Very few patients are filling mifepristone prescriptions at retail pharmacies years after FDA permanently lifted rules requiring that patients obtain the abortion pill in person at a clinic or hospital.

New research shows people who experience chronic pain tend to consume cigarettes and e-cigarettes at higher rates than others. The findings, based on analysis of the National Health Interview Survey from 2014-2023, should inform therapies for both chronic pain and smoking cessation.

The brain does not only cooperate; it also competes. So determines an international study by the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, Pompeu Fabra University and the Montreal Neurological Institute in Canada, published in Nature Neuroscience. The study reveals that the human brain—as well as those of macaques and mice—functions thanks to a constant balance between these two forces. Using advanced whole-brain computer modelling, the researchers have shown that, while specialized circuits cooperate internally, there are long-range competitive interactions among them to manage limited resources. Replicating this balance could bring us closer to the  creation of digital copies of an individual’s brain, a key breakthrough in precision medicine and for developing AI models with greater computational capacity.

The eye is a highly specialized optical and mechanical system whose structural integrity and visual performance rely heavily on the precise arrangement of the extracellular matrix (ECM). As the primary structural protein of the ocular ECM, collagen provides not only physical support through its hierarchical self-assembled structure but also regulates cellular behavior via bioactive sequences. However, bridging the gap from natural tissues to synthetic biological scaffolds to achieve precise emulation of the complex microenvironments in the cornea, sclera, and retina remains a core challenge in ocular tissue engineering.  The review article titled "Ocular collagen: From architecture to biomaterials," published in Eye Discovery (2026) by researchers from East China University of Science and Technology, systematically evaluates the distribution logic of collagen across various ocular tissues. It discusses cutting-edge progress in constructing high-performance ophthalmic repair materials using physical, chemical, and biological methodologies.

Opening a narrowed vein damaged by deep vein thrombosis can effectively treat an often painful complication following a blood clot, according to a major clinical trial co-led by WashU Medicine.