EurekAlert! News by Subject: Medicine & Health - News by Subject: Medicine & Health

Medicine & Health

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 20-Dec-2025 13:11 ET (20-Dec-2025 18:11 GMT/UTC)

Clinical trial suggests immunotherapy before surgery is a potential new treatment for rare cancer

Trinity College Dublin
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Results from an early phase clinical trial presented this week at the World Conference on Lung Cancer Meeting in Barcelona, Spain, and published in the Nature Medicine journal show that patients with mesothelioma - a rare cancer of the lining of the lung that may be caused by exposure to asbestos - who received a combination of two immunotherapy drugs, nivolumab and ipilimumab, before surgery had successful surgeries and encouraging early outcomes.

Journal: Nature Medicine

Global integration of traditional and modern medicine: policy developments, regulatory frameworks, and clinical integration model

Xia & He Publishing Inc.
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The integration of traditional and modern medicine has emerged as a global health priority, aimed at enhancing healthcare accessibility, cultural relevance, and therapeutic efficacy. This review systematically examines the worldwide efforts to integrate traditional and complementary medicine (T&CM) with modern biomedical systems through an analysis of policy developments, regulatory frameworks, and clinical implementation models across Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. Based on a comprehensive review of literature and policy documents from 2000 to 2025, this essay highlights the progress, challenges, and future directions of integrative healthcare.

Journal: Future Integrative Medicine

The chronic risks from single-use plastic water bottles are dangerously understudied, new Concordia research shows

Concordia University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In a review of over 140 scientific articles, PhD candidate Sarah Sajedi writes that individuals on average ingest between 39,000 and 52,000 microplastic particles per year, and bottled water users consume 90,000 more particles than tap water consumers. These particles emerge as bottles are made, stored, transported and broken down over their lifespans. Because they are often made from low-quality plastic, they shed tiny pieces every time they are manipulated and exposed to sunlight and temperature fluctuations. And unlike other types of plastic particles, which enter human bodies through the food chain, these are ingested directly from the source.

Journal: Journal of Hazardous Materials
Funder: Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada

Machine learning unveils COPD patient clusters and quality of life associations in China

Higher Education Press
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Discover how machine learning is helping researchers identify different groups of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients in China and understand how their health conditions impact daily life. This new study offers insights into targeted treatments and better quality of life for those living with COPD.

Journal: Engineering

Ending federally funded Ryan White HIV/AIDS program would increase new HIV infections 49% nationwide by 2030, computer model predicts

Johns Hopkins Medicine
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In a new Johns Hopkins Medicine-led study, researchers predict that ending federal funding for the Ryan White Program could increase HIV infections across 31 U.S. cities by 49% in the next five years.

Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine

First line of treatment for depression should be a tailored exercise plan

University of Ottawa
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Psychiatrists and mental health professionals have always relied on medication and talk therapy to treat depression, but Dr. Nicholas Fabiano, a psychiatry resident at the University of Ottawa, thinks it’s time for a shift. In an editorial for the British Journal of Sports Medicine, he argues that exercise shouldn’t be an afterthought, it should be a standard part of every treatment plan for patients with depression.

Journal: British Journal of Sports Medicine

Rural patients in the United States still face barriers to telehealth access

JMIR Publications
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Despite the promise of telehealth to bridge rural health care gaps, a new study published by JMIR Publications in the Journal of Medical Internet Research reveals that many rural-dwelling patients in the United States—especially those who are older, speak Spanish, or rely on public insurance—are still struggling to access virtual care.

Journal: Journal of Medical Internet Research