https://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Anyone who has had a bad night knows that they can feel "foggy" the next day. This fogginess may extend to our memory: remembering where we went, who we met or what happened during the encounter. Neuroscientist Robbert Havekes from the University of Groningen studies memory loss due to sleep deprivation. In a study published in the journal Science Advances on June 10, Havekes and lab member and first author Adithya Sarma show that sleep deprivation makes mice forget social encounters. However, they found that the social memories are not gone; the mice just can't seem to recall them. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-sleepy-mice-met-asthma-drug.html Thu, 11 Jun 2026 12:40:10 EDT news700396682 Researchers at the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine have discovered new information about how type 2 diabetes develops and how future treatments may help protect insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. The study, published in the journal Metabolites, was led by Ohio University researchers Brian List, Nicholas Whitticar, Kathryn Corbin and Craig Nunemaker, Ph.D., associate professor and Osteopathic Heritage Foundation Ralph S. Licklider, D.O., endowed faculty fellow in diabetes and islet biology. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-uncover-diabetes.html Thu, 11 Jun 2026 12:20:03 EDT news700397821 Researchers from Amsterdam UMC have overturned a key assumption in the biological pacemaker field. In a new preclinical study, they show that the transcription factor TBX18 does not generate true biological pacemaker activity, while the ion channel Hcn2 does produce robust pacemaker function in the heart. The findings have been published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-biological-pacemaker-dogma-tbx18-hcn2.html Thu, 11 Jun 2026 12:00:01 EDT news700321047 Scientists have made great progress in harnessing the body's own immune cells to treat so-called liquid tumors, cancers of the blood and lymphatic system. Yet these powerful cell therapies have been no match for solid tumors, which are tough to access and secrete signals that can stifle immune cells that get too close. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-supercharged-natural-killer-cells-suppress.html Thu, 11 Jun 2026 11:40:13 EDT news700395061 Countries across the globe are on high alert as health workers race to contain an outbreak of the Ebola virus in Central and East Africa that has killed more than 100 people and infected almost 570, according to data from the World Health Organization, or WHO. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-ebola-quarantine-legal-expert.html Thu, 11 Jun 2026 11:40:11 EDT news700393742 Millions of people worldwide are periodically or chronically affected by gut-related conditions, such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and gastroenteritis. Uncovering the physiological and biological processes that contribute to gut health could thus be highly valuable, as it might help devise more effective interventions to prevent and treat these ailments. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-gut-microbes-hormone-movement.html Thu, 11 Jun 2026 11:20:08 EDT news700394620 As the debate over the value of adding fluoride to public drinking water percolates in communities across the nation, a new nationally representative survey from the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania finds Americans sharply divided over the use of fluoride in public drinking water. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-americans-fluoridation-opposition-maha-notable.html Thu, 11 Jun 2026 11:20:01 EDT news700393141 The same memory can feel vivid and accessible one moment, yet stubbornly out of reach the next—even when the memory itself remains intact. A research team led by Professor Hiroshi Nomura at the Institute of Brain Science, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, has identified a neural mechanism that may explain this variability. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-moment-memory-access-histamine-neuron.html Thu, 11 Jun 2026 11:00:02 EDT news700326601 While online research is a useful way to reach people who may not take part in in-person studies, researchers are increasingly concerned that fake, automated and duplicate survey responses can reduce data quality and compromise findings. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-fraud-critical-online-health.html Thu, 11 Jun 2026 10:40:04 EDT news700392422 Remote monitoring isn't a panacea for reducing readmissions across all conditions—and for some patients, clinicians should proceed with caution, clinical trial results published in JAMA Network Open suggest. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-remote-readmissions-sepsis-trial.html Thu, 11 Jun 2026 10:30:01 EDT news700302841 Researchers at RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences have developed an artificial model of the mitral heart valve that faithfully mimics the valve's complex mechanical behavior in the human heart. The study could help researchers better understand valve disease and develop new treatment approaches. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-synthetic-mitral-valve-replicate-heart.html Thu, 11 Jun 2026 10:20:09 EDT news700391222 Adolescents who spend at least two hours a day on social media are more likely to experience depressive symptoms and poorer well-being, with the strongest effects in early adolescence, according to new research. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-social-media-linked-poorer-mental.html Thu, 11 Jun 2026 10:10:02 EDT news700387561 Led by Marie-Pierre Sylvestre, a professor at the School of Public Health at the Université de Montréal, the researchers drew on Quebec data from COMPASS, a pan-Canadian longitudinal study of the health behaviors of secondary school students. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-cannabis-teens-likelier.html Thu, 11 Jun 2026 10:00:02 EDT news700389727 Enterobactin, a molecule produced by gut bacteria, may hold a surprising key to reducing intestinal inflammation—not by attacking the immune system directly, but by temporarily slowing down the cell's own energy production. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-gut-bacteria-molecule-ease-colitis.html Thu, 11 Jun 2026 09:40:06 EDT news700388582 Sjögren's disease is a widespread chronic autoimmune disorder that attacks the body's own glands, yet its underlying disease mechanisms remain poorly understood. In a recent study, researchers from Japan discovered a self-reinforcing loop between different immune cells that sustains autoimmune responses in patients with Sjögren's disease. Their findings pave the way for safer and more effective therapies. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-scientists-reveal-autoimmune-vicious-sjgren.html Thu, 11 Jun 2026 09:00:04 EDT news700386541 People in Los Angeles who use illicit fentanyl regularly consume quantities of the drug equivalent to morphine doses hundreds of times higher than fentanyl doses used in hospitals. This use is far beyond what addiction treatment protocols were designed to address. