https://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. I was 12 when the worst heat waves hit our home in rural New South Wales, Australia. It was summer vacation, a few weeks after we'd celebrated Christmas. I sat at the kitchen table, next to the sheets draped as curtains over the front windows of our tin-roofed house, passing the long, hot hours with a 1,000-piece puzzle. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-climate-extreme-threat-human-health.html Thu, 24 Sep 2026 08:40:01 EDT news709448581 The scenario often unfolds like this: Medical researchers investigate a frequently used drug and report that it's less effective for older patients than previously thought, or that its risks outweigh its benefits in older adults. More studies follow, confirming those findings. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-common-drugs-older-adults-overusing.html Mon, 21 Sep 2026 18:40:07 EDT news709200254 A deadly hantavirus outbreak aboard the expedition cruise ship MV Hondius has triggered an international health response after at least three passengers died and several others fell ill during a voyage in the South Atlantic. Health officials across multiple countries are tracing passengers amid concerns over the rare Andes strain of hantavirus, which can spread through close human contact. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-05-hantavirus-outbreak-cruise-ship-transmission.html Fri, 08 May 2026 07:40:01 EDT news697437182 Scripps Research scientists have developed a new class of drug compounds that reduce harmful inflammation while leaving the body's ability to fight infections intact—a long-sought goal in treating autoimmune diseases. The compounds, called ENDOtollins, work by interrupting a "molecular handshake" between two proteins inside immune cells. The research, published in Nature Chemical Biology, could lead to more targeted treatments for conditions like lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and juvenile arthritis, which together affect more than 15 million Americans. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-class-molecules-dial-inflammation-compromising.html Mon, 06 Apr 2026 16:40:03 EDT news694711322 A comprehensive review published in Brain Medicine illuminates the intricate connections between gut microbiota and sleep regulation, establishing the microbiota-gut-brain axis as a critical pathway in understanding and potentially treating sleep disorders. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-11-exploring-interactions-gut-microbiota-disorders.html Tue, 04 Nov 2025 01:00:01 EST news681385093 As we head deeper into fall and toward the holiday season, your little one may start to exhibit symptoms like a runny nose, cough, or fever. But with the overlap between the common cold, influenza (the flu), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and COVID-19, it can be difficult to know what is behind their illness and how to treat it. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-10-cold-flu-rsv-covid-parent.html Tue, 21 Oct 2025 08:51:04 EDT news680255462 The kids are not all right. Four in 10 American high school students report prolonged feelings of sadness or hopelessness, a proxy for depression symptoms, according to a survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2023. That's up from three in 10 in 2013. Twenty percent said they had seriously considered suicide, up three points from 10 years earlier. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-07-science-antidepressants-kids-teens.html Wed, 30 Jul 2025 10:51:06 EDT news673091462 Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder that affects numerous systems of the body. It is a complicated disease that differs from person to person. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-06-cystic-fibrosis-expert-symptoms-treatments.html Tue, 24 Jun 2025 09:20:01 EDT news669974601 Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have identified biomarkers in the blood associated with symptoms of long COVID, particularly severe respiratory disorders. The discovery could pave the way for future diagnosis and treatment. The results are published in Nature Immunology. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-04-covid-biomarkers-blood-respiratory-problems.html Wed, 30 Apr 2025 13:35:03 EDT news665238902 Scientists have identified "immune pathways" during acute coronavirus infection that are associated with the development of long COVID, and while some pathways are the same for men and women, others differ dramatically along a sharp divide between the sexes. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-12-molecular-cellular-sharp-sex-covid.html Thu, 19 Dec 2024 07:10:01 EST news653745993 A cluster of people talking on social media about their mysterious rashes. A sudden die-off of birds at a nature preserve. A big bump in patients showing up to a city's hospital emergency rooms. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-11-health-surveillance-social-media-sewage.html Thu, 21 Nov 2024 11:20:02 EST news651410142 Treatment with the Type 2 diabetes medication metformin, lifestyle changes, or a combination of both did not improve atrial fibrillation (AFib) burden or progression when compared with standard care, according to preliminary late-breaking science presented Nov. 18 at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2024. The meeting, held Nov. 16–18, 2024, in Chicago, is a premier global exchange of the latest scientific advancements, research and evidence-based clinical practice updates in cardiovascular science. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-11-lifestyle-factor-afib-symptoms-burden.html Tue, 19 Nov 2024 13:30:01 EST news651244362 Researchers at the University of Alberta have pinpointed two proteins that could serve as markers for identifying patients with long COVID—a discovery that may lead to treatments that will bring better quality of life for the millions of people suffering from the debilitating condition. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-10-immune-cells-proteins-linked-covid.html Mon, 28 Oct 2024 09:34:04 EDT news649326841 The U.S. is currently in the midst of yet another West Nile virus (WNV) outbreak, with the CDC documenting 880 cases across 46 states so far this year. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-10-west-nile-infections-spiking-percentage.html Tue, 08 Oct 2024 09:50:01 EDT news647597659 Long COVID has a laundry list of symptoms—and a lesser-known but troubling one is the sensation of having internal tremors, often with no outward evidence that this is happening. In a new, Yale-based long COVID study, more than one-third of participants report experiencing this strange symptom, which feels as if tremors are occurring inside their bodies. