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Medicine & Health

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 22-Jun-2026 13:15 ET (22-Jun-2026 17:15 GMT/UTC)

Five-year absolute risk–based and age-based breast cancer screening in the US

JAMA Network
Peer-Reviewed Publication

About The Study: In this decision analytical modeling study of breast cancer screening, population risk-based screening using 5-year invasive breast cancer risk was associated with similar or greater benefits than age-based screening as well as reduced false-positive recalls. As personalized medicine advances, risk-based screening is poised to become a cornerstone of breast cancer prevention, offering a more nuanced and tailored approach to patient care.

Journal: JAMA Network Open

Study finds elevated alcohol involvement in suicides of lesbian, gay and bisexual women

Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) women are significantly more likely to have alcohol involved at the time of suicide compared with heterosexual women, according to a new study from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. The findings are published in JAMA Network Open.

Journal: JAMA Network Open

Air pollution may increase the risk of the neurodegenerative disease ALS

Karolinska Institutet
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Prolonged exposure to air pollution can be linked to an elevated risk for serious neurodegenerative diseases like ALS and seems to speed up the pathological process, report researchers from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. The study is published in the journal JAMA Neurology.

Journal: JAMA Neurology

Community water fluoridation not linked to lower birth weight, large US study finds

Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health finds that community water fluoridation (CWF) is not associated with significant changes in birth weight—a widely accepted indicator of infant health and a predictor of later-life outcomes. The findings provide reassurance about the safety of fluoridated drinking water during pregnancy.

Journal: JAMA Network Open

Sniffing out cancer: Trained dogs can detect hemangiosarcoma by scent

University of Pennsylvania
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Research by veterinarian Cynthia M. Otto, Clara Wilson, and colleagues at the Penn Vet Working Dog Center shows that trained dogs can identify the odor of hemangiosarcoma, a devastating canine cancer, offering the hope of a better screening tool and more effective treatments. “If we can detect it early, maybe we could prevent it from spreading, because it’s the spread that’s really devastating,” says Otto.

Journal: The Veterinary Journal
Funder: American Kennel Club Canine Health Foundation, Morris Animal Foundation, Golden Retriever Foundation, Irish Setter Club of America Foundation, Labrador Retriever Club, Inc., Scottish Terrier Club of America, Vizsla Club of America Welfare Foundation, American German Shepherd Charitable Foundation, Rookie Fund

Replacing animal products with plant-based foods—even ultra-processed ones—reduces diabetes and heart disease risk, finds new review

Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Replacing animal products with plant-based foods—even ones classified as ultra-processed like bread, cereal, and veggie burgers—helps reduce the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes, finds a new review by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine published in BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health.

Journal: BMJ Nutrition Prevention & Health

Novel therapy using engineered immune cells to kill prostate cancer earns $1.8 million Department of Defense grant

Virginia Commonwealth University
Grant and Award Announcement

Researchers at VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center and the VCU Institute of Molecular Medicine (VIMM) were recently awarded a $1.8 million, 3-year grant from the United States Department of Defense (DoD) to study the implications of using a modified enhanced therapeutic version of melanoma differentiation associated gene-7/Interleukin-24, IL-24 ‘Superkine’ (IL-24S) delivered by immune (natural killer) cells to fight advanced prostate cancer.

This DoD Grant will allow the investigative teams of Drs. Paul B. Fisher and Swadesh K. Das to take the next step in IL-24S research, which has already shown remarkable efficacy when delivered by a therapeutic adenovirus against brain (glioblastoma) cancers, by delivery through enhanced engineered natural killer (NK) cells. IL-24S is a genetically engineered version of IL-24 that targets and kills cancer cells while sparing normal ones.

Machine learning to identify the factors that may determine the age of onset of Huntington’s disease

University of Barcelona
Reports and Proceedings

A team from the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences and the Institute of Neurosciences at the University of Barcelona (UBneuro) has applied advanced artificial intelligence techniques to better understand why Huntington’s disease can begin at very different ages in patients. This hereditary neurodegenerative condition, which causes motor, cognitive, and psychiatric impairments, is caused by a mutation in the HTT gene, which encodes the huntingtin protein.

How aging leads to disease: New two-stage model explains age-related illness

Impact Journals LLC
Peer-Reviewed Publication

BUFFALO, NY — January 20, 2026 — A new review was published in Volume 17, Issue 12 of Aging-US on December 30, 2025, titled “Aging as a multifactorial disorder with two stages.”

Journal: Aging-US