EurekAlert! News by Subject: Medicine & Health

Medicine & Health

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 21-Jun-2026 22:16 ET (22-Jun-2026 02:16 GMT/UTC)

18-Jun-2026

Bending forwards and walking a lot at work may raise miscarriage risk in early pregnancy

Bending forwards, and to a lesser extent, walking a lot at work in early pregnancy, may raise the risk of miscarriage, finds a large study of more than 470,000 Danish women, published online in the journal Occupational & Environmental Medicine.

Journal: Occupational and Environmental Medicine
Funder: Working Environment Research Fund, A.P. Møller Foundation

18-Jun-2026

UCalgary study tears off colon cancer’s invisibility cloak

University of Calgary
Peer-Reviewed Publication

New University of Calgary research reveals that eliminating a single gene improves immunotherapy for colorectal cancer — a fundamental breakthrough.

Journal: Cell Reports Medicine
Funder: Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Cancer Research Society

18-Jun-2026

Childhood adversity can change how cells produce energy with lifelong effects on health

University of California - Los Angeles
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Early childhood adversity is connected to poorer physical and mental health across a person’s lifespan, and the biological mechanisms that translate the lived effects of poverty and trauma into physical functions are starting to come to light. A growing body of research has shown that psychosocial stress influences mitochondrial function, and mitochondria play a pivotal role in stress-related diseases and aging. UCLA psychologists have now connected early childhood adversity to changes in how mitochondria produce energy, which may affect cellular function with adverse effects on mental and physical health.

Journal: Biological Psychiatry

18-Jun-2026

Michigan’s aging brains need more protection, poll shows

Michigan Medicine - University of Michigan
Reports and Proceedings

Nearly all Michiganders age 50 and over say it’s very important to keep their brains healthy as they grow older, a new poll finds. But less than half (47%) of middle-aged and older Michiganders know that everyday actions can be very important for reducing their future risk of dementia.

Funder: Michigan Health Endowment Fund, University of Michigan

18-Jun-2026

Quick optical biopsy could be early detection method for endometrial cancer

Washington University in St. Louis
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Biomedical engineer Quing Zhu, WashU Medicine collaborators combine optical coherence tomography and machine learning for rapid, accurate test

Journal: npj Imaging

18-Jun-2026

Longer paternal leave linked to lower risk of depression

Karolinska Institutet
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Fathers who take several months of parental leave have a lower risk of developing depressive symptoms during the early years of their child’s life than fathers who take only a short period of leave. This is shown by a new Swedish study involving researchers from Karolinska Institutet, published in the journal American Journal of Public Health.

Journal: American Journal of Public Health

18-Jun-2026

Paid paternal leave linked to better mental health outcomes for dads

Northwestern University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study from Northwestern University and Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago highlights the critical role paid paternal leave plays in supporting new dads’ mental health following the birth of their baby.

Journal: American Journal of Public Health

18-Jun-2026

New study showing near-complete reduction of cervical cancer deaths among hpv-vaccinated adolescents in England underscores need for more data, equitable access to vaccine

Boston University School of Public Health
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In an invited commentary published in The Lancet, Boston University School of Public Health Professor Allison Portnoy discusses the implications of the substantial decline in cervical cancer mortality in England, highlighting the need for more granular mortality data, as well as continued promotion of vaccination, screening, and treatment.

Journal: The Lancet

18-Jun-2026

Sunscreen misinformation attracts high engagement on TikTok, study finds

PLOS
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Sunscreen is overwhelmingly promoted in popular TikTok videos, but content containing health misinformation about sunscreen attracts disproportionately high audience engagement, according to a new study published June 18^th in the open access journal PLOS Digital Health by Alessandro Marcon of the University of Alberta, Canada, and colleagues.

Journal: PLOS Digital Health