Published today in The Lancet Neurology, a new review from the University of Colorado Anschutz in collaboration with UT Southwestern Medical Center, offers the latest scientific explanations for why ketogenic diets reduce seizures in people with epilepsy. The paper brings together insights from both laboratory discoveries and real‑world patient outcomes, showing that ketogenic diets do far more than reduce seizures. The review outlines how these strict high-fat, low carbohydrate diets strengthen the brain’s energy systems, reduce inflammation and protect neurons - providing therapeutic benefits that many current medications are not yet able to achieve. “For ...

PsyMetRiC is the first validated cardiometabolic prediction tool specifically tailored for this group, developed into a healthcare professional-facing web application PsyMetRiC predicts risks of outcome measures that are meaningful in clinical practice, and desired by patients It is among the first prediction tools in psychiatry to be certified by the MHRA for use in real-world healthcare A new clinic-ready web-based risk prediction tool called PsyMetRiC is now available to forecast the risk of young people with psychosis developing cardiometabolic disorders such as obesity, metabolic syndrome and diabetes.  The algorithms behind PsyMetRiC have been specifically tailored for young ...

Scientists at the University of East Anglia (UK) have uncovered a hidden link between gut health and the immune system – all thanks to a tiny island bird. Researchers studied the Seychelles warbler, a small songbird found on Cousin Island in the Seychelles. They collected the birds’ poo to analyse their gut bacteria – and found that their immune genes influence which gut microbes thrive. They say their work sheds light on how animal immune systems and communities of beneficial gut bacteria evolve together - including in humans. Senior researcher ...

Research presented at international urology conference in London shows how far prostate cancer screening has come Nearly 300 abstracts on prostate cancer research from around the world will be presented at the European Association of Urology Congress (EAU26), taking place in London from 13–16 March 2026. Highlights of some of the key advances in the prostate cancer screening field are detailed below. Tobias Nordström is a clinical urologist and Associate Professor at the Karolinska Institute, Sweden and a member of the EAU Scientific Congress Office. He said: ...

Findings published by The BMJ today reinforce previous research linking use of the antiseizure drug valproate during pregnancy to neurodevelopmental disorders such as ADHD and autism in children, and indicate no substantial risk for several other antiseizure drugs including levetiracetam and lamotrigine. However, the researchers say continued monitoring of the few signals - possible associations between a medicine and an unintended side effect - that emerged (eg, for zonisamide) will be important. Antiseizure drugs are ...

The rise in invasive cosmetic procedures demands tighter regulation, better consumer protection, and greater awareness to protect patient safety and reduce cosmetic tourism, argue experts in The BMJ today. The global market for cosmetic procedures is growing rapidly and is projected to exceed $180bn by 2033, note Danielle Griffiths at the University of Liverpool and colleagues. Invasive cosmetic procedures typically involve the insertion of instruments or equipment into the body (eg, tummy tucks and breast augmentation), while non-surgical procedures are minimally invasive (eg, botox and dermal fillers), they ...

Fresh research from the University of East Anglia (UEA) could transform how the NHS protects patients’ medical images from cyber‑attacks. Computer scientists have developed a breakthrough way to encrypt medical images such as X‑rays, CT scans and MRIs, keeping them secure even if hospital networks are breached. Medical imaging systems have been repeatedly identified as weak points, with many relying on legacy protocols that were never designed to be exposed to the internet, making image‑level encryption an urgent priority. Developed ...

A Simon Fraser University study is pushing back against the “easy narrative” that not getting vaccinated is entirely a personal decision. Rather, vaccine hesitancy in Canada comes down to significant cultural, administrative, institutional and governance barrers that reinforce mistrust and create inequitable access to vaccines, say SFU researchers.  Published in the journal Vaccine, the study analyzed 41 peer‑reviewed papers to map how barriers emerge across four areas: cultural and community norms, governance structures, laws and budgets, and institutional design.  Key ...

The first clinical trial to compare two commonly used drugs head-to-head for venous thrombosis treatment has found a clear winner: while both drugs work well to prevent recurrent blood clots, apixaban is safer than rivaroxaban, with fewer bleeding complications. Venous thrombosis occurs when a blood clot lodges in the veins of the legs or lungs. It is the third leading cause of cardiovascular death after heart attack and stroke and is the most common preventable cause of death in hospitalized patients. Clinical guidelines currently recommend that patients recovering ...

A new study demonstrates that agricultural and medicinal plant residues can be transformed into a highly effective material for removing toxic heavy metals from contaminated water and soil while also improving crop productivity. Researchers developed a phosphorus-modified biochar derived from residues of Salvia miltiorrhiza, a widely used medicinal herb, and showed that the material can simultaneously immobilize harmful metals and enhance soil fertility. Heavy metal pollution, particularly from lead and cadmium, is a persistent environmental problem worldwide. These contaminants can accumulate in soils and water, enter the food chain, and pose ...

Food allergies are serious and, for some, potentially deadly. And yet, despite decades of research into allergies and what causes them, very little is known about why the vast majority of people are able to tolerate foods that can sicken or even kill others. “We know a lot about what the immune system sees and does if a patient has an allergy, but we know very little about what happens when things go right,” said Elizabeth “Beth” Sattely, an associate professor of chemical engineering in ...

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 4:00 P.M. ET, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2026   AAN issues guidance on the use of wearable devices Article examines smart watches, fitness trackers and more for neurological care   Highlights: The AAN has issued new guidance on wearable devices and digital apps as potential tools in neurological care, focusing on non-FDA cleared technology. Wearables can monitor physical activity, sleep, heart rate and other health factors. Some can detect conditions like atrial fibrillation. Others can monitor disease-specific symptoms like seizures and headaches. This guidance for neurologists says the technology has great potential ...

