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

Medicine & Health

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 1-Jan-2026 19:11 ET (2-Jan-2026 00:11 GMT/UTC)

Tiny creatures, big insights: The microbial signature of the sea uncovered by copepods

Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research
Peer-Reviewed Publication

An international study has revealed that tiny planktonic crustaceans carry a unique microbial signature that better reflects ocean currents and environmental gradients than microbes found freely in seawater. As surface oceans become warmer and more nutrient-depleted, these host-associated microbes, especially those adapted to oligotrophic conditions as in the Mediterranean Sea, may offer early warning signs about the health of marine ecosystems.

Journal: Limnology and Oceanography Letters
Funder: Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou)

Saving lives through simulation

University of Pittsburgh
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A transdisciplinary team of University of Pittsburgh and Kenyan researchers has developed a discrete event simulation (DES), a computer-based model, that reveals gaps in the blood transfusion continuum to help optimize the “vein-to-vein” process from collection to storage to delivery and transfusion in Kenya. The research, which provides the first quantitative model of the blood continuum in a low- to middle-income country (LMIC), is published in the article “Simulating the blood transfusion system in Kenya: Modelling methods and exploratory analyses” (DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0004587) in PLOS Global Public Health. I

Journal: PLOS Global Public Health
Funder: NIH/National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute

Team creativity can and should play a key role in primary care

Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Team creativity can be measured in primary care, according to a new study at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Primary care teams are essential to high-quality, patient-centered care yet face persistent challenges despite growing recognition of their operational expertise. Their role as a source of creative ideas for improving care is underleveraged while empirical tools for assessing and supporting creativity in primary care teams also remained scarce.

Journal: Health Care Management Review
Funder: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Study: As temperatures and humidity rise, so do emergency room visits for heart conditions

Tulane University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

High humidity, when combined with extreme heat, was associated with a six times higher risk of a heart-related emergency room visit.

Journal: Science of The Total Environment
Funder: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Academies of Sciences of Gulf Research Program

A progressive evolution in virtual MRI imaging for tumor detection

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

During magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) procedures, contrast agents, such as the rare metal gadolinium, can pose potential health risks. Researchers at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) have spent years developing contrast-free scanning technology and successfully developed AI-powered virtual MRI imaging for accurate turmour detection, offering a safer and smarter diagnostic approach.

Journal: International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics

Arabic and Czech translations, more than 4,000 new concepts boost global interoperability in latest LOINC® release

Regenstrief Institute
Business Announcement

Regenstrief Institute’s latest LOINC® content update on August 12, introduces two new linguistic variants: Arabic, for users in Jordan, and Czech, for users in the Czech Republic. With these additions, LOINC is now available in 22 languages. Nearly 400 new concepts covering food and environmental allergens and immune response triggers have also beeen added. LOINC, short for Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes, is a global standard for health terminology. Created and maintained at Regenstrief, LOINC enables the identification, exchange and collection of data across health systems and is used around the world.

New compound disrupts survival pathways in aromatase inhibitor-resistant breast cancer cells

Impact Journals LLC
Peer-Reviewed Publication

BUFFALO, NY – August 13, 2025 – A new research paper was published in Volume 16 of Oncotarget on July 29, 2025, titled “PCAIs stimulate MAPK, PI3K/AKT pathways and ROS-Mediated apoptosis in aromatase inhibitor-resistant breast cancer cells while disrupting actin filaments and focal adhesion.”

Journal: Oncotarget