Specialists guessing the gene behind an eye disease did far better with an AI looking too
Inherited retinal disease needs genetic testing that is slow and expensive, and specialists must first guess where to look. A trial of 300 patients gave half of them an AI second opinion.
Sep 16, 2026
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A two-armed antibody cleared more HER2-positive breast tumors before surgery than standard treatment
The standard pre-surgery combination for HER2-positive breast cancer has held for a decade. A phase 3 trial of 521 patients replaced it and raised the rate of tumors with no cancer left.
Sep 16, 2026
Carrying one copy of the alpha-1 antitrypsin variant raised liver risk, not just two
Single-copy carriers are usually told they are unaffected. Following 22,537 genotyped veterans for a median of 15.9 years found risk rising step by step with each copy of the variant.
Sep 16, 2026
Feeding malnourished older inpatients properly tracked lower death rates and shorter stays
Hospital dietitians are stretched across every ward. Tracking 17,057 inpatients averaging 78 found the gains concentrated entirely in the patients who arrived already malnourished.
Sep 16, 2026
Specialists guessing the gene behind an eye disease did far better with an AI looking too
Inherited retinal disease needs genetic testing that is slow and expensive, and specialists must first guess where to look. A trial of 300 patients gave half of them an AI second opinion.
Sep 16, 2026
A two-armed antibody cleared more HER2-positive breast tumors before surgery than standard treatment
The standard pre-surgery combination for HER2-positive breast cancer has held for a decade. A phase 3 trial of 521 patients replaced it and raised the rate of tumors with no cancer left.
Sep 16, 2026
Long COVID fatigue improved across a whole trial, while whole-body MRI and app rehab added nothing
Long COVID clinics have been built without much evidence about what inside them works. A trial across 122 primary care networks tested two additions against ordinary multidisciplinary care.
Sep 16, 2026
A daily pill beat placebo for hidradenitis suppurativa across two trials of 619 patients
Hidradenitis suppurativa is painful, common and badly served by existing drugs. Two phase 3 trials tested an oral treatment where almost everything available is injected.
Sep 16, 2026
Feeding malnourished older inpatients properly tracked lower death rates and shorter stays
Hospital dietitians are stretched across every ward. Tracking 17,057 inpatients averaging 78 found the gains concentrated entirely in the patients who arrived already malnourished.
Sep 16, 2026
Cutting one amino acid from the diet made mice healthier, and only the males lived longer
Protein restriction extends life in laboratory animals, and nobody knew which part of the protein mattered. Removing most of a single amino acid for life separated health benefits from lifespan.
Sep 16, 2026
MYTH diet score tracked 21% lower aging-related death risk, level with an older healthy-eating index
China Medical University researchers had machine learning rank the foods eaten by 191,689 UK Biobank adults. Most of the 10 rules that emerged match familiar advice; the exceptions reward refined grains and a large glass of wine a day.
Sep 14, 2026
Ultra-processed diets tracked with 40% more type 2 diabetes in 25,214 Australian adults
Deakin University researchers analyzed 25,214 Melbourne adults followed for about 12 years. Each extra 10% of their food by weight that was ultra-processed went with 16% more diabetes, and body size explained under a fifth of that.
Sep 14, 2026
Vitamin D at 1,600 or 3,200 IU a day did not cut fractures in older adults, most of whom were not deficient
University of Eastern Finland researchers gave 2,495 older adults a placebo or one of two vitamin D3 doses for five years. The higher dose matched placebo on fractures; the lower one came with an unexplained excess.
Sep 14, 2026
A selenium supplement lowered long-term blood sugar by 1.2 points in eight weeks
That is a drug-sized change from a mineral sold in pharmacies. It came from one small trial in patients with diabetic nerve damage, and the size of the effect is the reason to be careful rather than excited.
Sep 6, 2026
Vitamin K from leafy greens tracked 14% less dementia over 28 years; the other form went the wrong way
Vitamin K comes in two forms and the supplement industry prefers K2. Following 54,968 Danes for up to 28 years, higher K1 intake tracked lower dementia risk while higher K2 tracked higher, which is the opposite of the marketing.
Sep 1, 2026
Zinc cut infections by 38% in young children with sickle cell disease in a Ugandan trial
Zinc is one of the most-bought supplements in the world and one of the least-tested against hard outcomes. A JAMA trial randomized 100 Ugandan children under five and counted every infection for six months.
