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. Medical artificial intelligence (AI) is often described as a way to make patient care safer by helping clinicians manage information. A new study by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and collaborators confronts a critical vulnerability: when a medical lie enters the system, can AI pass it on as if it were true? https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-medical-ai-large-llms-health.html Mon, 09 Feb 2026 18:30:05 EST news689848617 A significant discovery by Case Western Reserve University researchers could change how doctors treat two of the most devastating neurodegenerative diseases. The team identified a link between gut bacteria and the deterioration of the brain in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD). The researchers discovered that certain bacterial sugars cause immune responses that kill cells—and how to prevent it. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-gut-brain-discovery-bacterial-sugar.html Mon, 09 Feb 2026 16:00:03 EST news689869543 Cells from cancerous tumors can spread, or metastasize, throughout the body. Researchers have long sought to understand what determines where those cells will go and thrive in order to more effectively treat the cancer and prevent metastasis. Researchers at Yale School of Medicine (YSM) have now identified biological markers for a rare, aggressive eye cancer that predict the likelihood of secondary tumors forming in the liver. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-eye-cancer-genes-predetermine-liver.html Mon, 09 Feb 2026 09:59:52 EST news689853541 A team led by the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC) and Hospital Clínico Universitario de Valladolid has developed and clinically applied a minimally invasive technique that, for the first time, enables the treatment of defective mechanical aortic valves using a catheter-based approach. The procedure avoids high-risk open-heart surgery and opens new therapeutic possibilities for patients who previously had no realistic options. The two research groups, led respectively by Dr. Borja Ibáñez and Dr. Alberto San Román, are part of the Spanish cardiovascular research network CIBERCV. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-catheter-technique-mechanical-aortic-valves.html Sun, 08 Feb 2026 16:00:01 EST news689443180 Up to 40% of adults in the United States have chronic venous insufficiency, a condition in which veins in the legs don't function properly, preventing blood flow back to the heart. Miguel F. Manzur, MD, a vascular surgeon with the USC Cardiac and Vascular Institute, part of Keck Medicine of USC, shares what you need to know about chronic venous insufficiency, including symptoms, treatment and prevention. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-qa-chronic-venous-insufficiency-vascular.html Sun, 08 Feb 2026 10:00:06 EST news689596125 For lower-risk patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) for multivessel disease, radial artery plus one internal thoracic artery (SITA+RA) and bilateral ITA (BITA) utilization is increasing, with survival generally comparable through 15 years, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, held from Jan. 29 to Feb. 1 in New Orleans. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-effectiveness-multiartery-bypass-grafting-methods.html Sat, 07 Feb 2026 16:20:01 EST news689518266 Many middle-aged folks and seniors are shrugging off their annual flu or COVID-19 shot for a very simple reason, a new survey has found. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-older-americans-seasonal-vaccines.html Sat, 07 Feb 2026 11:30:03 EST news689503116 A research team led by the Department of Medicine, under the School of Clinical Medicine, LKS Faculty of Medicine of the University of Hong Kong (HKUMed), has synergized the impacts of worldwide clinical trial data through a series of meta-analyses on GLP‑1 receptor agonists, an emerging cardiometabolic drug, offering in-depth insights into its safety profile and novel therapeutic potential in treating cardiovascular diseases. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-synergizing-global-clinical-trials-glp.html Fri, 06 Feb 2026 14:40:01 EST news689583837 Ovarian cancer kills more women than any other gynecological cancer. Most patients receive their diagnosis only after the disease spreads throughout the abdomen. Until now, scientists have never fully understood why this cancer advances so fast. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-scientists-ovarian-cancer-rapidly-abdomen.html Fri, 06 Feb 2026 14:00:01 EST news689592481 In recent years, cancer researchers have made major breakthroughs by using the body's immune system to fight cancer. One of the most promising approaches, known as immune checkpoint blockade, works by releasing molecular "brakes" on T cells. This allows them to better recognize and attack cancer cells. While these therapies can be very effective for some patients, many solid tumors, including most forms of breast cancer, remain largely unaffected. Cancer Center at Illinois (CCIL) Program Co-leader Erik Nelson and his research group are working to understand why these treatments fail. