Some alkaline mineral and medicinal waters may weaken the enteric coating of medications within just a few minutes, potentially reducing their effectiveness, according to a new study by Semmelweis University. The study, published in Pharmaceutics, found that if the active ingredient is released too early in the stomach rather than in the intestinal tract, it may reduce – and, in extreme cases, even eliminate – the effectiveness of certain anti-reflux, gastroprotective, psychiatric, or anti-inflammatory pain-relief medications. 

Lifestyle-induced loss of visceral fat (and not liver fat, pancreatic fat or subcutaneous fats) may have lasting health benefits years after the end of an intervention, even when body weight is fully regained, according to researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and their international collaborators. The findings suggest that a reduction in visceral (intra-abdominal) fat, the harmful fat stored deep in the abdomen around internal organs, may be partially preserved long term and is associated with better cardiometabolic health and lower future risk of type 2 diabetes.

The University of Bath (UK) has recruited leading psychiatric geneticist Professor Laura Huckins from Yale University as Chair of Population Health, as part of a £54 million UKRI Global Talent Fund to bring top researchers to the UK.

Fear learning is a key adaptive mechanism, but its links to the immune system remain unclear, especially in people with childhood maltreatment. This study examined whether the type and timing of childhood abuse and neglect influence the relationship between brain function during fear learning and inflammation. Data were collected from 128 adults, including inflammatory markers (IL-8, IL-17) and fMRI brain scans during a fear conditioning task. Results revealed that the type and timing of childhood maltreatment differentially moderate associations between fear-related brain activity, functional connectivity, and inflammatory levels. These findings help explain how early adversity increases long-term health risks by altering neural-immune interactions.

Psittacosis caused by Chlamydia psittaci has re-emerged in China as sporadic cases and localized outbreaks. However, current knowledge remains fragmented across the clinical, veterinary, epidemiological, and public health fields. This scoping review mapped studies on psittacosis in China, identified major knowledge gaps, and defined priorities for research, clinical management, and prevention and control. Following the Arksey and O’Malley framework and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang, PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase were searched for studies published between 1 January 1985 and 31 December 2025 and synthesized eligible studies with descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. A total of 424 studies were included. Research interest showed recent sharp increases and was concentrated in Eastern and Central China. Case reports and series dominated the literature, whereas analytic epidemiology, standardized surveillance, and high-resolution molecular studies remained limited. Reported cases were most often documented in middle-aged and older adults with avian exposure, including pet birds and poultry, and the reported occurrence showed a winter–spring pattern. Pneumonia was the predominant clinical presentation, and severe cases could progress to acute respiratory distress syndrome and multi-organ dysfunction. Metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) was the most frequently reported diagnostic method in recent studies, while PCR and serology remained important complementary tools. Overall, the literature is growing rapidly, but remains uneven in geographic coverage, study design, and integration across human, animal, and environmental sectors. These findings support broader One Health surveillance, stronger analytic and molecular epidemiology, and more standardized approaches to diagnosis, source investigation, and prevention in China.