https://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Obesity and older age are strongly associated with low-grade inflammation in the body, a condition that appears closely linked to cognitive decline and dementia. A recent Baycrest study has found that participants with elevated inflammation levels make up roughly two-thirds of those with cognitive impairment, compared with only about one-third of cognitively healthy adults. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-obesity-aging-links-inflammation-cognitive.html Mon, 09 Feb 2026 17:06:44 EST news689879161 Why do some people live to 100 while their sibling dies decades earlier? Is it luck, lifestyle, or something written into their DNA? Relative to many other species, humans are particularly long-lived, but there is an ongoing argument about how much of our long lifespan is shaped by our genes and how much to our environment. It's the old "nature versus nurture" debate. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-twins-reveals-genes-environment-longevity.html Sat, 07 Feb 2026 08:30:03 EST news689355944 Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States. February is American Heart Month, established in 1964 by President Lyndon B. Johnson to encourage Americans to prioritize and protect their heart health. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-qa-american-heart-month-spotlights.html Sat, 07 Feb 2026 05:13:56 EST news689663603 Americans could be facing an uphill battle when it comes to protecting their heart health as they age, a new Cleveland Clinic poll reveals. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-americans-optimistic-heart-health-prospects.html Fri, 06 Feb 2026 15:00:05 EST news689596172 If you've ever been constipated you may have tried laxatives. They're easy to get without a prescription and often help get things moving. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-regularly-laxatives-term-bad-idea.html Tue, 03 Feb 2026 19:30:01 EST news689338402 A new Crohn's & Colitis Foundation–led survey of more than 1,500 people living with or at risk for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) found that 93% would be interested in a test to predict their or their family's risk of developing IBD in the future. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-survey-ibd-community-strategies.html Tue, 03 Feb 2026 09:00:03 EST news689244302 Four out of five American adults with high blood pressure don't have their condition under control, putting them at increased risk for heart disease and dementia, a new study says. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-high-blood-pressure-uncontrolled-americans.html Tue, 03 Feb 2026 07:20:12 EST news689324878 Being more active in the morning or afternoon is not just a matter of personal preference. Chronotype, which is each person's biological tendency to function better at certain times of the day, can play a significant role in preserving muscle mass, as well as its quality and strength, and also in metabolic health. Understanding this relationship can help explain why not everyone responds the same way to the same health routines. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-night-owl-early-bird-chronotype.html Fri, 30 Jan 2026 14:20:02 EST news689002459 Genetic ancestry plays a key role in determining the behavior of head and neck tumors and may help explain why African-American patients survive for half as long as their counterparts of European ancestry, according to a new review study led by researchers from the University of Maryland School of Medicine's (UMSOM) Institute for Genome Sciences (IGS) and the University of Maryland Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center (UMGCCC). https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-genetic-ancestry-critical-component-neck.html Fri, 30 Jan 2026 09:01:47 EST news688986061 Middle-aged and older adults who were more active in the evenings had poorer cardiovascular health compared to their peers who were more active during the day. This may be especially true among women, according to new research published in the Journal of the American Heart Association. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-night-owl-heart.html Wed, 28 Jan 2026 05:00:14 EST news688639742 New research in Brain & Behavior has found a link between screen time and adolescents' sleep quality and beliefs about healthy lifestyles. In the study of 700 teens attending two high schools in the Black Sea region of Turkey, questionnaire responses revealed that participants who spent more time exposed to screens tended to have lower sleep quality. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-link-screen-teens-lifestyle-habits.html Wed, 28 Jan 2026 03:10:05 EST news688725481 Lack of exercise among adolescents affects more than just their physical condition. It turns out that the problem is complex, because the sedentary lifestyle of young people may translate into worse well-being of their parents, according to a study by an international team led by researchers from SWPS University. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-physical-adolescents-parents-mood-linked.html Tue, 27 Jan 2026 17:04:32 EST news688755841 Unhealthy cholesterol levels are a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke. When lifestyle changes like diet and exercise aren't enough to lower cholesterol, medications can help. A new national survey commissioned by The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center shows that while most Americans have heard of statins—the most common medicine used to lower cholesterol—many do not know there are non-statin medications. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-statin-gap-survey-reveals-americans.html Tue, 27 Jan 2026 11:31:03 EST news688735802 Menopause is linked to reductions in gray matter volume in key brain regions as well as increased levels of anxiety and depression and difficulties with sleep, according to new research from the University of Cambridge. The study, published in Psychological Medicine, found that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) does not appear to mitigate these effects, though it can slow the decline in reaction times. