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. Chronic sleep disruption doesn't just leave people tired and irritable. It may quietly undermine the gut's ability to repair itself, increasing vulnerability to serious digestive diseases. A new study from the University of California, Irvine, the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences and the China Agricultural University reveals, step by step, how disturbed sleep causes the brain to send harmful signals to the intestines, ultimately damaging the stem cells responsible for maintaining a healthy gut lining. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-disruption-gut-ability-stress-brain.html Fri, 06 Feb 2026 12:40:03 EST news689602444 For many Americans, a routine surgical procedure serves as their first introduction to opioid pain medication. While most stop using these drugs as they heal, a considerable number of "opioid-naïve" patients transition into new persistent opioid use (NPOU)—continuing use long after the typical recovery period. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-key-predictors-chronic-opioid-surgery.html Thu, 05 Feb 2026 15:40:02 EST news689527882 Use of medications for mental health and behavioral conditions among children and young adults increased steadily for two decades, and about one in four young people taking these medicines were prescribed a combination that carries a risk of serious drug interactions, according to researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. They published their findings in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-young-people-psychotropic-drugs-dangerous.html Wed, 04 Feb 2026 13:20:59 EST news689433602 People born more recently are being diagnosed with psychotic disorders (e.g., schizophrenia) more often and at younger ages than people born earlier, suggests a large study of more than 12 million people in Ontario, published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-psychosis-generations-large-scale-canadian.html Mon, 02 Feb 2026 00:10:06 EST news688899001 Bipolar disorder (BD) is a major mental disorder, affecting 1% of the global population. Patients suffering from BD frequently experience manic and depressive episodes, which disrupt interpersonal relationships and social confidence. While conventional therapies can mitigate the symptoms for some patients, they are also associated with adverse effects and treatment resistance in many, highlighting the urgent need for pathology-driven diagnosis and therapeutic intervention. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-paraventricular-thalamic-nucleus-causative-region.html Wed, 28 Jan 2026 04:35:01 EST news688797206 Some symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder are more strongly associated with drinking problems in U.S. National Guard and military reserve members, even when other symptoms are more severe overall. Symptoms of hyperarousal in PTSD may particularly increase the likelihood of alcohol problems, as do avoidance and negative mood and thinking, according to a study published in Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research. The findings highlight the need for symptom-specific strategies to support military reservists in obtaining treatment for mental health and substance use issues. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-ptsd-symptoms-military-reservists-linked.html Mon, 26 Jan 2026 10:30:33 EST news688645802 Psychedelics are catching on in the United States, but not always to find one's third eye or reach another plane of reality, a new study, titled U.S. Psychedelic Use and Microdosing in 2025, suggests. An estimated 10 million U.S. adults microdosed psilocybin, LSD or MDMA in 2025, according to research published by the think-tank RAND. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-millions-americans-microdosing-psychedelics-survey.html Mon, 26 Jan 2026 09:40:09 EST news688641999 In June 2025, an elderly woman with dementia went missing in a forested area in Natuna, Indonesia, while tending to her plants. Search and rescue (SAR) teams were deployed to locate her. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-people-dementia-families-safe.html Thu, 22 Jan 2026 11:13:33 EST news688302782 Women diagnosed with premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) are at risk for more health problems than women who enter menopause after the age of 40. Although hormone therapy has been shown as a treatment to mitigate some of these added risks, a new study concludes that it is underused in women with POI. Study results are published online today in Menopause. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-hormone-therapy-underused-women-premature.html Wed, 21 Jan 2026 13:25:37 EST news688224301 "Come on, little fella—we should get going now." But my son was not listening. The sand in the playground was just right, so he kept digging with his new toy excavator. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-people-hangry-quickly.html Mon, 19 Jan 2026 21:40:01 EST news688042360 Diagnoses of depression, one of the most common mental disorders, increased by nearly 50% between 1990 and 2017, according to data from the World Health Organization (WHO). Currently, depression affects around 5% of the world's population. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-apps-depression-scientific-evidence.html Mon, 12 Jan 2026 11:41:38 EST news687440461 Parkinson's disease is no longer viewed as a faraway neurological ailment buried in textbooks. More than 10 million people are already affected worldwide, and the number is continually climbing. Men are somewhat more impacted than women, with the largest rise occurring in aging populations throughout Europe, North America, and portions of Asia. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-technologies-disease-dbs-focused-ultrasound.html Wed, 07 Jan 2026 09:03:57 EST news686998971 Researchers at University of Tsukuba have identified a previously uncharacterized neural circuit that directly links emotional processing to arousal. In the pathway, GABAergic neurons in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST)—part of the extended amygdala—promote wakefulness by activating glutamatergic neurons in the deep mesencephalic nucleus (DpMe) of the midbrain. This circuit may be a key mechanism underlying stress-induced sleep disturbances. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-12-newly-neural-pathway-links-emotional.html Thu, 18 Dec 2025 11:20:05 EST news685278893 In modern society, physical inactivity and sedentary behavior have become common issues globally. This trend is also growing among children, raising concerns for their mental and physical health. