EurekAlert! News by Subject: Medicine & Health

Medicine & Health

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 1-Jun-2026 20:15 ET (2-Jun-2026 00:15 GMT/UTC)

1-Jun-2026

Newest medicines work just as well at half dosage for stable psoriasis

Radboud University Medical Center
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Three-quarters of people who respond well to the newest types of biologics for psoriasis can safely reduce their dosage, often even by half. These medications then work just as effectively, according to a study led by Radboud university medical center and Ghent University Hospital. The finding results in fewer injections and saves up to €8,500 per patient per year.

Journal: The Lancet Regional Health - Europe

1-Jun-2026

The youth mental health crisis requires healing for parents as well as children, a new book argues

University of Cambridge
Book Announcement

A new book by a Cambridge University psychotherapist argues that children should not receive therapy without their parents or caregivers also receiving support. In Places of Safety, Alix Hearn calls for a “sea change” in youth mental healthcare, arguing that children and young people with mental health difficulties are often dealing with adults’ unprocessed emotions, and that the challenges they experience frequently reflect inherited, “ghostly” patterns of behaviour that are passed down through families – often unconsciously. The book calls for the youth mental health crisis to be understood as a systemic problem, in which healing parents could be as important as helping their children.

1-Jun-2026

Innovative bedside PET scanner enables real-time imaging for interventional procedures

Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A newly developed portable, point-of-care PET technology can image any organ, delivering high-quality results to guide interventional procedures. With real-time visual feedback, the bedside technology provides a cost-effective approach for hospitals to perform biopsies, tumor ablations, and other procedures in constrained clinical environments. This research was presented at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging 2026 Annual Meeting.

Journal: Journal of Nuclear Medicine
Meeting: Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging 2026 Annual Meeting

1-Jun-2026

Genetic testing allows fast diagnosis of rare pancreatic condition in 98 per cent of babies

University of Exeter
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study from the University of Exeter, published in the Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology, which found that genetic testing can identify the cause of pancreatic agenesis in 98 per cent of cases. 

The study, funded by Wellcome and supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research Exeter Biomedical Research Centre, identified the DNA changes responsible for pancreatic agenesis in all but four of 129 study participants. 

Journal: The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology

1-Jun-2026

Q&A: Most biology education guidelines lack any connection to society — UW researchers explain why that's a problem

University of Washington
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Elli Theobald, University of Washington assistant professor of biology, aims to connect the biology concepts her students learn in class to real-world issues, something she hopes will help both retain students in the biology major at the UW and help non-majors in the class with their future careers. How common is it for educational materials — such as guidelines or test questions — to include connections to society? In a recent paper, Theobald and her team examined almost 3,000 science guidelines and assessment questions from 16 sources to answer this question. Of the approximately 200 elements — about 7% — that had real-world implications, many discussed ethics and public health issues.

Journal: Disciplinary and Interdisciplinary Science Education Research
Funder: National Science Foundation

1-Jun-2026

Nursing home staffing declined in states that protected facilities from COVID-19 malpractice lawsuits

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

Nursing homes across the country had less staffing in states where legislatures granted the facilities immunity from COVID-19-related lawsuits filed by patients and their families, according to findings from a new UCLA-led study.

Journal: JAMA

1-Jun-2026

Many adults with a normal BMI may still have obesity-related health risks

American College of Physicians
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A brief research report estimated how common “clinical obesity” is in the United States using a broader definition that combines body measurements with evidence of obesity related health conditions, rather than defining obesity using body mass index (BMI) alone.

Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine

1-Jun-2026

Body mass index found to drastically underestimate obesity levels in the United States

University of Southern California - Health Sciences
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study from Keck Medicine of USC quantifies how often BMI may miss cases of obesity. The research shows that one quarter of people considered to have a normal (healthy) BMI meet the standard of clinical obesity. And 50% of those deemed overweight by their BMI would be reclassified as obese.

Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine

1-Jun-2026

Next-generation PET tracer enables rapid, high-precision detection of kidney cancer

Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new PET tracer targeting carbonic anhydrase IX (CAIX) has demonstrated exceptional sensitivity and high tumor-to-background contrast in detecting clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), according to early clinical research. The newly developed tracer, ⁶⁸Ga-RCC78, successfully identified additional metastatic lesions missed by standard imaging while significantly reducing abdominal background noise, offering a powerful new tool for kidney cancer staging. This research was presented at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging 2026 Annual Meeting.

Journal: Journal of Nuclear Medicine
Meeting: Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging 2026 Annual Meeting