EurekAlert! News by Subject: Medicine & Health - News by Subject: Medicine & Health

Medicine & Health

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 26-Dec-2025 23:11 ET (27-Dec-2025 04:11 GMT/UTC)

29-Oct-2025

Light it up: Battery particles tell the true story of a battery's charge

Purdue University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Lithium-ion batteries power our phones, cars, and even homes; ensuring their safe and efficient behavior has become incredibly important. Using a simple optical technique, Purdue University researchers have observed a battery's individual particles lighting up as they charge - enabling a more complete picture of the battery's overall health and performance.

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Funder: DOE/US Department of Energy, U.S. National Science Foundation

29-Oct-2025

Study links early cannabis use and health problems

McGill University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Adolescents who start using cannabis early and often are more likely to need health care for both mental and physical problems as they enter adulthood, according to a new study led by McGill University researchers.

The study found those who began using cannabis before age 15 and continued daily or near-daily were more likely to seek care for depression, anxiety, suicidal distress and physical conditions such as respiratory problems and injuries. By contrast, starting after age 15 was linked only to more physical health problems later.

Journal: JAMA Network Open
Funder: Canadian Institutes of Health Research

29-Oct-2025

Combination of two blood biomarkers improves diagnostic accuracy in ALS

Universitatsklinikum Bonn
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Despite modern imaging and genetic testing, diagnosing amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) remains challenging, particularly when distinguishing it from clinically similar neurodegenerative disorders. A new study led by the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) in cooperation with Alfried Krupp Hospital Essen now shows that combining two blood biomarkers – serum neurofilament light chain (sNfL) and cardiac troponin T (cTnT) – significantly improves diagnostic accuracy in ALS. The study results have been published in the journal Annals of Neurology.

Journal: Annals of Neurology

29-Oct-2025

Researchers pose five guiding questions to improve the use of artificial intelligence in physicians’ clinical decision-making

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

While able to catch what doctors may miss, artificial intelligence can also make mistakes and lead to incorrect diagnoses. To ensure that AI is properly integrated into healthcare practice, a research team has provided a framework comprising five guiding questions aimed at supporting doctors in their patient care while not undermining their expertise through an over-reliance on AI.

Journal: Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association
Funder: NIH/National Cancer Institute

29-Oct-2025

Researchers develop highly sensitive imaging technique to detect myelin damage

Boston University School of Medicine
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In a new study from Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine and BU’s College of Engineering, researchers used a special microscope called birefringence microscopy (BRM) paired with an automated deep learning algorithm to reliably count and map myelin damage across whole sections of the brain—something not feasible with other techniques. The ability to image and measure damage to myelin will lead to better understanding the patterns and extent that occurs with disease, injury and normal aging.

Journal: Neurophotonics

29-Oct-2025

American Pediatric Society announces Bruce D. Gelb, MD, as recipient of its prestigious 2026 APS John Howland Award

The Mount Sinai Hospital / Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Grant and Award Announcement

The American Pediatric Society (APS) has selected Bruce D. Gelb, MD, Gogel Family Chair and Director of The Mindich Child Health and Development Institute and Dean for Child Health Research at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, as the recipient of the 2026 APS John Howland Award, the highest honor given in academic pediatrics.

29-Oct-2025

The new composition of circulating microvesicles: optimized protocols and reassessment of their characteristics and physiological functions

Higher Education Press
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A research team led by Professor Guorui Huang from the Department of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases at Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, has developed an optimized protocol that fundamentally changes how circulating microvesicles (MVs) are isolated and characterized. The study reveals that commonly used methods unintentionally capture platelet fragments rather than true MVs, leading to decades of misinterpretation of their biological functions. The team’s newly defined 3000 g centrifugation threshold eliminates platelet contamination and provides a standardized foundation for future diagnostic and mechanistic studies on extracellular vesicles.

Journal: Life Medicine