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

Medicine & Health

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 25-Oct-2025 07:11 ET (25-Oct-2025 11:11 GMT/UTC)

24-Sep-2025

How does the brain differentiate painful from non-painful touch?

Salk Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Salk neuroscientists discover brain area called gracile nucleus is central to the development of mechanical allodynia, a chronic pain condition that affects 7 to 10 percent of the global population. The findings show that uncoordinated gracile nuclei neural activity patterns cause mechanical allodynia—not a simple increase in activity as previously assumed. The discovery aids the century-long scientific endeavor of deciphering how the brain perceives and encodes pain and is a crucial step toward designing acute and chronic pain therapeutics.

Journal: Cell Reports

24-Sep-2025

Here’s what morning sickness during pregnancy really means

University of California - Los Angeles
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A UCLA study has found that “morning sickness” symptoms, including nausea, vomiting and aversions to certain foods and smells, are linked to the body’s natural, but complex, immune response during pregnancy. The study could have workplace implications for pregnant women, helping to widen recognition that these symptoms are healthy and normal, both reducing stigma and paving the way for common-sense workplace accommodations.

Journal: Evolution Medicine and Public Health

24-Sep-2025

Study highlights prevalence of violence against health care workers in emergency departments

Society for Academic Emergency Medicine

New research shows violence against ED health care workers is common yet underreported, with 1 in 5 agitated patients committing assault and 2 in 5 using verbal abuse.

Journal: Academic Emergency Medicine

24-Sep-2025

Milk matters: How donor human milk storage affects preemie gut health

Medical University of South Carolina
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A study from the Medical University of South Carolina, published in the Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition, reveals that shorter storage durations of donor human milk are linked to reduced gastrointestinal complicatoins in premature infants, including necrotizing enterocolitis. These findings suggestt that minimizing milk storage time may help to preserve protective properties crucial for preterm gut health, offering new insights into neonatal nutrition practices and improving outcomes for vulnerable newborns.

Journal: Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition
Funder: NIH/National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), NIH/National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), NIH/National Institutes of Health, David and Laura Stone Endowment for Advancement in Neonatal Medicine

24-Sep-2025

Brazilian researchers warn that healthcare for transgender people is under threat

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Article published in Nature Medicine points to the risk of setbacks in research focused on this population. Experts question new rules in Brazil and other countries. Researchers believe that a resolution by Brazil’s Federal Council of Medicine could lead young people to seek out untrained doctors or even self-medicate, putting their health at risk.

Journal: Nature Medicine
Funder: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

24-Sep-2025

Parenting from the OR: New study spotlights experiences of children raised by women cardiothoracic surgeons

The Society of Thoracic Surgeons
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study published in The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, a journal from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS), offers rare insight into what it’s like to grow up as the child of a cardiothoracic (CT) surgeon mother, revealing a powerful blend of challenges, inspiration, and resilience.

Journal: Annals of Thoracic Surgery

24-Sep-2025

Older adults can bounce back to thriving health, groundbreaking Canadian study finds

University of Toronto
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers at the University of Toronto have found that nearly one in four older adults age 60 or older who reported poor well-being at the beginning of a national study —due to pain, health issues, low mood, or isolation—had regained optimal well-being within just three years.

Journal: PLOS One