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-08-internal-tremors-adding-covid-symptoms.html Wed, 28 Aug 2024 14:22:04 EDT news644073722 The trillions of bacteria living in our gut have an extraordinary effect on our health. They're in charge of digestion, breaking down the foods we eat and extracting their vitamins and minerals. A healthy, balanced microbiome also helps ward off infections and even lowers the risk of certain diseases. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-08-health-lungs-linked-bacteria-gut.html Thu, 08 Aug 2024 12:00:01 EDT news642335919 Wastewater surveillance hit the big time during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when officials started using this technique to monitor local virus levels. But my colleagues and I had been exploring wastewater's promise as a public health tool years before anyone had heard of SARS-CoV-2. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-06-wastewater-surveillance-reveals-pathogens-detroit.html Thu, 13 Jun 2024 14:44:05 EDT news637508642 In a clinical trial conducted by Stanford Medicine investigators and their colleagues, a 15-day course of Paxlovid—an antiviral drug combination targeting SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19—proved safe as an extended-duration treatment but didn't lessen select symptoms of the syndrome known as long COVID: the persistence, or reappearance, of COVID-related symptoms three months or more after an initial COVID-19 infection. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-06-clinical-trial-day-paxlovid-regimen.html Fri, 07 Jun 2024 15:00:01 EDT news636969242 People do not need to have tested positive for the coronavirus to be considered for a diagnosis of long COVID, a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine concludes. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-06-positive-covid-diagnosis-experts.html Thu, 06 Jun 2024 08:01:04 EDT news636879661 Findings from the largest UK study of patients hospitalized with SARS-CoV-2 infection show that long COVID leads to ongoing inflammation which can be detected in the blood. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-04-covid-telltale-blood.html Mon, 08 Apr 2024 15:49:06 EDT news631810142 Researchers who study long COVID say its debilitating symptoms are often misdiagnosed by clinicians and dismissed by employers or loved ones because so little is known about the new syndrome. The results can be devastating for individuals and their families—and for the economy. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-04-covid-falling.html Mon, 01 Apr 2024 14:27:27 EDT news631200444 COVID-19 illness may include symptoms such as a sore throat, fever, cough, and fatigue. In January, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued its most recent guidelines for the use of over-the-counter (OTC) drugs for COVID-19. Specifically, its guidelines state that most people with COVID-19 have mild illness and can recover at home while treating symptoms with OTC medicines such as acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil). https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-03-counter-drugs-covid-complicated.html Tue, 19 Mar 2024 13:43:50 EDT news630074628 Many people who were hospitalized with COVID-19 when the virus arrived in spring 2020 experienced a high rate of gastrointestinal problems and psychological trauma more than a year later, according to a recently published study led in Oklahoma by the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine. The research highlights the powerful relationship between the intestines and the brain, as well as a continued understanding of "long COVID" symptoms. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-03-digestive-problems-covid-linked-psychological.html Fri, 15 Mar 2024 15:13:50 EDT news629734416 It's easy to be complacent about COVID-19. Most people experience only mild issues—fever and coughing, maybe congestion and shortness of breath. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-01-covid-affects-heart-brain.html Thu, 18 Jan 2024 13:21:05 EST news624806461 Certain gut-dwelling fungi flourish in severe cases of COVID-19, amplifying the excessive inflammation that drives this disease while also causing long-lasting changes in the immune system, according to a new study led by investigators at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian. This discovery identifies a group of patients who may benefit from specialized, but yet-to-be determined treatments. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-10-highlights-gut-fungi-impact-severe.html Mon, 23 Oct 2023 13:11:04 EDT news617285461 Traditional medicines are part of the cultural heritage of many Africans. About 80% of the African continent's population use these medicines for health care. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-08-opinion-south-africa-traditional-medicines.html Wed, 30 Aug 2023 14:52:04 EDT news612625922 What causes long COVID? More than three years after the start of the pandemic, this remains the most bedeviling question about a mystifying syndrome estimated to affect some 65 million people globally—an epidemic in its own right with no clear end in sight. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-08-covid-troublesome-syndrome.html Thu, 10 Aug 2023 08:47:13 EDT news610876025 Since Fall 2021, an increasing number of unexplained cases of severe acute hepatitis have been reported in children. Epidemiologic investigation is ongoing, and, to date, a cause of these outbreaks has not been identified. Because adenovirus infection has been detected in some (but not all) cases, it is being investigated as one of many potential causes of the hepatitis. What are the primary known causes of hepatitis? https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-07-acute-hepatitis-unknown-children.html Fri, 28 Jul 2023 14:03:05 EDT news609771781 Long COVID, the condition where symptoms that surface after recovering from COVID-19 linger for weeks, months, or even years, is still a mystery to doctors and researchers. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-06-qa-specialists-covid.html Mon, 12 Jun 2023 13:50:01 EDT news605794713 Long COVID, or Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC), includes a wide range of symptoms that present or persist more than 30 days after COVID-19 infection. With over 650 million people globally having been infected with SARS-CoV-2, long COVID represents a significant public health concern that affects quality of life, earnings, and health care costs. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-05-framework-covid-highlights-signature-symptoms.html Thu, 25 May 2023 11:00:09 EDT news604224327