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Medicine & Health

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 27-May-2026 03:15 ET (27-May-2026 07:15 GMT/UTC)

Baby2Home smartphone app significantly improves mental health for first-time mothers, study finds

Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine
Peer-Reviewed Publication

First-time mothers who were randomized to receive a smartphone app called Baby2Home for the first year after giving birth reported significantly fewer symptoms of stress, depression, and anxiety, as well as better overall health, compared to first-time mothers who received usual postpartum care, according to new research presented today at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM) 2026 Pregnancy Meeting™.

Journal: Pregnancy
Meeting: 2026 Pregnancy Meeting™

Emergency department–initiated buprenorphine for opioid use disorder

JAMA Network
Peer-Reviewed Publication

About The Study: No difference was detected in opioid use disorder treatment engagement on day 7 between the 7-day extended-release and sublingual buprenorphine groups. Both buprenorphine formulations were well tolerated; precipitated withdrawal was rare despite a high prevalence of fentanyl.

Journal: JAMA

Call for action on understudied lung cancer in never-smokers

University College London
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Lung cancer patients who have never smoked make up a significant and growing share of global lung cancer cases, yet remain an understudied group, according to a new review written by UCL (University College London) researchers.

Journal: Trends in Cancer

7,000 years of change: How humans reshaped Caribbean coral reef food chains

Boston College
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Human activity has lessened the resilience of modern coral reefs by restricting the energy flow that moves through the food chains – or webs – of these important ecosystems. Examining otoliths – fish ear stones that are preserved in marine sediments across millennia – the team applied a novel nitrogen isotope method to 7,000-year-old fossils in order to reconstruct ancient reef food webs directly for the first time and compare with modern reefs. This new approach allows for a clearer understanding of the threats now posed to these centers of marine biodiversity, an international team of researchers report today in the journal Nature.

Journal: Nature
Funder: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Simons Foundation

Vanderbilt Health to lead expanded multisite study of immunomodulation in long COVID

Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Grant and Award Announcement

In 2024, Vanderbilt Health investigators received funding from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) for a phase 3, multicenter, placebo-controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of the immunomodulatory drug baricitinib for treating the persistent neurological and cardiopulmonary symptoms of long COVID.

Not all gigs are equal: Informal self-employment linked to lower pay, poorer health and instability

University of Michigan
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Not all self-employment guarantees financial security, with informal arrangements posing the greatest risks to well-being for many workers.

Journal: ILR Review

Study links traffic noise to higher cholesterol and lipid levels in blood

University of Oulu, Finland
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Living near busy roads may do more than disrupt sleep — it could also affect the body’s metabolism.

Journal: Environmental Research

University of Cincinnati's Robson awarded ASPET 2026 Division for Neuropharmacology Early Career Award

University of Cincinnati
Grant and Award Announcement

The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET) has awarded the University of Cincinnati’s Matthew J. Robson, PhD, with its 2026 Neuropharmacology Early Career Award.

Study finds a bicuspid aortic valve is caused by variation in numerous genes active in neonatal development of the human heart

Boston University School of Medicine
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) is a common congenital heart defect where the aortic valve has two leaflets (cusps) instead of the usual three, resulting in abnormal blood flow and development of aortic valve diseases such as aortic stenosis and incompetence. In addition, the BAV is sometimes accompanied by development of an enlarged aorta - the main artery in the body. Both the bicuspid aortic valve and an enlarged aorta often require cardiac surgery, usually after the age of 50 years. Despite this, only a limited number of genes have been associated with the disease and the molecular mechanisms remain unexplained in most cases.

In a new study aimed to further understand the genetic architecture of BAV, an international group of researchers led by Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine and Laval University in Quebec City, Canada, along with the Bicuspid Aortic Valve Consortium, the Genetic Aortic Network (a division of The Marfan Foundation) and participating Institutions, believe the condition is strongly influenced by the cumulative effect of variation in many different genes (polygenic contribution).

Journal: Circulation