Sep 1, 2026
High midlife fitness tracked 31% lower dementia risk, independent of coronary artery calcium
Cooper Institute and Tel Aviv University researchers linked 10,933 treadmill-tested adults to Medicare records. A coronary calcium score of 100 or more tracked about a quarter higher risk, and the two signals barely overlapped.
Sep 14, 2026
Weekend warrior exercise tracked 36% lower death risk in adults with two or more cardiometabolic conditions
South China Normal University researchers tracked 15,079 US adults with at least two of heart disease, diabetes and stroke through national death records. Regular exercisers fared similarly, but only 272 people fit the weekend pattern.
Sep 14, 2026
One osteoporosis drug came with 17% less new osteoarthritis than the standard alternative
Denosumab and bisphosphonates both treat thin bones. Comparing new users in Japanese insurance records, one of them also came with fewer new osteoarthritis diagnoses over three years, at 2 fewer cases per 100 people.
Aug 31, 2026
Only the group that lifted weights kept its diabetes-risk gain a year after the diet ended
221 women dieted to a healthy BMI, then regained about a third of it. Predicted heart and diabetes risk fell and then bounced back in every group but one: the arm that had added resistance training held on to its diabetes benefit.
Aug 31, 2026
Sleep apnea linked to about 2 more brain cancer cases per 1,000 people over 15 years
Aarhus University researchers compared 114,264 people with sleep apnea in Danish registries to the general population and to people with overweight or obesity. Only brain and spinal cord cancer stood out, and both stayed uncommon.
Sep 14, 2026
Sleep problems worsened years before a psychiatric diagnosis in working-age Swedes and partly eased after it
Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm University researchers matched eight years of sleep surveys from about 25,000 Swedes to health registers. Mental fatigue had the strongest link to a later diagnosis, yet fewer than 3 in 100 got one.
Sep 14, 2026
Two kinds of sleep apnea that look alike in heart failure split apart once breathing control was measured
Which type of apnea a heart failure patient has decides their treatment, and the two are currently told apart by eye. Measuring 122 patients found the physiology underneath differs sharply.
Sep 8, 2026
Evening cycling protected memory after a short night, and deep sleep carried the effect
Sleeping badly and then needing to remember something is an ordinary predicament with no good remedy. Randomizing 88 adults to a single evening ride found one, and identified how it worked.
Sep 8, 2026
Treating depression before surgery helped older patients, almost entirely in the cancer group
Depression and anxiety are common before major surgery in later life and rarely addressed. Randomizing 306 patients over 60 found a benefit that was not spread evenly across operations.
Sep 16, 2026
Silent brain injuries after a heart implant fell from 32% to 12% on a low-dose blood thinner
Closing off part of the heart is meant to prevent strokes, and the procedure itself scatters tiny clots to the brain. Randomizing 164 patients compared two ways of dosing afterwards.
Sep 16, 2026
Memory was the most damaged ability in 33 NFL players whose CTE was confirmed at autopsy
The disease behind the football concussion debate can still only be identified after death. Testing 33 former players while they lived, then examining their brains, produced the clearest profile yet.
Sep 8, 2026
Ketamine beat a sedative comparison by 7 points in bipolar depression that had resisted two treatments
Ketamine's antidepressant effect is established in ordinary depression and largely untested in bipolar disorder, where the fear is tipping someone into mania. A trial of 68 patients looked for both.
Sep 8, 2026
Carrying one copy of the alpha-1 antitrypsin variant raised liver risk, not just two
Single-copy carriers are usually told they are unaffected. Following 22,537 genotyped veterans for a median of 15.9 years found risk rising step by step with each copy of the variant.
Sep 16, 2026
Ultrasound-guided stenting cut cardiac deaths in East Asian trials and not in anyone else's
Guidelines increasingly recommend imaging inside the artery while placing a stent. Pooling 17 trials and 14,033 patients found the benefit sat almost entirely in one part of the world.
Sep 16, 2026
How well the heart's upper chamber squeezed predicted deaths in amyloidosis; its size did not
Transthyretin amyloidosis stiffens the heart, and clinicians judge the upper chambers by how enlarged they look. Measuring 644 patients found the measurement everyone uses carried no signal.
Sep 16, 2026
Regular cannabis users had 9% fewer extra heartbeats on days they were randomly assigned to inhale
UC San Francisco cardiologists set out to test whether cannabis adds extra heartbeats. In 108 regular users the count fell instead, and the team warns that is no evidence cannabis is good for the heart.
Sep 14, 2026