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-12-short-intensity-boost-function-elevate.html Wed, 17 Dec 2025 11:56:27 EST news685194961 When we are hungry, our mood often drops—a phenomenon known colloquially as "hangry." A new study by the University Hospital Bonn (UKB), the University of Bonn, and the University Hospital Center Tübingen now shows that this connection is not caused by unconscious metabolic processes. Rather, the decisive factor is that the lack of energy is consciously perceived as hunger—it is this conscious feeling of hunger that leads to a worse mood. These results have now been published in the journal eBioMedicine. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-12-conscious-perception-hunger-glucose-mood.html Tue, 09 Dec 2025 14:31:16 EST news684513061 Psilocybin is a psychedelic drug with promising clinical applications for treating mood disorders and substance abuse disorders. Recent work in functional MRI (fMRI) studies show that psychedelics can reset brain network activity—and it is thought that this effect, which can linger for days, might explain its therapeutic benefits. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-12-psychedelics-disrupt-link-brain-neuronal.html Tue, 09 Dec 2025 12:34:26 EST news684506041 People with depression have a more than doubled risk of developing epilepsy, a new study says. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-12-depression-epilepsy-harder.html Mon, 08 Dec 2025 08:40:08 EST news684405560 While reflecting on what we're thankful for during the holiday season, we often focus on the external: the company of loved ones. The nourishment of a shared meal. The homes in which we gather. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-11-holidays.html Thu, 27 Nov 2025 13:04:51 EST news683471066 Dopamine brings on a surge of pleasure, but too much dopamine in a synapse can ultimately lead to mood disorders and addiction. A recent preclinical study published in The FASEB Journal suggests that methamphetamine boosts dopamine levels by reversibly reducing the amount of a modification on the dopamine transporter. Loss of the modification decreases the transporter's ability to remove the neurotransmitter from synapses. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-11-methamphetamine-impairs-dopamine-uptake-protein.html Tue, 25 Nov 2025 13:05:03 EST news683298302 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is eliminating the prominent "black box" warnings on many hormone replacement therapy (HRT) medications, signaling a major shift in how the treatment is viewed for menopausal women. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-11-fda-major-hormone-therapy.html Sat, 15 Nov 2025 15:30:02 EST news682183606 Higher levels of greenness are associated with lower risks of hospital admissions for mental disorders, finds an analysis of data from seven countries over two decades, published in The BMJ's climate issue. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-11-greater-exposure-greenness-linked-hospital.html Wed, 05 Nov 2025 18:30:06 EST news681556898 Scrolling on your phone before bed may not be as bad for your sleep as we once thought. New research from Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) and the Université Laval suggests nightly screen use does not contribute to poor sleep among adults. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-11-night-bed.html Wed, 05 Nov 2025 09:00:01 EST news681497942 Feeling sluggish? A new study from The University of Texas at Arlington finds the fix may be as simple as swapping 30 minutes of sitting for light activity. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-10-movement-mood.html Thu, 23 Oct 2025 15:33:03 EDT news680452382 Growing up has never been easy. Being a teenager can feel like a roller coaster. One minute life is fun, and the next it feels like everything is falling apart. Teens face pressure to wear the right clothes, make the right friends and get good grades—all while their bodies and minds are changing. Mood swings, eye rolls and even slammed doors may be part of the territory, but how can adults know when those behaviors are typical and when they might signal something more serious? https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-10-hard-teen-moodiness.html Tue, 21 Oct 2025 09:43:03 EDT news680258581 Two new research papers from the Living Brain Project at Mount Sinai present what is, by several metrics, the largest investigation ever performed of the biology of the living human brain. The papers present unequivocal evidence that brain tissue from living people has a distinct molecular character, an observation that until now was missed because brain tissue from living people is rarely studied. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-10-brain-tissue-reveals-unique-rna.html Wed, 15 Oct 2025 15:19:04 EDT news679760342 Research led by the Karolinska Institutet reports that offspring of parents with mental disorders face increased mortality, with the highest risks for unnatural deaths and when both parents had diagnoses. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-10-children-parents-mental-disorders-higher.html Wed, 08 Oct 2025 07:50:01 EDT news679120861 Hormonal changes during menopause can drive suicidal thoughts—a crisis that health care services have failed to recognize or adequately address. The devastating link is laid bare in research my colleagues and I conducted recently. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-10-mental-toll-menopause-women.html Tue, 07 Oct 2025 14:50:04 EDT news679067402 Alzheimer's disease not only robs people of their memory but also affects mood, often causing anxiety and depression. Until now, scientists haven't fully understood how these symptoms are connected in the brain. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-10-uncovers-brain-pathways-alzheimer-memory.html Mon, 06 Oct 2025 10:22:03 EDT news678964921 A new multi-institutional study, led by University Hospitals Connor Whole Health, found that adults with newly diagnosed low back pain with or without sciatica who initially received spinal manipulative therapy administered by a chiropractor were significantly less likely to be diagnosed with opioid use disorder over a two-year follow-up compared to those prescribed ibuprofen. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-10-chiropractic-reduction-opioid-disorder-patients.html Fri, 03 Oct 2025 12:22:04 EDT news678712922 A study from Taipei Medical University reveals how disruptions in the body's internal clock (caused by modern life and certain mood medications) can interfere with women's hormonal health and potentially worsen mood disorders. This research underscores the need for more rhythm-aware treatments that balance mental health and hormonal well-being. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-09-disrupted-mood-drugs-impact-women.html Thu, 18 Sep 2025 14:40:01 EDT news677424661