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-abca1-protein-molecular-solid-tumor.html Fri, 06 Feb 2026 13:48:46 EST news689608082 As Hong Kong moves toward implementing landmark legislation to protect people's end-of-life care wishes, a research team at the LKS Faculty of Medicine at the University of Hong Kong (HKUMed) has developed and tested a pioneering tool to improve crucial conversations behind those decisions. The "Advance Care Planning Communication Assessment Tool" (ACP-CAT)—validated for the first time in real-world clinical settings—was used to assess 137 actual medical consultations facilitating advanced care planning. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-patients-life-key-topics-unasked.html Thu, 05 Feb 2026 18:10:01 EST news689518878 When she noticed an unusual craving for hot dogs, Matte'a Brooks suspected her body was telling her something, so she decided to take a pregnancy test. She took two just to be sure. Both were positive. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-youre-pregnant-uninsured-medicaid.html Thu, 05 Feb 2026 16:48:37 EST news689532482 Health policy changes in Washington will ripple through the country, resulting in millions of Americans losing their Medicaid or Affordable Care Act coverage. But there are still ways to find care. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-youre-uninsured.html Thu, 05 Feb 2026 16:46:40 EST news689532361 In modern medicine, antibiotics are among the most powerful tools for preventing and treating life-threatening bacterial infections. Their effectiveness, however, often depends on using the right drug at the right time. Recognizing this challenge, Yale researchers sought to better understand the prevalence of antibiotic allergy labels among patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation, which patients are most likely to carry them, and how often those labels reflect true allergy. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-antibiotic-allergy.html Thu, 05 Feb 2026 12:10:42 EST news689515801 Severe bleeding is one of the most common and preventable causes of death after traumatic injury, yet currently available tools have poor ability to determine which patients urgently need blood transfusions. A new multinational study, just published in Lancet Digital Health, suggests artificial intelligence (AI) may help close that gap. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-ai-tool-trauma-patients-blood.html Thu, 05 Feb 2026 10:08:57 EST news689508481 A research team has demonstrated that clopidogrel is more effective than aspirin as a long-term antiplatelet therapy in patients at high risk of recurrent cardiovascular events after coronary stent implantation. The team was led by Professors Joo-Yong Hahn, Young Bin Song, and Ki Hong Choi of the Division of Cardiology at Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, together with Professor Yong Hwan Park of Samsung Changwon Hospital. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-clopidogrel-shown-superior-aspirin-term.html Thu, 05 Feb 2026 10:00:40 EST news689508001 A Medicare-covered program that offers support and medical advice for caregivers of patients with dementia may bring more benefit than a costly Alzheimer's medication, research finds. UC San Francisco researchers have compared outcomes for patients in collaborative care programs with those taking lecanemab, one of two approved drugs that have been shown to slow progression of Alzheimer's in some patients. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-dementia-patients-easy-access-experts.html Thu, 05 Feb 2026 07:00:04 EST news689447281 Mass General Brigham investigators have developed a robust new artificial intelligence (AI) foundation model that is capable of analyzing brain MRI datasets to perform numerous medical tasks, including identifying brain age, predicting dementia risk, detecting brain tumor mutations and predicting brain cancer survival. The tool, known as BrainIAC, outperformed other, more task-specific AI models and was especially efficient when limited training data were available. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-ai-tool-brain-age-cancer.html Thu, 05 Feb 2026 05:00:03 EST news689447341 When Jeannine Urban went in for a checkup in November, she had her doctor's full attention. Instead of typing on her computer keyboard during the exam, Urban's primary care physician at the Penn Internal Medicine practice in Media, Pennsylvania, had an ambient artificial intelligence scribe take notes. