Indian adolescents are mostly starting their periods at an earlier age than 25 years ago - likely because of demographic factors such as improved education, and possibly even climate change.   Article URL: https://plos.io/4nqfag7   Article Title: Understanding age at menarche: Environmental and demographic influences over a quarter century in India Author Countries: Bangladesh Funding: The author(s) received no specific funding for this work. END ...

Temporary medical centers in Gaza known as "Medical Points" (MPs) treat an average of 117 people daily with only about 7 staff per MP, filling a critical role despite severe staffing and supply shortages (with insulin and cancer treatments unavailable in over 90% of cases, for instance).   Article URL: https://plos.io/4nn4PRX Article Title: Resilience amid chaos: The role of Gaza medical points Author Countries: Jordan, Palestine, United States Funding: The author(s) received no specific funding for this work. END ...

In an analysis by race, sex, age, and geography, alcohol-induced death rates in 2024 are nearly double those in 1999, with a sharp increase at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although rates are higher for men, the largest increase in alcohol-induced deaths over the full 25-year period occurred in females aged 25-34, according to a study published on September 17 by Dr. Tony Wong and colleagues at UCLA in the open-access journal PLOS Global Public Health. Alcohol-induced deaths have been increasing over the past two decades. Particularly concering are increases between 2019 ...

BUFFALO, N.Y. — People with substance use disorder who participate in recovery running programs have shown improved success in maintaining their sobriety and reducing their risk for relapse. Those observations led Panayotis Thanos, a University at Buffalo neuroscientist who studies the brain’s reward system, to try to figure out the brain mechanisms behind that phenomenon. In a new study published today in PLOS One, Thanos, PhD, senior research scientist in the Clinical and Research Institute on Addictions in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB, and co-authors reveal that ...

Two healthcare workers get COVID-19 vaccinations on the same day. Both show strong antibody responses initially, but six months later one stays healthy while the other contracts the virus. A new study published in Science Translational Medicine could help explain this difference. Researchers tracked individuals’ antibody levels after vaccinations and identified four distinct patterns of immune response after the first booster vaccination. Notably, the group that started with the highest antibody levels but experienced a faster decline were infected earlier. People with lower blood levels of IgA(S) antibodies, ...

A newly developed molecule brings together two powerful immunotherapy strategies in one treatment. Researchers at the University of Basel and University Hospital Basel, Switzerland, have demonstrated that this fusion protein can both block the “do not attack” signal used by cancer cells and selectively activate tumor-fighting immune cells. This dual action could pave the way for more effective cancer therapies with fewer side effects. Back in the early 1980s, Linda Taylor, just 33 years old, was diagnosed with advanced skin cancer and faced a grim prognosis. Luckily, she met Dr. Stephen Rosenberg from the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, who treated ...

People with temporal lobe epilepsy in particular often wander around aimlessly and unconsciously after a seizure. Researchers at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB), the University of Bonn, and the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) have identified a neurobiological mechanism that could be responsible for this so-called post-ictal wandering and potentially other postictal symptoms. According to their hypothesis, epileptic seizures are not directly responsible for post-ictal symptoms, but rather seizure-associated depolarization waves, also known as spreading depolarization (SD). The results ...

Musical people find it easier to focus their attention on the right sounds in noisy environments. This is shown in a new study from Karolinska Institutet published in the journal Science Advances. The results suggest that music training can be used to sharpen attention and cognition. Being able to focus on a conversation in a room full of noise is a complex task for the brain. In a new study, researchers have investigated how music training affects the brain's ability to focus attention on specific sounds. The ...

Hydride ion (H⁻), with their low mass and high redox potential, are considered promising charge carriers for next-generation electrochemical devices. However, the lack of efficient electrolyte with fast hydride ion conductivity, thermal stability, and electrode compatibility has hindered their practical applications. In a study published in Nature, Prof. CHEN Ping’s group from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) developed a novel core–shell hydride ion electrolyte, and constructed the first rechargeable hydride ion ...

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- A genome-editing technique known as prime editing holds potential for treating many diseases by transforming faulty genes into functional ones. However, the process carries a small chance of inserting errors that could be harmful. MIT researchers have now found a way to dramatically lower the error rate of prime editing, using modified versions of the proteins involved in the process. This advance could make it easier to develop gene therapy treatments for a variety of diseases, the researchers say. “This ...

A “teenaged” pachycephalosaur from Mongolia’s Gobi Desert may provide answers to lingering questions around the dinosaur group, according to new research published today in the journal Nature. The fossil represents a new species of pachycephalosaur and is both the oldest and most complete skeleton of this dinosaur group found to date. “Pachycephalosaurs are iconic dinosaurs, but they’re also rare and mysterious,” says Lindsay Zanno, associate research professor at North Carolina State University, head of paleontology at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and corresponding ...

