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

Medicine & Health

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 15-Aug-2025 03:10 ET (15-Aug-2025 07:10 GMT/UTC)

New study sheds light on risks from residential heat and energy burdens in Miami

University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study on indoor extreme heat connects these two burdens to reveal how the co-occurrence of escalating energy bills and dangerously hot homes in Miami-Dade County exacerbates health and well-being risks for vulnerable households across months of the year.

Journal: One Earth
Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation graduate research fellowship, University of Miami Laboratory for Integrated Knowledge (U-LINK), University of Miami Environmental Science and Policy graduate program; faculty funds from the Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy and the Rosenstiel School

Racial and ethnic inequalities in actual vs nearest delivery hospitals

JAMA Network
Peer-Reviewed Publication

About The Study: This cohort study found that American Indian and Black individuals delivered at lower-quality hospitals than white individuals. The disparity in care between Black and white birthing individuals would have been reduced if individuals had delivered at their nearest hospital.

Journal: JAMA Network Open

State earned income tax credits and firearm suicides

JAMA Network
Peer-Reviewed Publication

About The Study: In this cohort study, the presence and generosity of state refundable earned income tax credits were associated with a decrease in firearm suicide rates, supporting the growing body of literature highlighting the importance of antipoverty policies for reducing firearm suicide.

Journal: JAMA Network Open

Weight loss protects – even when weight is regained

University of Gothenburg
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Having lost a great deal of weight appears to offer some protection against ill health even for those who have regained some of their weight loss. This is shown in a study at the University of Gothenburg of people who have undergone weight-loss surgery.

Journal: The Lancet Regional Health - Europe

NIH researchers develop eye drops that slow vision loss in animals

NIH/National Eye Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have developed eye drops that extend vision in animal models of a group of inherited diseases that lead to progressive vision loss in humans, known as retinitis pigmentosa.

Journal: Communications Medicine
Funder: Fondazione Telethon, Research to Prevent Blindness

Nursery of the blood: how stem cells calm the body’s immune response

Goethe University Frankfurt
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Our blood consists of many cell types that develop through different stages from a precursor type – the blood stem cell. An international research team led by Universitätsmedizin Frankfurt and Goethe University has now investigated the developmental pathways of blood cells in humans. The results yielded a surprise: Even stem cells possess surface proteins that enable them to suppress the activation of inflammatory and immune responses in the body. This finding is particularly relevant for stem cell transplants, applied for the treatment of e.g. leukemia.

Journal: Nature Communications

VR study reveals how pain and fear weaken sense of body ownership

Hiroshima University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A study from Hiroshima University found that when people were told to imagine their virtual bodies in pain, their brains resisted the illusion of ownership. Their findings could provide insights into why some people may struggle with feeling connected to their own bodies, particularly in contexts involving depersonalization or negative physical states.

Journal: Frontiers in Psychology
Funder: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science