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 4:00 P.M. ET, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2026 In former college athletes, more concussions associated with worse brain health Athletes assessed within five years of college graduation Highlights: Former college athletes with three or more concussions had slightly worse physical, mental, behavioral and cognitive health five years after graduation compared to those with no concussions. The study included 3,910 former college athletes from 20 sports, nearly half of whom were women. A majority competed at NCAA Division 1 schools. Athletes were evaluated at the start of their college sports careers and again within five years of graduation. ...

In a new analysis, racial and ethnic disparities in fatal shootings of U.S. residents by police varied widely between states. Roland Neil of the RAND Corporation in California, U.S., and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS One on March 11, 2026. In the U.S., police officers fatally shoot about 1,000 people every year. Overall, Black U.S. residents are about twice as likely to die by police shooting than Hispanic U.S. residents, and about three times as likely to die by police shooting than White U.S. residents. However, few studies have examined the extent to which these racial/ethnic disparities differ between different ...

Gender differences in poverty rates in the United States may be associated with women’s differing circumstances — particularly the burden of dependent children — rather than inherent to gender itself, according to a new study published March 11, 2026 in the open-access journal PLOS One by Patti Fisher of Virginia Tech, U.S. Women in the United States face higher rates of poverty than men, and their access to economic resources and opportunities is more limited. While factors such as employment, education, and health status are known to influence poverty risk, it has been unclear whether men and women are affected differently by these factors, ...

3D-printed robotic rattlesnake triggers an avoidance response in zoo animals, especially species which share their distribution with rattlers in nature Article URL: https://plos.io/4bdJMhx Article title: The multimodal display of rattlesnakes is a deterring signal that works best with sympatric species Author countries: U.S. Funding: The author(s) received no specific funding for this work. END ...

Lipid nanoparticles, or LNPs, best known as the delivery vehicle for the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines received by billions of people, are now at the center of a much larger medical revolution. Researchers are racing to use them to ferry therapeutic mRNA into cells for cancer therapies and treatments for inflammatory diseases, as well as delivering CRISPR constructs that can correct disease-causing gene mutations. But a stubborn problem has slowed progress on all of these fronts. For LNPs to work therapeutically, they must transfer their cargo into cells by fusing with cell membranes, and they ...

**EMBARGOED UNTIL MARCH 11 AT 2 P.M. ET** Johns Hopkins Medicine scientists say they have developed a simplified version of biodegradable nanoparticles that can “educate” the immune system to find and destroy disease-causing cells throughout the body. The study, they say, advances the field of engineering immune cells within a patient’s own body to combat cancers and autoimmune diseases including lupus, among other conditions. Engineered immune cells have been successfully used to treat an array of blood cancers, using CAR-T cells, or chimeric antigen receptor T cells. The treatment ...

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Early pregnancy depends on a remarkable act of coordination. Before the placenta can nourish a growing fetus, the embryo must securely “land” and connect with the mother’s blood supply — a process guided by a specialized group of immune cells called uterine natural killer cells, or uNK cells. A new peer-reviewed study from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, supported by the National Institutes of Health and published today in Science Translational Medicine, has uncovered a critical role in successful pregnancies for an immune switch ...

Google Earth’ for human organs made available online An international team of scientists and clinicians has announced, in Science Advances, the launch of a new open-access 3D portal that allows users to explore intact human organs in unprecedented detail — from the whole organ down to individual cells locally. The Human Organ Atlas, created using a powerful synchrotron imaging method, brings together some of the most detailed 3D images of human organs ever produced. It enables scientists, doctors, educators, students and the wider public to interactively “fly through” organs ...

ITHACA, N.Y. – Artificial intelligence-powered writing tools such as autocomplete suggestions can definitely change the way people express themselves, but can they also change how they think? Cornell Tech researchers think so. In two large-scale experiments, participants were exposed to a biased AI writing assistant that provided autocomplete suggestions as they wrote about societal issues like whether the death penalty should be abolished or whether fracking should be allowed. Using pre- and post-experiment surveys, the researchers found that participants ...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — In April 2019, a marine heat wave struck a coral reef on the island of Moorea in French Polynesia, killing much of the coral and the beneficial algae that colonized it. This “bleaching” event reduced live coral populations on the reef from about 75% beforehand to less than 17% a year later and led to a series of unexpected changes that have thwarted the reef’s recovery. A long-term study of the area is challenging scientists’ understanding of the cycles of destruction and repair that can occur on a coral ...

EL PASO, Texas (March 11, 2026) – A team of researchers from The University of Texas at El Paso has uncovered new evidence explaining why the rattlesnake’s rattle – one of nature’s most iconic warning signals – has persisted and proven so effective across millions of years. The study, which was published in the journal PLOS One, shows that rattling serves as a potent deterrent for a wide range of animals and is especially effective among species that naturally coexist with rattlesnakes. Led by Océane Da Cunha, Ph.D., lecturer and graduate student coordinator in UTEP’s College of Science, the research team engineered ...

Chimpanzees have a reputation for being aggressive, while bonobos are often seen as their peaceful counterparts. This contrast has frequently been used to explain different sides of human nature. However, a new study by Utrecht University behavioural biologists Emile Bryon, Edwin van Leeuwen, Tom Roth and international colleagues shows that, in zoos, chimpanzees are not more aggressive than bonobos. The study was published today in the scientific journal Science Advances. The team of researchers compared the occurrence ...

An enigmatic type of circulating tumor cell called a dual-positive (DP) cell is associated with shorter survival time in patients with advanced breast cancer, according to a study led by investigators at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian. The findings highlight the potential importance of these under-studied cells in breast cancer progression. Circulating tumors cells are breakaway tumor cells that can seed secondary tumors (metastases) and are commonly detected in the blood of patients with cancer. Dual-positive ...