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Medicine & Health

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 31-Oct-2026 20:16 ET (1-Nov-2026 00:16 GMT/UTC)

Decades-old asset caps may keep 1.5 million older adults and people with disabilities from enrolling in Medicaid

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Nearly one-quarter of older adults and people living with disabilities who are income-eligible for Medicaid may face barriers to enrollment due to caps on financial assets and home equity limits, according to a new study from researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Journal: Health Affairs

Retraining the immune system to treat Type 1 Diabetes

University of Missouri-Columbia
Peer-Reviewed Publication

One emerging treatment for Type 1 Diabetes is transplantation -- replacing islets in the pancreas with healthy cells -- but patients typically have to take immunosuppressive medication. A recent study from researchers with the University of Missouri School of Medicine shows a potential way to protect the transplant without using such drugs.

Journal: Journal of Clinical Investigation

Study reveals core values that drive Black and Hispanic parents’ decisions on vaccinating their kids against COVID-19

Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Persistently low rates of COVID-19 vaccination in Black and Hispanic children suggest that parents in these communities tend to be hesitant about the vaccine for their kids, even when they have received it themselves. Through interviews with parents of school-aged children, a new study sheds light on the factors influencing decisions about vaccination. Findings were published in the June issue of the Vaccine: X journal.

Journal: Vaccine

A plan to preserve wetlands without stopping development

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A study of wetlands conservation policy in Florida and California suggests a way to reduce flood damage while retaining economic gains from development. The study recommends both an offset policy and a locally varying tax on development to compensate for increased flood risk.

Journal: American Economic Review
Funder: George and Obie Schultz Fund

Americans agree: Ultraprocessed foods pose major health hazard

Cornell University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Across partisan lines, Americans broadly believe ultraprocessed foods are addictive and harmful – expressing attitudes strikingly like those that spurred regulation of the tobacco industry, new Cornell University-led research finds.

Journal: American Journal of Public Health

University of Pittsburgh researchers discover unexpected chromosome interaction that fuels aggressive cancers

University of Pittsburgh
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Published today in Nature, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and UPMC Hillman Cancer Center report a previously unrecognized change in how the cell’s genetic material is packaged into structures called chromosomes, that helps explain how some aggressive cancers sustain unlimited growth.

Journal: Nature
Funder: National Institute of General Medical Sciences, German Research Foundation, Ministry of Culture and Science of North Rhine-Westphalia for the CANTAR project.

Out-of-pocket costs and health-related social needs among households with children

JAMA Network
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The findings of this cohort study of U.S. households with children suggest that high out-of-pocket medical costs may make it more difficult for households to afford health-related social needs (i.e., accessing food, paying bills, and living in quality housing), potentially contributing to adverse health outcomes.

Journal: JAMA Network Open

US tobacco firms used cigarette-selling tactics to globally market ultra-processed foods

University of Kansas
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study from the University of Kansas details how U.S. tobacco corporations expanded into global food markets from the mid-1980s to the mid-2000s, using strategies honed through cigarette sales to market ultra-processed foods, which are industrially processed and contain ingredients and additives that maximize their appeal.

10-year study affirms life-changing benefits of hydroxyurea for sickle cell anemia

Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A decade of data from Uganda shows that continuous hydroxyurea treatment at maximum tolerated doses results in better growth and development, fewer hospitalizations and blood transfusions, and lower risk of death from sickle cell anemia.

Journal: New England Journal of Medicine