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-people-illicit-fentanyl-consume-daily.html Thu, 11 Jun 2026 07:00:03 EDT news700375442 Teenage risk-taking, such as experimentation with alcohol, cannabis, nicotine and other substances, may reflect a compensatory response to lower baseline dopamine, the brain chemical for reward activity, a new University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine study published in Nature Communications suggests. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-dopamine-teen-age.html Thu, 11 Jun 2026 05:00:03 EDT news700300021 Researchers at the University of California San Diego have completed a massive genetic study that identifies key biological drivers of cocaine addiction, uncovering a potential new target for treatment that resides in the liver rather than the brain. The study, published in Nature Communications, used a genetically diverse group of nearly 900 rats to map the genetic markers associated with compulsive drug use. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-genetic-cocaine-addiction-brain-liver.html Thu, 11 Jun 2026 05:00:01 EDT news700299781 Gestational diabetes is most commonly associated with temporary disturbances in glucose metabolism during pregnancy. However, growing evidence shows that its consequences may extend far beyond pregnancy itself—affecting a child's health even before birth and increasing the risk of obesity, insulin resistance and diabetes later in life. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-gestational-diabetes-affect-child-health.html Thu, 11 Jun 2026 03:24:59 EDT news700367017 Skin is our protective barrier from the outside world, and it is highly susceptible to damage. To prevent infection, restore protective skin cells, and reduce scarring, it is essential to quickly and robustly close a wound. A new study, published in Advanced Science, shows that a multi-axis stretchable wound zipper (MSWZ) is effective in closing complex wounds quickly, improving wound healing. The MSWZ uses programmable force that can be personalized via mobile application, enhancing patient comfort and compliance. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-programmable-wound-zipper-complex-skin.html Thu, 11 Jun 2026 03:10:01 EDT news700299601 A novel study among Indigenous communities in Canada utilizing sharing circles as the primary method of qualitative data collection shows that heart health is shaped by emotional, spiritual, social, and systemic factors, with trauma strongly influencing how care is accessed and trusted. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-visual-storytelling-circles-reveal-community.html Thu, 11 Jun 2026 00:00:01 EDT news700296875 New research from the University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ) has found that most Australians living with dementia are unlikely to qualify for voluntary assisted dying (VAD) under current laws. Lead author Prof. Kerstin Braun explored how Australian VAD laws would need to change if states and territories chose to extend access to people living with dementia. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-australians-dementia-excluded-voluntary-dying.html Wed, 10 Jun 2026 23:20:04 EDT news700297639 California's ranks of uninsured residents could nearly double in the next four years—to nearly 4.6 million people—because of deep federal cuts to Medicaid and dramatic changes in federal and state policy, according to a new report from the UC Berkeley Labor Center. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-uninsured-californians.html Wed, 10 Jun 2026 22:40:03 EDT news700327861 The powerful role of exercise in maintaining skeletal muscle could be the key to improving health and resilience in older age, according to new research from Monash University. The new research, published on the bioRxiv preprint server, used preclinical models to uncover the key role a protein found in skeletal muscle, NOX4, plays in this process. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-secret-healthy-aging-skeletal-muscle.html Wed, 10 Jun 2026 21:20:03 EDT news700326134 For adults with obesity without diabetes, once-weekly survodutide, an investigational glucagon receptor-glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor dual agonist, is associated with greater reductions in body weight than placebo, according to a study published online June 7 in the New England Journal of Medicine to coincide with the annual meeting of the American Diabetes Association, held from June 5 to 8 in New Orleans. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-weekly-survodutide-linked-body-weight.html Wed, 10 Jun 2026 19:40:04 EDT news700324922 Patients hospitalized with a common form of heart failure could avoid later hospital stays—and dramatically lower health care costs—if they receive the full combination of four medications currently recommended in national treatment guidelines, according to research led by UCLA Health and published in JAMA Cardiology. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-drug-guidelines-heart-failure-hospitalizations.html Wed, 10 Jun 2026 19:20:02 EDT news700324501 Women who engage in light physical activity and lessen their sedentary time may significantly reduce the risk of key health problems during pregnancy, according to a new University of Iowa-led study. The paper, "Optimal 24-hour movement behaviour compositions across trimesters and risk of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy: the Pregnancy 24/7 cohort study," is published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-pregnant-women-key-health.html Wed, 10 Jun 2026 18:30:01 EDT news700241222 Among the top artificial intelligence companies, the current race is ultimately to build better, faster and more accurate algorithms. Artificial intelligence (AI) has become commonplace in every sector, including health care, and an increasing number of primary care physicians are turning to AI for everything from diagnoses to patient note transcriptions. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-transparency-vital-ai-usage-health.html Wed, 10 Jun 2026 18:20:01 EDT news700324381 Some alkaline mineral and medicinal waters may weaken the enteric coating of medications within just a few minutes, potentially reducing their effectiveness, according to a new study by Semmelweis University. The study, published in Pharmaceutics, found that if the active ingredient is released too early in the stomach rather than in the intestinal tract, it may reduce—and in extreme cases, even eliminate—the effectiveness of certain anti-reflux, gastroprotective, psychiatric or anti-inflammatory pain-relief medications. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-liquid-medication.html Wed, 10 Jun 2026 18:00:05 EDT news700329001 The COVID-19 pandemic pushed some households in India into difficult and often unsustainable coping strategies, forcing tradeoffs between immediate survival and long-term stability, according to new research by Lancaster University and the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IITK). https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-meals-assets-covid-coping-strategies.html Wed, 10 Jun 2026 18:00:01 EDT news700324321