jul 2026 12:00:08 EDT news704356901 Members of diasporas across the world, such as the large Indian diaspora, are influenced by the food and lifestyle of the countries where they live. The new societal factors they experience, together with differences in their genetic makeup, often uniquely affect their health outcomes for diseases like Alzheimer's and dementia. Comprehensive risk-assessment studies of various diasporas are needed to develop research and policies that address emerging health issues arising from global population movements. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-tracks-factors-alzheimer-disease-dementias.html Mon, 27 Jul 2026 10:00:01 EDT news704361962 An audit of toddler foods sold at 21 grocery stores in Texas revealed that 4 out of 5 products were ultra-processed and 49% of all products failed to meet at least one nutrient standard established by the World Health Organization (WHO) Nutrition and Promotion Profile Model (NPPM) for commercial foods intended for children ages 6–36 months. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-toddler-foods-grocery-shelves-ultra.html Mon, 27 Jul 2026 07:00:01 EDT news704346301 Jet lag threatens to turn even a dream vacation into a slog. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-jetting-summer-vacation-minimize-jet.html Sat, 25 Jul 2026 13:20:01 EDT news704204048 A 20-year study of more than 65,000 postmenopausal women found that higher adherence to the Planetary Health Diet was associated with a lower risk of overall cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease, stroke and heart failure. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-planetary-health-diet-linked-heart.html Sat, 25 Jul 2026 11:30:02 EDT news704101861 In 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued Phase I voluntary sodium reduction targets to encourage manufacturers to lower the amount of sodium in packaged food products by 2024. The targets appear to have had minimal impact, according to a study comparing the sodium content of new products introduced before and after the guidance was issued. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-fda-issued-sodium-yield-apparent.html Sat, 25 Jul 2026 09:20:01 EDT news704103660 A randomized controlled trial in Singapore found that, compared with offering clinician sampling alone, offering self-sampling or clinician sampling increased both high-risk HPV detection (3.1% vs. 0.3%) and overall screening uptake (56.6% vs. 42.8%). The findings were published in The Annals of Family Medicine. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-sampling-patients-hpv-cervical-cancer.html Fri, 24 Jul 2026 19:40:01 EDT news704104721 The number of measles cases in the U.S. has surpassed the record-breaking tally for all of 2025, with five more months of 2026 still to come. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-measles-cases-year.html Fri, 24 Jul 2026 13:00:04 EDT news704114654 Many of us have grown up with the mantra that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. But whether it's snatching an extra half hour of sleep or focusing on getting the kids out of the house, there are various reasons why assembling a healthy breakfast might slip down your list of priorities—especially on a weekday. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-worse-unhealthy-food-morning-day.html Fri, 24 Jul 2026 09:40:03 EDT news704101382