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Medicine & Health

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 29-Oct-2026 03:17 ET (29-Oct-2026 07:17 GMT/UTC)

It’s not just on ‘The Pitt’: Real-life emergency doctors are stressed out—and patient irritation plays a significant role

University of Massachusetts Amherst
Peer-Reviewed Publication

HBO’s emergency-department drama “The Pitt” has become a smash hit in large part because it shows the deeply human toll that emergency medicine exacts from those who practice it. While researchers have long known that real-life ER doctors are affected by many of the stresses that “The Pitt” has so effectively captured, a recent study led by the University of Massachusetts Amherst and published in the BMJ: Quality & Safety is the first to design an interactive and controlled experimental method to test how irritable patients—those displaying frustration or anger—affect the emotions of those treating them, and thus, potentially, the effectiveness of care they receive.

Journal: BMJ Quality & Safety

Banned chemicals continue to endanger environmental health in the Middle East and North Africa

University of Sharjah
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A class of man-made chemicals formerly used as flame retardants in a wide range of products continues to pose a significant threat to environmental health.

Journal: Environmental Research

Clinicopathologic evaluation of amyloid clearance in Alzheimer disease

JAMA Network
Peer-Reviewed Publication

About The Study: In this case report, areas of extensive amyloid clearance after amyloid-targeting therapy were associated with less downstream neuropathologic change. In addition, amyloid clearance appears to preferentially occur in the gyral crests. Future studies should evaluate the differential mechanisms involved in amyloid clearance from superficial and deep cortical layers and in gyri and sulci because extensive amyloid clearance may be necessary to achieve downstream neuropathologic benefit after removal of amyloid.

Journal: JAMA

New experimental model can accelerate next-gen allergy treatments

Tel-Aviv University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers at Tel Aviv University have developed one of the first experimental models that faithfully reproduces eosinophilic gastritis (EoG), a rare but increasingly recognized allergic disease of the stomach. Using this model, they identified the immune pathways responsible for driving the disease and explained why a new generation of biologic therapies currently being evaluated in clinical trials may benefit patients.

Journal: Allergy

YEARS algorithm for diagnosis of suspected pulmonary embolism in patients with cancer

JAMA Network
Peer-Reviewed Publication

About The Study: In patients with cancer and suspected pulmonary embolism, a diagnostic strategy using the YEARS diagnostic algorithm was as safe as using computed tomographic pulmonary angiography (CTPA) only, thus, obviating the need to perform CTPA in 22% of patients.

Journal: JAMA

The digital therapy helping dementia carers

University of East Anglia
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers have created a digital therapy platform to help people caring for family members with dementia.

Family carers of those living with dementia are at higher risk of mental health problems - with around one in three carers experiencing anxiety or depression.

To address this, the UEA team created a digital therapy platform (to be used on a mobile device or computer) to help people handle difficult or troubling thoughts and feelings.

And after testing it on hundreds of volunteers, they found that users reported lower levels of anxiety and depression.

“The improvement wasn’t just statistically significant - it was meaningful in real life. People genuinely felt better," said lead researcher Dr Naoko Kishita.

It is now hoped that the platform will be rolled out nationally and internationally to support carers in their important work.

Journal: The Lancet Regional Health - Europe

Strong, evidence-based leadership at CDC essential – SHEA encourages confirmed leadership at CDC

Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America
Business Announcement

SHEA has issued a statement urging the U.S. Senate to give timely consideration to the nomination of Dr. Erica Schwartz as Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The statement highlights the critical need for strong, evidence-based leadership to advance infection prevention, antimicrobial stewardship, disease surveillance, outbreak response, and public health preparedness. SHEA also reaffirms its commitment to partnering with the CDC to protect patients, healthcare personnel, and communities through science-driven public health initiatives.

New study provides first evidence of dopamine system injury in the brain of long COVID patients

Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new brain imaging study led by researchers at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), published in eBioMedicine, provides the strongest evidence to date that long COVID is associated with injury to dopamine-releasing neurons in the brain—a finding that may explain symptoms such as lack of motivation due to fatigue, slowed movement, and memory difficulties, and could open the door to new treatment strategies.

Journal: EBioMedicine

Mulberry branch biochar strengthens fish gut health while improving aquaculture water quality

Shenyang Agricultural University Collaborative Journals
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Adding moderate amounts of biochar made from discarded mulberry branches to fish feed may offer a practical way to support intestinal health and reduce harmful nitrogen compounds in aquaculture water, according to a new study in largemouth bass.

Journal: Biochar X