EurekAlert! News by Subject: Medicine & Health

Medicine & Health

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 31-Oct-2026 10:16 ET (31-Oct-2026 14:16 GMT/UTC)

3-Sep-2026

Sharpening minds in the community: Attention emerges as a key responsive outcome in municipal dementia prevention

Kumamoto University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers successfully translated intensive clinical brain-health protocols into a scalable municipal program in Kikuyo Town, Japan. By combining exercise, dual-task cognitive training, and nutritional guidance for 50 older adults, the 24-week intervention delivered significant improvements in attention scores—particularly for participants with lower baseline attention—alongside markedly better dietary balance. These findings provide local governments with an engaging, practical blueprint for bridging the gap between clinical research and everyday municipal dementia prevention.

Journal: Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics
Funder: TSMC Charity Foundation

3-Sep-2026

People affected by cancer need a stronger voice in shaping Generative AI for oncology

Flinders University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Generative AI is increasingly being explored across cancer care, yet the patients, survivors and carers that AI intends to support have had little opportunity to shape how these tools are developed, evaluated and used - a Flinders University-led review has found.

Journal: European Journal of Cancer
Funder: National Health and Medical Research Council

3-Sep-2026

UCLA Health expert weighs in on new treatment approach for children with short-limbed dwarfism

University of California - Los Angeles Health Sciences
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A phase 3 trial is showing “a potentially giant step forward,” in treating children with achondroplasia, UCLA Health’s Dr. Isidro B. Salusky wrote in a new editorial published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).

Journal: New England Journal of Medicine

3-Sep-2026

AI scribes may fail to capture patients’ experiences, study finds

University of Edinburgh
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools to take notes can change the nature of interactions between patients and clinicians, sometimes missing vital information, according to the results of a new review. The report also states that use of these tools, referred to as ambient AI scribes, may lead to deskilling and deprive clinicians of opportunities to acquire clinical reasoning skills. While ambient AI scribes can help with administrative work, more research needs to be done to understand how these tools work in specific healthcare settings and how their design supports both patients and clinicians, experts say.

Journal: BMJ Digital Health & AI

3-Sep-2026

Seventy years of AI: From Dartmouth dream to scientific discovery partner

Shenyang Agricultural University Collaborative Journals
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Seventy years after a small group of scientists gathered at Dartmouth College and helped launch artificial intelligence as an academic discipline, AI has evolved from an ambitious idea into a powerful force reshaping science, medicine, industry, and environmental protection.

3-Sep-2026

Toward safer laser usage for all skin tones

SPIE--International Society for Optics and Photonics
Peer-Reviewed Publication

People with different skin tones may not face the same risk of laser-induced skin injury, according to new research published in the Journal of Biomedical Optics. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University measured the laser exposure required to cause visible skin damage in swine with varying levels of pigmentation and found that darkly pigmented skin reached the injury threshold with 27.7 percent less radiant exposure than lightly pigmented skin under the tested conditions. The team exposed 150 skin sites to nanosecond laser pulses used in photoacoustic imaging and analyzed how melanin levels influenced the skin's response. The findings provide experimental evidence that skin pigmentation affects laser injury thresholds and suggest that future laser safety standards could benefit from accounting for biological differences in skin tone. The work may help improve the safety of photoacoustic imaging and other medical and research technologies that rely on laser light.

Journal: Journal of Biomedical Optics

3-Sep-2026

New blood biomarkers reveal how common muscular dystrophy treatment may impair overall growth

Binghamton University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In a new study published in Scientific Reports, an international and multidisciplinary research team including Binghamton University researchers identified a set of blood proteins that may explain why the corticosteroid prednisone, although beneficial in treating Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), can interfere with childhood growth and bone health.

Journal: Scientific Reports

3-Sep-2026

Worcester Polytechnic Institute researchers secure NSF CAREER Awards to power and secure future innovation

Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Grant and Award Announcement

NSF CAREER Awards will support two five-year research projects aimed at advancing cybersecurity and AI-guided electrochemical technologies. One project will develop privacy-protecting cybersecurity approaches for AI-enabled devices operating at the edge of networks, including wearable health monitors. The other will use AI to examine how small organic molecules influence catalytic reactions, with the goal of capturing carbon dioxide and converting it more efficiently into fuels and other valuable chemicals.

3-Sep-2026

New guidance introduces framework for assessing cardiovascular risk and fitness for duty in tactical athletes

American College of Cardiology
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading medical cause of duty-related deaths among tactical athletes, including military personnel, firefighters, law enforcement officers, emergency medical responders, astronauts and pilots. These individuals face unique physical and environmental demands that can increase cardiovascular risk and require specialized approaches to evaluation and care, according to a new joint American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Scientific Statement simultaneously published today in the American College of Cardiology’s flagship journal JACC and the American Heart Association’s flagship, peer-reviewed journal Circulation.

Journal: Journal of the American College of Cardiology