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. The Trump administration has rolled out a new website called TrumpRx, aimed at offering consumers lower prices on certain prescription drugs. The site, launched last week, lists discounted medications from more than a dozen drug companies. But it's unclear how much it will lower costs for most Americans. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-trumprx-site-aims-drug-popular.html Mon, 09 Feb 2026 21:10:02 EST news689872816 A new study conducted at the Gray Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences and the Sylvan Adams Sports Science Institute at Tel Aviv University reveals a clear conclusion: strength (resistance) training is the most effective tool for achieving "high-quality" weight loss, reducing body fat while preserving, and even increasing, muscle mass. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-strength-healthiest-dieting-results-sexes.html Mon, 09 Feb 2026 19:20:01 EST news689868033 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 A randomized controlled study found that time-restricted feeding—a form of intermittent fasting—significantly reduced symptomatic disease activity and systematic inflammation in adults with Crohn's disease and overweight or obesity. Results of the study were published in Gastroenterology. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-intermittent-fasting-crohn-disease-halves.html Mon, 09 Feb 2026 09:00:01 EST news689593261 Time-restricted eating has emerged as a popular dietary approach because it focuses on when people eat rather than strictly limiting calories. Instead of counting calories, individuals restrict their daily food intake to a defined time window. While this approach has been widely studied, most research has focused on whether time-restricted eating works, with less attention paid to how eating timing and eating duration interact. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-meal-restricted-metabolic-health.html Sun, 08 Feb 2026 14:00:02 EST news689608256 GLP-1 drugs have ushered in a new era in weight loss. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-youve-weight-loss-goal-glp.html Sat, 07 Feb 2026 14:30:01 EST news689518515 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 A team of scientists has uncovered a critical mechanism that could pave the way for safer and more effective obesity treatments. The findings, published in Nature Communications, shed light on how leptin, a hormone that regulates appetite and energy balance, works in the brain. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-key-enzymes-fat-loss-muscle.html Fri, 06 Feb 2026 12:20:05 EST news689601788 Statins do not cause the majority of the conditions that have been listed in their package leaflets, including memory loss, depression, sleep disturbance, and erectile and sexual dysfunction, according to the most comprehensive review of possible side effects. The study was led by researchers at Oxford Population Health and appears in The Lancet. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-statins-majority-side-effects-package.html Thu, 05 Feb 2026 18:30:01 EST news689529002 The public debate on cannabis is dominated by a tone of normalization—less stigmatization, more freedom of choice. The promise of a "natural" alternative to medicines. Meanwhile, science, although still incomplete, is painting an increasingly coherent picture of how phytocannabinoids affect reproduction and child development. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-bitter-aftertaste-cannabis-legalization-effects.html Thu, 05 Feb 2026 16:39:46 EST news689531941 A study conducted by researchers at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in São Paulo, Brazil, warns about the impact of the so-called "yo-yo effect" on women's metabolic health. The study shows that women who have experienced repeated cycles of intentional weight loss followed by unintentional weight regain have a poorer cardiometabolic profile and lower brown fat activity, which helps burn energy. These findings reinforce the idea that the problem is not only the fluctuation in weight itself, but also the progressive accumulation of body fat over time. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-yo-effect-impairs-metabolism-brown.html Mon, 02 Feb 2026 16:57:41 EST news689273821 Cortisol, what is known as the stress hormone, is the talk of the internet. Wellness influencers warn about the various symptoms of chronically high cortisol: waking up at 3 a.m., swollen "cortisol face" and accumulating belly fat. And many offer diet and exercise routines that they claim will help. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-cortisol-doctors.html Mon, 02 Feb 2026 09:40:03 EST news689247137 Protein is having a moment, with federal guidelines significantly raising the recommended amount people should eat every day and products ranging from coffee drinks to Pop-Tarts touting enhanced levels of the nutrient. Eating enough protein is important for good health, Denver-area dieticians said, but people who want to increase their intake need to make sure they choose quality foods and don't crowd out healthy carbohydrates and fats. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-protein-rage.html Sat, 31 Jan 2026 05:40:02 EST news688973610 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 If green tea is already part of your daily routine, you may be giving your health a boost without even realizing it. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-freshly-brewed-tea-term-health.html Thu, 29 Jan 2026 20:10:04 EST news688914602 Individuals with a birth weight of less than one kilogram have an increased risk of cerebral palsy, intellectual disabilities and attention deficit disorders. Nonetheless, they rate their quality of life as high as individuals with normal birth weight. This finding emerges from a new study of 201 adults who were born prematurely and followed from birth to the age of 26–29 in Sweden. