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

Medicine & Health

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 9-Sep-2025 23:11 ET (10-Sep-2025 03:11 GMT/UTC)

Genetic mutations linked to toxin exposure found in firefighters’ brain tumors

Mass General Brigham
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In a study comparing the glioma tumors of firefighters and non-fighters, researchers found a mutational signature tied to exposure to haloalkanes, which are used in flame retardants, fire extinguishers, and pesticides

Journal: Cancer
Funder: NIH/National Institutes of Health

Genes combined with immune response to Epstein-Barr virus increase MS risk

Karolinska Institutet
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In multiple sclerosis (MS), antibodies to the common Epstein-Barr virus can accidentally attack a protein in the brain and spinal cord. New research shows that the combination of certain viral antibodies and genetic risk factors can be linked to a greatly increased risk of MS. The study has been published in the journal PNAS and led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, and Stanford University School of Medicine, USA.

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Four Penn cancer researchers elected as Fellows of the AACR Academy

University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Grant and Award Announcement

Distinguished cancer researchers Garrett M. Brodeur, MD, Susan Domchek, MD, Stephan Grupp, MD, PhD, and Robert Vonderheide, MD, DPhil, from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Penn Medicine’s Abramson Cancer Center have been elected to the 2025 class of Fellows of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Academy.

WVU researchers find babies born to teen mothers are smaller, weigh less

West Virginia University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

At a time when the number of teens having babies in the Mountain State remains higher than the national average, maternal and child health researchers at West Virginia University found these infants have lower birth weights and are smaller for their gestational ages compared with those born to adults.

Journal: Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology

Reproductive justice–driven pregnancy interventions can improve mental health

Wolters Kluwer Health
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Perinatal interventions guided by reproductive justice principles can have positive effects on the perinatal mental health of Black birthing patients and, perhaps, the mental health development of their infants, states a systematic review published in a special issue of Harvard Review of Psychiatry, part of the Lippincott portfolio from Wolters Kluwer.

Journal: Harvard Review of Psychiatry

Developing treatment strategies for an understudied bladder disease

Society for Neuroscience
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Electroacupuncture is an effective approach for alleviating pain and improving bladder function in a rat model of bladder pain syndrome.

Journal: eNeuro
Funder: National Natural Science Foundation of China, National Natural Science Foundation of China

Study discovers tuberculosis genes necessary for airborne transmission

Weill Cornell Medicine
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Tuberculosis bacteria rely on a family of genes that help them survive the challenging journey from one person’s lungs to another person’s during coughing, sneezing or talking, according to researchers from Weill Cornell Medicine and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The findings provide new targets for tuberculosis therapies that could simultaneously treat infection and prevent the spread of bacteria.

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences