Artificial intelligence (AI)-supported mammography identifies more cancers during screening and reduces the rate of breast cancer diagnosis by 12% in the years following, finds the first randomized controlled trial of its kind. The trial involved over 100,000 Swedish women, and its results are published in The Lancet.

Ever since Larry Wilkewitz retired more than 20 years ago from a wood products company, he’s had a commercial Medicare Advantage plan from the insurer Humana. But two years ago, he heard about Peak Health, a new Advantage plan started by the West Virginia University Health System, where his doctors practice. It was cheaper and offered more personal attention, plus extras such as an allowance for over-the-counter pharmacy items. Those benefits are more important than ever, he said, as he’s treated for cancer.

As COVID-19 testing becomes less routine, official case numbers can make outbreaks look smaller than they really are. A research team led by Professor Michio Murakami has now shown that wastewater surveillance can uncover this “invisible” spread, providing a more objective picture of community infections and offering early warning signs for hospital-acquired cases. The study is published in the journal Environment International.

Adolescents who report pain at the age of 18 are at higher risk of later self-harm. This is shown by a new study from Karolinska Institutet, published in Psychiatry Research. The findings suggest that pain may form part of the chain of events leading to self-harming behavior.

Following the 2018 federal expansion of short-term limited-duration (STLD) insurance plans, limited or no state regulation of plans was associated with decreases in timely cancer treatment initiation, according to a study published online in Cancer.

A new in vivo pharmacokinetic recall study involving 114 participants in the Estonian Biobank has provided the first clinical confirmation that previously uncharacterized genetic variants in the drug-metabolizing enzymes CYP2C19 and CYP2D6 significantly affect how drugs are processed in the human body. These results emphasize the need to look beyond common pharmacogenetic markers to improve the precision of personalized drug therapy. The paper is published in the journal npj Genomic Medicine.

Researchers at University of Tsukuba have identified two fundamental coordination patterns underlying the underwater dolphin kick in swimmers: (1) the coordinated motion of the shank and foot and (2) hip flexion and extension centered on thigh movement. They also found that faster swimmers employ a distinctive arm-trunk-thigh coordination strategy, and they maintain a streamlined upper body by adjusting shoulder and lower trunk movements in response to thigh motion.

Cancer screenings play a critical role in protecting long-term health. They can detect cancer early, when treatment is most effective, and in some cases help prevent cancer before it develops. While screening recommendations vary based on age, sex, family history and personal risk factors, several key cancer screening tests should be reviewed regularly.

At the 2026 Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) Annual Meeting, investigators presented a late-breaking study focused on surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) following prior transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), a clinical scenario increasingly encountered as TAVR use expands.

Medicare Advantage health plans are blasting a government proposal this week that would keep their reimbursement rates flat next year while making other payment changes.

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine have developed a multimodal, bioelectronic wrist-worn device for objective, continuous, real-time monitoring of stress. The Smart Quantitative and Comprehensive Stress Assessor and Sub-Classifier simultaneously tracks molecular stress biomarkers alongside physiological stress indicators, providing a complete and precise picture of how stress is experienced by humans.

Researchers at Keele University have said that more targeted use of testing for a common molecule could help to improve predictions of cardiovascular disease outcomes in patients at greatest risk.

Patients with CaV2.1 channelopathies face severe and often debilitating symptoms, such as seizures, migraines, tremors, and developmental delays. Although some symptoms overlap among these rare neurological conditions, patients often have different underlying mutations. In a recent study published in The FASEB Journal, researchers report the effects of two human CaV2.1 channelopathy mutations in a rat model, the findings of which could result in personalized therapies.

Biological differences between women and men lead to variations in the appearance and progression of many diseases, which influence diagnosis and response to treatments. These differences also affect the relationship between diseases, as they generate different combinations, risks, and patterns of joint appearance depending on sex. However, the biological mechanisms that explain these associations have remained largely unexplored from a sex-differentiated perspective—until now.

A multidisciplinary team of Brazilian researchers argues in an article published in the BMJ that health systems in the Brazilian Amazon must be redesigned in light of climate change, extreme weather events, and food insecurity. The researchers propose that this redesign takes into account traditional knowledge and the specific needs of local communities.

Assessing the toxicity of food contaminants—including carcinogenic potential—is a major challenge in evaluating the risks associated with exposure. In recent years, as part of efforts to reduce animal testing, two-dimensional (2D) analytical methods using human hepatic cell lines (which make up most of the liver) have advanced predictive toxicology for contaminants. However, these approaches have limitations, because they do not sufficiently capture the organ’s complexity.

A holistic inquiry into how toxic tau impacts synapses provides a new take on the processes that lead to neuronal dysfunction and memory loss in Alzheimer’s disease. A tool, developed in the Tracy lab, enables researchers to track changes in the synaptic proteome, correlating changes to synaptic dysregulation and synapse loss over time.

The immune system must maintain a delicate balance to defend against harmful threats while avoiding excessive inflammation. When this balance is disrupted, immune responses can contribute to autoimmune diseases and cancer. A research team jointly led by scientists at National Taiwan University (NTU) and National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU) has uncovered a previously unrecognized way to regulate the immune-related enzyme TREX1, offering new insight into how immune activity is controlled.

A major international study has assessed key bacterial targets that could form the basis of a new maternal vaccine to protect newborns from life-threatening infections. The University of Strathclyde contributed analytical expertise to the global project, as part of a long-standing collaboration with leading clinical scientists from the U.K. and Malawi.

In the U.S., a stroke happens roughly every 40 seconds. That means, in the time it takes to read a five-minute news article, more than seven Americans will have experienced this life-changing medical event, which is a leading cause of death and serious long-term disability across the country. For stroke survivors, the road to recovery can be a long and difficult one, often complicated by a number of cognitive, functional and motor impairments.