EurekAlert! News by Subject: Medicine & Health

Medicine & Health

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 28-Oct-2026 23:16 ET (29-Oct-2026 03:16 GMT/UTC)

13-Aug-2026

Coral-inspired scaffold reprograms immune cells to promote bone regeneration

Editorial Office of West China School of Stomatology, Sichuan University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Steroid-induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head (SONFH) can prevent damaged bone from healing, often leading to joint collapse and disability. Researchers have now developed a coral-inspired, 3D-printed scaffold that reprograms immune cells to create a healing environment for bone repair. In vitro and in vivo studies showed that the scaffold promoted angiogenesis and bone regeneration, offering a promising strategy for overcoming the disease's underlying immune dysfunction and improving bone repair.

Journal: Bone Research

13-Aug-2026

Sugar molecule could help protect against a dangerous hospital fungus

University of Exeter
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researcher have identified a sugar structure that corresponds to a component of the C. auris surface. The molecule is a manmade versoion of the same structure that is found in the fungus, and it can be specifically recognised by the immune system, binding in a way that helps to direct the immune response e specifically against the fungus.

The sugar structure serves as the basis for a vaccine candidate and for protective antibodies. In addition, the researchers used one of these antibodies to develop a prototype for a rapid test to detect multiple Candida species in a lateral flow device format – similar to those used to detect the Covid virus..

Journal: Angewandte Chemie

13-Aug-2026

Poison centers see nearly 400% increase in liver injury calls

University of Virginia Health System
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Calls to poison centers involving liver injuries caused by medications, supplements, alcohol and other substances jumped nearly 400% between 2000 and 2024, according to a new study from UVA Health.

Journal: Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology

13-Aug-2026

AGR2-high cells drive a FOXM1-mediated pro-malignancy program in non-functional pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (NF-PanNETs) and informatively predict patient outcomes

Science China Press
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A study of non-functional pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (NF-PanNETs) identified an AGR2^high endocrine subcluster enriched in high-grade tumors and showed that simple AGR2 immunohistochemistry serves as a clinically informative prognostic marker. Mechanistically, the transcription factor FOXM1 directly drives the proliferative transcriptional program of AGR2^high cells, while chemical inhibition of FOXM1 showed therapeutic benefit in tumor cells, patient-derived organoids, and xenograft models. Together, the findings provide a new approach for prognostic stratification and identify FOXM1 as a potential therapeutic vulnerability in NF-PanNETs.

Journal: Science Bulletin

13-Aug-2026

Alzheimer’s protein patterns vary across populations

University of Gothenburg
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Established Alzheimer’s markers are also detected in blood samples from Nigeria and Tanzania. But other proteins in the blood differ from those seen in a comparable group in Canada. This is important if blood tests for Alzheimer’s are to be used globally.

Journal: Nature Communications

13-Aug-2026

Study links coffee consumption to metabolic health and sex hormones

University of Oulu, Finland
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Coffee is one of the world's most widely consumed beverages, and previous research has linked its consumption to a lower risk of conditions such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. However, the biological mechanisms behind these benefits remain unclear. A new Finnish study links habitual coffee consumption to healthier body composition and metabolic markers, while revealing distinct associations with sex hormones in men and women.

Journal: European Journal of Nutrition

13-Aug-2026

levidex RCT shows clinically significant improvement in quality of life for multiple sclerosis and is published in the Multiple Sclerosis Journal – Experimental, Translational and Clinical

GAIA (Germany)
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A randomized controlled trial (RCT) on the digital health application levidex has now been published in the international journal Multiple Sclerosis Journal – Experimental, Translational and Clinical.[1] The LAMONT study shows that levidex significantly and clinically improves disease-specific quality of life in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). The study specifically focused on people with MS who had a reduced quality of life. Researchers from GAIA investigated the efficacy of levidex in collaboration with the University of Duisburg-Essen, the Neuromed Campus Hohenlind, NeuroTransData, the Vincera Clinics in Bad Waldsee, and the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf. The results are particularly significant given that disease-modifying drugs do not adequately address the psychosocial and emotional burdens of the disease—the so-called “invisible symptoms”.

Journal: Multiple Sclerosis Journal - Experimental Translational and Clinical

13-Aug-2026

Brain cravings: Impaired neural protein affects dietary fat intake and weight

Osaka Metropolitan University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Osaka Metropolitan University researchers discovered that the mitochondrial protein OPA1 in hypothalamic MC4R neurons plays a vital role in controlling fat intake and body weight in mice. The study also highlights significant sex differences in obesity-related responses, offering new insight into the neural regulation of energy balance.

Funder: Tojuro Iijima Foundation for Food Science and Technology, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

12-Aug-2026

NUS Medicine professor becomes his own test subject in longevity study; biological age found to be 15 years younger

National University of Singapore, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Most individuals encounter their health primarily through an annual health screening, which provides a limited snapshot of one’s health status. A new study by the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (NUS Medicine), is challenging the way we think about health and longevity, by seeking to understand what occurs between those assessments, focusing on function rather than static markers, tracking how physiology changes moment to moment.

Led by Professor Dean Ho, Director of the Institute for Digital Medicine (WisDM) at NUS Medicine, the study took an unusual and highly personalised approach: Prof Ho became the sole subject of the study.

Journal: PLOS One