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-adults-born-higher-morbidity-equal.html Tue, 27 Jan 2026 20:30:01 EST news688743761 People who don't eat meat may be less likely than meat eaters to reach the age of 100, according to a recent study. But before you reconsider your plant-based diet, there's more to these findings than meets the eye. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-meat-eaters.html Mon, 26 Jan 2026 12:32:51 EST news688653122 An international collaboration of researchers have successfully adapted a Japanese oral health screening tool for use among English-speaking older adults in the United States, potentially enabling earlier detection of oral frailty—an age-related decline in oral and pharyngeal function associated with physical frailty, malnutrition, and increased mortality risk. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-screening-tool-older-adults-oral.html Mon, 26 Jan 2026 12:04:35 EST news688651442 People with type 2 diabetes face a higher risk of heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular problems, according to the National Institutes of Health. These risks also differ between women and men, but doctors don't fully understand why. In a new Johns Hopkins Medicine-led study, researchers explore whether sex hormones like testosterone and estradiol help explain these differences. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-sex-hormones-play-important-role.html Mon, 26 Jan 2026 10:32:45 EST news688645921 Women with cervical cancer who experience significant muscle loss during treatment die at six times the rate of those who maintain muscle mass, according to an international review of 23 studies involving more than 4,000 patients. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-muscle-loss-cervical-cancer-treatment.html Sat, 24 Jan 2026 10:00:04 EST news688229939 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 Scientists may have found a new way to spot early signs of obesity, which could lead to novel prevention strategies. A study published in the journal Cell Reports has discovered that people living with obesity have a distinct set of microbes in their mouths compared to people at a healthy weight. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-microbes-mouths-key-obesity.html Fri, 23 Jan 2026 09:43:02 EST news688383399 A short-term oat-based diet appears to be surprisingly effective at reducing the cholesterol level. This is indicated by a trial by the University of Bonn, which has now been published in Nature Communications. The participants suffered from a metabolic syndrome—a combination of high body weight, high blood pressure, and elevated blood glucose and blood lipid levels. They consumed a calorie-reduced diet, consisting almost exclusively of oatmeal, for two days. Their cholesterol levels then improved significantly compared to a control group. Even after six weeks, this effect remained stable. The diet apparently influenced the composition of microorganisms in the gut. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-days-oatmeal-cholesterol.html Fri, 23 Jan 2026 09:24:46 EST news688382643 A new study led by Mayo Clinic found that postmenopausal women receiving menopausal hormone therapy lost 35% more weight while taking tirzepatide, a Food and Drug Administration-approved drug for the treatment of overweight and obesity. The findings, published in The Lancet Obstetrics, Gynaecology, & Women's Health, could expand treatment possibilities for millions of women struggling with obesity and obesity-related diseases after menopause. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-hormone-therapy-combined-tirzepatide-linked.html Fri, 23 Jan 2026 06:40:02 EST news688368815 Researchers at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center have completed a study aimed at improving how physicians evaluate unintentional weight loss, a common but challenging clinical problem, particularly among older adults. The study is published in the American Journal of Medical Quality. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-importance-approach-unexplained-unintentional-weight.html Thu, 22 Jan 2026 15:13:33 EST news688317181 A new study published in Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery reveals that glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs)—a class of medications primarily used for weight loss and diabetes management—may significantly improve post-surgical outcomes for patients with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) and obesity. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-reveals-weight-loss-medications-outcomes.html Thu, 22 Jan 2026 12:29:11 EST news688307282 Long-distance cyclists can preserve fat-free body mass while on a plant-based diet, according to new research involving a University of Alberta nutrition expert. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-based-diets-fuel-ultra-athletes.html Thu, 22 Jan 2026 10:50:26 EST news688301401 With more studies emerging, GLP-1 and dual GIP/GLP-1 medications have become well-established options for those with obesity or type 2 diabetes. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-glp-medications-comprehensive-overview.html Thu, 22 Jan 2026 08:53:48 EST news688294241 Natural ovulation before frozen embryo transfer is as effective as hormone treatment for achieving a healthy baby by vitro fertilization (IVF), finds a clinical trial from China published by The BMJ. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-ivf-embryo-natural-ovulation-effective.html Wed, 21 Jan 2026 18:30:07 EST news688215961 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