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-menopause-linked-loss-gray-brain.html Mon, 26 Jan 2026 19:00:05 EST news688642326 Creatine is one of the most popular sports supplements out there. It's shown to help build muscle and improve strength, boost speed and power in athletes and benefit sports performance all around. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-creatine-women-supplement-diet.html Mon, 26 Jan 2026 13:41:49 EST news688657262 High blood pressure at birth may be an early warning sign, setting the stage for cardiovascular disease later in life. A longitudinal study, the ENVIRONAGE birth cohort, set out to understand whether blood pressure (BP) levels at the very beginning of life could help predict the risk of hypertension later in childhood. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-high-blood-pressure-birth-hypertension.html Mon, 26 Jan 2026 10:00:01 EST news688643149 For adults with type 2 diabetes (T2D), surgery is superior to medical therapy for reducing hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels and achieving weight loss, regardless of social deprivation, according to a study published online Jan. 20 in the Annals of Internal Medicine. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-surgery-medical-therapy-diabetes-social.html Fri, 23 Jan 2026 12:23:29 EST news688393382 Preventing high blood glucose (pre-diabetes) from turning into type 2 diabetes with lifestyle changes could more than halve the carbon footprint associated with treating the complications of the disease, suggests a modeling study, published in the journal BMJ Open. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-diabetes-halve-carbon-footprint-linked.html Tue, 20 Jan 2026 18:30:09 EST news688056317 Regularly doing a mix of different types of physical activity may be best for prolonging the lifespan, but the associations aren't linear, pointing to a possible optimal threshold effect, suggests research published in the journal BMJ Medicine. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-physical-longer-life.html Tue, 20 Jan 2026 18:30:06 EST news688055941 Poor sleep, psychological distress, socioeconomic disadvantage and bad eating habits are strongly linked to greater risk of suicidal thoughts among adolescents, according to new research from the University of the Sunshine Coast. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-poor-distress-disadvantage-linked-suicidal.html Mon, 19 Jan 2026 12:21:50 EST news688047661 Women aged younger than 45 years who experience menopause are at a higher risk of coronary heart disease and stroke. However, despite such diabetes-related risk factors as increased fat and insulin resistance occurring during menopause, a new large-scale study found no independent relationship between age or type of menopause and the onset of diabetes. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-diabetes-menopause.html Wed, 14 Jan 2026 05:12:49 EST news687589922 Diabetes, a metabolic disease, is on the rise worldwide, and over 90% of cases are type 2 diabetes, where the body does not effectively respond to insulin. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-blood-metabolite-signature-diabetes.html Wed, 14 Jan 2026 05:00:06 EST news687458761 How can we influence whether we develop Alzheimer's disease later in life? Neurodegeneration researchers at the Institute for Regenerative Medicine are systematically examining the factors that trigger the onset of the disease—and those that shield us against it. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-personalized-strategies-alzheimer-individual-factors.html Tue, 13 Jan 2026 21:10:01 EST news687526403 In a small mining town in South Africa's Limpopo province, young people are showing worrying signs of diseases that were once thought to affect only older adults. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-high-cholesterol-insulin-resistance-young.html Mon, 12 Jan 2026 13:45:26 EST news687447901 UK ex-servicewomen are significantly more likely to experience health conditions such as COPD, osteoarthritis and obesity than civilian women, according to a comprehensive new research report published today. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-uk-servicewomen-higher-copd.html Thu, 08 Jan 2026 13:07:31 EST news687100022 Researchers at the University of Liverpool have led the largest study to date demonstrating the significant benefits of lifestyle interventions in reducing the risk of gestational diabetes. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-lifestyle-interventions-pregnancy-proven-gestational.html Wed, 07 Jan 2026 12:40:04 EST news687011894 A small set of common blood biomarkers predicts which older adults will develop specific combinations of chronic diseases—and how quickly, according to a new study from Karolinska Institutet published in Nature Medicine. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-blood-reveals-multimorbidity-older-adults.html Wed, 07 Jan 2026 09:48:55 EST news687001681 A new paper published in The Gerontologist provides the most comprehensive scientific response to date addressing recent critiques of the so-called "Blue Zones," regions of the world known for unusually high concentrations of people living long, healthy lives. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-scientific-validity-blue-zones-longevity.html Mon, 05 Jan 2026 15:53:23 EST news686850782 Obesity is a growing national health crisis, with nearly 40% of U.S. adults affected and about 10% having a severe form of the disease. Although weight-loss drugs are surging in popularity and have reshaped conversations on obesity, experts at an American College of Surgeons (ACS) news conference emphasized that most patients benefit from individualized care involving more than one treatment approach. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-surgeons-obesity-isnt-willpower-treatable.html Mon, 05 Jan 2026 08:55:34 EST news686825701 A steady uptick on the scales is a nasty side effect of middle age. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-12-middle-age.html Mon, 29 Dec 2025 19:50:01 EST news686209631