EurekAlert! News by Subject: Medicine & Health

Medicine & Health

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 17-Jun-2026 13:16 ET (17-Jun-2026 17:16 GMT/UTC)

20-Jan-2026

Not all memories are created equal: Study by NUS and Duke shows how motivation shapes our memory

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

Researchers from the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (NUS Medicine) and Duke University have proposed a neuroscience framework explaining how different types of motivation fundamentally reshape what and how the brain remembers.

Journal: Annual Review of Psychology

20-Jan-2026

Continuous care from community-based midwives reduces risk of preterm birth by 45%

King's College London
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Women who receive continuous care from community-based midwives have a significantly reduced risk of preterm birth in comparison to those who receive standard care. This care model also significantly reduced risks of preterm births in women who are at greatest social risk of adverse outcomes.

Journal: BJOG An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology
Funder: NIHR Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care South London

20-Jan-2026

Mix of different types of physical activity may be best for longer life

BMJ Group
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Regularly doing a mix of different types of physical activity may be best for prolonging the lifespan, but the associations aren’t linear, pointing to a possible optimal threshold effect, suggests research published in the open access journal BMJ Medicine.

Journal: BMJ Medicine
Funder: National Institutes of Health

20-Jan-2026

UK glaucoma cases higher than expected and projected to reach 1.6 million+ by 2060

BMJ Group
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The number of people over 40 in the UK living with glaucoma—the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide—is already higher than expected and is projected to surge to more than 1.6 million by 2060, finds research published online in the British Journal of Ophthalmology.

Journal: British Journal of Ophthalmology

20-Jan-2026

Over 1 million estimated to have glaucoma in UK

University College London
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Over one million people are estimated to currently have glaucoma in the UK, a figure projected to reach more than 1.6 million by 2060, according to a study led by University College London (UCL) and Moorfields researchers.

Journal: British Journal of Ophthalmology
Funder: National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre at Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and UCL Institute of Ophthalmology

20-Jan-2026

Researchers study whether intentionally manipulating blood carbon dioxide levels might enhance brain health

University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers at The University of New Mexico School of Medicine, the Mind Research Network (MRN) – a division of Lovelace Biomedical Research Institute – and the New Mexico Veterans Affairs Health Care System are exploring whether intentionally raising and lowering blood levels of carbon dioxide (CO₂) through rhythmic CO₂exposure or controlled breathing might boost the glymphatic system’s effectiveness and improve brain health.

20-Jan-2026

Using artificial intelligence to understand how emotions are formed

Nara Institute of Science and Technology
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers at the Nara Institute of Science and Technology and Osaka University have developed a computational model of how human emotions are formed. This system integrates body signals, sensory input, and language, forming emotional concepts that match the self-reported human emotional judgment with 75% accuracy. The findings highlight new ways of building emotionally aware artificial intelligence, with potential applications in mental health care, interactive robots, and assistive technologies.

Journal: IEEE Transactions on Affective Computing
Funder: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Japan Science and Technology Agency

20-Jan-2026

Exposure to wildfire smoke late in pregnancy may raise autism risk in children

Tulane University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Pregnant women who were exposed to more than 10 days of wildfire smoke during their third trimester saw an increased risk of their child being diagnosed with autism compared to those who had no exposure, according to a new study.

Journal: Environmental Science & Technology
Funder: National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences, Kaiser Permanente Southern California Direct Community Benefit Funds, EPA

20-Jan-2026

New CT imaging oral contrast agent improves visualization of bowel anatomy, clinical trial data show

Mayo Clinic
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In a new pilot feasibility study, researchers from Mayo Clinic, the University of Washington School of Medicine, the University of California San Francisco, and Nextrast Inc. found that a new imaging oral agent, also known as a "contrast agent," helps radiologists better see bowel structures and disease in CT imaging when compared with the current oral contrast agents.

Journal: Abdominal Radiology