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Medicine & Health

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 31-Oct-2026 12:16 ET (31-Oct-2026 16:16 GMT/UTC)

Eating jetlag and the risk of cardiovascular disease

INRAE - National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A team of researchers from INRAE, Inserm, Sorbonne Paris Nord University, Université Paris Cité and the CNAM has published the first study exploring the association between eating jetlag and the risk of cardiovascular disease. Eating jetlag refers to the difference in the timing of meals between weekdays—when mealtimes are often shaped by work schedules—and weekends or days off. This shift in eating patterns may disrupt the body’s biological rhythms and could have implications for cardiovascular health. Researchers analysed data from more than 100,000 participants in the NutriNet-Santé cohort over a 14-year follow-up period. Their findings, published in Communications Medicine, suggest that each additional hour of eating jetlag was associated with a 14% higher risk of cardiovascular disease in men and a 21% higher risk of coronary heart disease. They did not observe any significant association in women. These findings suggest that discrepancies in mealtimes between weekdays and weekends may play a role in the onset of cardiovascular disease.

Journal: Communications Medicine

A decade without congenital syphilis: a Danish success story

European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Syphilis infections have been rising across Europe and syphilis in pregnant people has been stable over time in Denmark. However, transmission of the infection from mother to child has been successfully reduced to a handful of cases between 2010 and 2016 – and no further cases have been recorded since then. This means that Denmark has eliminated congenital syphilis.

Journal: Eurosurveillance

Why does music ease pain? Drexel researchers map the evidence

Drexel University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new review study led by Joke Bradt, PhD, a professor in Drexel University’s College of Nursing and Health Professions, examined biological, psychological and social mechanisms that may explain the pain-reducing effects of music. The study, recently published in PAIN Reports, identified important gaps that future research on music-based interventions for pain relief should address.

Journal: PAIN Reports

Caregivers of children with cancer engage in culinary medicine classes and coaching in new Drexel-led study

Drexel University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In a small pilot study, researchers from Drexel University and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia tested a culinary medicine program designed specifically for caregivers of children undergoing cancer treatment. The study, recently published in Integrative Cancer Therapies, found that families thought the program was useful and acceptable, despite the significant demands they were already managing during their child's cancer treatment. Overall satisfaction with the intervention was high and engagement was encouraging.

Journal: Integrative Cancer Therapies

Building a better health system: ACC Quality Summit 2026 tackles the toughest questions in cardiovascular care

American College of Cardiology
Meeting Announcement

The American College of Cardiology (ACC) Quality Summit 2026 will take place on September 16-18 in Orlando, connecting the cardiovascular quality improvement community to share ideas, learn from real-world successes and drive measurable improvements in the quality, safety and value of patient care.

Meeting: ACC Quality Summit 2026

NTU Singapore scientists develop microdroplets that can reduce colorectal tumor growth at potentially lower cost

Nanyang Technological University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Scientists from NTU Singapore have developed a new RNA-delivery platform based on liquid peptide microdroplets. In a preclinical study, these patent-pending microdroplets delivered siRNA into human immune cells and colorectal cancer cells, disrupting a “molecular handshake” between them from inside the cells. In mice with a hard-to-treat colorectal cancer model, the combined treatment reduced tumour growth by about 67 per cent, comparable with the gold-standard monoclonal antibody treatment used as the study benchmark. The new drug delivery platform can concentrate large RNA payloads and is being developed as a possible alternative to conventional lipid nanoparticles (LNPs). The researchers estimate that, if successfully scaled, such siRNA-based treatment could be up to 10 times cheaper to manufacture than monocloal antibodies, potentially leading to lower treatment costs.

Journal: Biomaterials

New study shows that psychedelic drugs affect the brain differently

University of Southern Denmark Faculty of Health Sciences
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In recent years, psychedelic drugs have attracted growing interest as potential treatments for conditions including depression, anxiety and addiction. Although these drugs are often considered as one group, researchers from the University of Southern Denmark have now shown that they affect the brain in markedly different ways. The findings are based on brain scans in rats and suggest that the differences between psychedelic drugs may be greater than previously assumed.

Journal: Nature Communications

Preliminary wastewater bioremediation by photosynthetic Chlorobium genus isolated from pond water

Bentham Science Publishers
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The study, "Preliminary Wastewater Bioremediation by Photosynthetic Chlorobium genus Isolated from Pond Water," was published in the Current Journal of Microbiology by Umair Himayat, Sumera Afzal Khan, Muddasir Khan, and Muhammad Nadeem.

Lukas Kunz receives ERC Starting Grant

Universitatsklinikum Bonn
Grant and Award Announcement

Bonn, September 3 – How does the activity of nerve cells give rise to complex mental processes? This question drives the research of Prof. Lukas Kunz from the Department of Epileptology at University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the Professorship “Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience” at University of Bonn. He is investigating how the human brain perceives the world from its own perspective and structures it spatially. For his NEUROSPACE project, the neuroscientist has received a Starting Grant from the European Research Council (ERC). The European Union is providing a total of approximately 1.5 million euros over five years to fund the project.