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

Medicine & Health

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 21-Dec-2025 20:11 ET (22-Dec-2025 01:11 GMT/UTC)

26-Sep-2025

Expecting mothers increasingly turn to at-home births: New research

American Academy of Pediatrics
Reports and Proceedings

More pregnant people are turning away from hospital births and instead choosing their homes, according to research presented during the American Academy of Pediatrics 2025 National Conference & Exhibition at the Colorado Convention Center Sept. 26-30. Cincinnati Children’s researchers tracked out-of-hospital births and found that the numbers doubled in the region from April 1, 2020 - December 31, 2023, compared to births from January 1, 2018 - February 29, 2020. The trend was seen most in young, highly educated mothers who were also more likely to have higher body mass index and fewer prenatal visits, according to a study abstract, “The Changing Landscape of Planned Out-of-Hospital Births.”

Meeting: American Academy of Pediatrics 2025 National Conference & Exhibition

26-Sep-2025

Over 20% of sexual health-related TikToks contained inaccurate information

American Academy of Pediatrics
Reports and Proceedings

Young adults turning to TikTok for sexual health information are being confronted with misinformation, according to research presented during the American Academy of Pediatrics 2025 National Conference & Exhibition at the Colorado Convention Center from Sept. 26-30. The research, titled “Digital Misinformation and Public Health: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Sexual Health Content on TikTok,” sought to determine the accuracy of medical information posted on the social media platform, whether created by a medical professional or not.

Meeting: American Academy of Pediatrics 2025 National Conference & Exhibition

26-Sep-2025

Protecting the protectors: as measles cases surge, how can we help healthcare workers get vaccinated?

Frontiers
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Measles infections are on the rise, due partly to falling vaccination rates — and because of their work, healthcare workers and those around them are particularly vulnerable. In a new Frontiers in Public Health article, Nikki Heinze and her colleagues talk to healthcare workers in a London hospital to understand the factors that encourage or discourage measles vaccination. In this editorial, Heinze explores those factors, and calls for action to improve immunity screening, raise awareness, and support healthcare workers who want to be vaccinated.

Journal: Frontiers in Public Health
Funder: National Institute for Health and Care Research Health Protection Research Unit

25-Sep-2025

Designed protein switches may lead to safer, smarter medicines

University of Washington School of Medicine/UW Medicine
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new molecular switch, created through protein design, may be a potential way to control when drugs are active or inactive in the body. Researchers hope this approach is a starting point for further developments to reduce side effects from cancer drugs or antibody therapies. This type of designed molecular switch has already been shown to increase the speed of a COVID test. The scientists have also created a switchable version of interleukin-2 in a effort to manage the side effects of this potentially powerful cancer drug.

Journal: Nature
Funder: Audacious Project, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Nordstrom Barrier Institute for Protein Design Directors Fund, Microsoft, NIH/National Institutes of Health, NIH/National Cancer Institute, U.S. National Science Foundation, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, U.S. Department of Energy, CRI Irvington Postdoctoral Fellowship

25-Sep-2025

Back pain tied to higher rates of common diseases

University of Technology Sydney
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The incidence of conditions such as heart disease, arthritis, diabetes and cancer is higher in people with back pain than in those without back pain.

Journal: Brazilian Journal of Physical Therapy

25-Sep-2025

Tiniest lung tumors that are hardest to reach can be diagnosed with robot-assisted bronchoscope

European Respiratory Society
Reports and Proceedings

A cutting-edge bronchoscope that is guided with the help of a robot can reach very small tumours growing in hard-to-reach parts of the lung, according to results of a gold-standard randomised-controlled trial that will be presented at the European Respiratory Society Congress in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The robot-assisted bronchoscope also uses a specialised CT scanner to find tumours buried in the lungs, enabling doctors to take a biopsy and confirm whether they are cancerous. Being able to find and test these very early cancers gives patients the highest chances of being cured.

Meeting: European Respiratory Society Congress

25-Sep-2025

Beyond viruses: Expanding the fight against infectious diseases

Gladstone Institutes
Business Announcement

From influenza and COVID-19 to HIV, viruses continue to pose a serious danger to global health. But just as pressing are threats from other disease-causing microorganisms such as bacteria—especially the deadly strains that are becoming resistant to antibiotic medicines. And increasingly, scientists are discovering how viruses and bacteria are closely interconnected, influencing health and disease in ways that we’re only beginning to understand. To reflect these realities, the Gladstone Institute of Virology has taken on a new name: the Gladstone Infectious Disease Institute.