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-doctors-ai-scribes-positive-hiccups.html Wed, 04 Feb 2026 18:10:01 EST news689411320 Ambient artificial intelligence tools that capture clinician-patient conversations and generate draft clinical notes are now widely used in U.S. hospitals but unevenly adopted, according to a new nationwide study from researchers at Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-hospitals-ambient-ai-gaps-region.html Wed, 04 Feb 2026 17:16:31 EST news689447761 A study of U.S. veterans led by investigators at Mass General Brigham has identified a possible link between exposure to the Agent Orange herbicide and a rare melanoma subtype less likely to be related to sun exposure. The authors of the study, published in JAMA Dermatology, say this link warrants further examination to inform diagnostic strategies for people who may be at a greater risk for acral melanoma. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-agent-orange-exposure-factor-rare.html Wed, 04 Feb 2026 16:43:32 EST news689445781 After developing an AI tool to recommend antidepressants based on medical history, George Mason University researchers are now examining whether additional patient demographics, such as race and ethnicity, can improve the tool's effectiveness. The answer is yes, according to their new research. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-pitfalls-size-ai-mental-health.html Wed, 04 Feb 2026 16:02:53 EST news689443322 Air ambulance pre-hospital care (HEMS) may make surviving critical injury more likely as it's associated with saving five more lives than would be expected in every 100 major trauma cases, suggests an analysis of survival data for one regional service in South East England, and published online in Emergency Medicine Journal. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-air-ambulance-pre-hospital-surviving.html Tue, 03 Feb 2026 18:30:07 EST news689319542 Patients with duplicate medical records are five times more likely to die after being admitted to hospital and three times more likely to require intensive care than those with a single medical record, reveals US research published online in the journal BMJ Quality & Safety. The findings prompt the researchers to call for improvements in data integrity and policy changes in health information management to boost patient safety. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-duplicate-medical-linked-heightened-inpatient.html Tue, 03 Feb 2026 18:30:05 EST news689319361 A study led by researchers at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine of Lleida (IRBLleida), the University of Lleida (UdL), the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) and Arnau de Vilanova University Hospital (HUAV) has developed and internally validated a clinical prediction model called the Goliat score, which can be used by emergency services to estimate the risk of acute complications in patients suffering from minor and moderate traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). The study was recently published in BMC Emergency Medicine. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-complications-days-mild-moderate-traumatic.html Tue, 03 Feb 2026 13:37:50 EST news689348221 Cervical cancer screenings are considered one of the most significant public health advances of the past 50 years, particularly in detecting HPV (human papillomavirus), the culprit of most cervical cancers. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-cervical-cancer.html Tue, 03 Feb 2026 10:04:02 EST news689335381 A new study offers hope that kidney transplant patients could one day have a monthly treatment instead of multiple pills every day. The new treatment may also reduce side effects and increase the lifespan of the donor organ. The results appear in the American Journal of Transplantation. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-monthly-infusion-therapy-life-kidney.html Tue, 03 Feb 2026 09:00:01 EST news689271301 University of Queensland researchers who mapped cancer cell "neighborhoods" in the most common type of lung cancer have found cell metabolism plays a critical role in determining how lung cancer patients will respond to immunotherapy. Their results are published in Nature Communications. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-personal-lung-cancer-cells-response.html Tue, 03 Feb 2026 08:37:17 EST news689330162 An international research team with strong participation from DTU has developed a new biotechnological platform that makes it possible to test and understand advanced cancer treatments much faster and cheaper than before. The new technology can reduce the development time for new types of cancer immunotherapy from months to days or weeks. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-yeast-cells-rapid-cancer-immunotherapy.html Tue, 03 Feb 2026 08:20:54 EST news689329202 Medical artificial intelligence is a hugely appealing concept. In theory, models can analyze vast amounts of information, recognize subtle patterns in data, and are never too tired or busy to provide a response. However, although thousands of these models have been and continue to be developed in academia and industry, very few of them have successfully transitioned into real-world clinical settings. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-medical-ai-context-clinic-potential.html Tue, 03 Feb 2026 07:20:08 EST news689324743