Could cocoa extract supplements rich in cocoa flavanols reduce inflammation and, in turn, prevent age-related chronic diseases? In a new study from the COcoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study (COSMOS), investigators from Mass General Brigham and their colleagues looked at changes in five age-related markers of inflammation among participants who received daily cocoa supplements over several years. They found that hsCRP—an inflammatory marker that can signal increased risk of cardiovascular disease—decreased in participants taking the cocoa extract supplement, suggesting its anti-inflammatory potential may ...

About The Study: The findings of this study suggest that metabolic bariatric surgery was associated with more weight loss at lower ongoing costs compared with glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) in class II and III obesity. Further study is needed to determine if metabolic bariatric surgery should still be considered the last resort in treating obesity.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, George M. Eid, MD, email george.eid@ahn.org. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website ...

About The Study: The results of this cohort study suggest that there is a decreased risk of skin cancer among patients treated with nicotinamide, with the greatest effect seen when initiated after the first skin cancer. Nicotinamide is a vitamin B3 derivative that is sold as an over-the-counter medication. JAMA Dermatology Editor in Chief Kanade Shinkai, MD, PhD, selected the paper as a highlight for journalists. Once published, the paper will be accompanied by a podcast and short video. Corresponding Author: To contact ...

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a novel way brown fat — an energy-burning form of fat — can rev the body’s metabolic engine, consuming cellular fuel and producing heat in a way that improves metabolic health. The study, in mice, reveals new avenues to exploit brown fat to treat metabolic diseases, such as insulin resistance and obesity. The study is published Sept. 17 in Nature. Brown fat is known for its ability to turn energy (calories) from food into heat. In contrast, white fat stores energy for later use while muscle makes energy immediately ...

A USC Stem Cell-led research team has achieved a major step forward in the effort to build mouse and human synthetic kidneys. In a new paper published in Cell Stem Cell, the scientists describe generating more mature and complex lab-grown kidney structures, or organoids, than ever before.  “This is a revolutionary tool for creating more accurate models for studying kidney disease, which affects one in seven adults,” said corresponding author Zhongwei Li, associate professor of medicine, and stem cell biology and regenerative medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. “It’s also a milestone ...

When do people behave badly? Extensive research in behavioral science has shown that people are more likely to act dishonestly when they can distance themselves from the consequences. It's easier to bend or break the rules when no one is watching—or when someone else carries out the act. A new paper from an international team of researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, the University of Duisburg-Essen, and the Toulouse School of Economics shows that these moral brakes weaken even further when people delegate tasks to AI. Across 13 studies involving more than ...

Research supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) shows that repeated head impacts from contact sports can cause early and lasting changes in the brains of young- to middle-aged athletes. The findings show that these changes may occur years before chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) develops its hallmark disease features, which can now only be detected by examining brain tissue after death.    “This study underscores that many changes in the brain can occur after ...

EMBARGOED by Nature until 11 a.m. ET, September 17, 2025 Contact: Gina DiGravio, 617-358-7838, ginad@bu.edu BU Study of Young Athletes Finds Neurodegeneration Might Begin Before CTE These results have the potential to significantly change our perspective on contact sports. (BOSTON) This fall, tens of millions of people will be at risk for chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease caused by repeated head impacts from contact sports like football, soccer, and ice hockey, or military service. Researchers have long ...

Dr. Carl F. Nathan, the R.A. Rees Pritchett Professor of Microbiology at Weill Cornell Medicine, has been awarded the David and Beatrix Hamburg Award for Advances in Biomedical Research and Clinical Medicine by the National Academy of Medicine. Established in 2004, the prestigious award honors innovative biomedical scientists who have advanced global health with an exceptional biomedical research discovery and translation that has fundamentally enriched the scientific community’s understanding of human biology and disease, leading to a significant reduction of disease burden and improvement in ...

WASHINGTON — Researchers have developed a new type of microscope that can acquire extremely large, high-resolution pictures of non-flat objects in a single snapshot. This innovation could speed up research and medical diagnostics or be useful in quality inspection applications. “Although traditional microscopes assume the sample is perfectly flat, real-life samples such as tissue sections, plant samples or flexible materials may be curved, tilted or uneven,” said research team ...

SAN ANTONIO —September 17, 2025 — Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) and The University of Texas at San Antonio (UT San Antonio) will flight test novel electrolyzer technology to better understand chemical processes associated with bubble formation in low gravity. Designed to solve future space mission challenges, the project, led by SwRI’s Kevin Supak and UT San Antonio’s Dr. Shrihari Sankarasubramanian, is supported by a $125,000 grant from the Connecting through Research Partnerships (Connect) program, ...

AMHERST, Mass. — University of Massachusetts Amherst researchers and scientists at Embr Labs, a Boston-based start-up, have developed an AI-driven algorithm that can accurately predict nearly 70% of hot flashes before they’re perceived. The work, featured in the journal Psychophysiology, will be incorporated into the Embr Wave, a wearable wrist device clinically proven to manage hot flashes.   In the U.S. alone, an estimated 1.3 million women transition into menopause annually, and 80% of women experience hot flashes — sudden feelings of intense heat, often radiating in the upper body. Most hot flashes occur during this transition, ...

Nearly 3 in 10 adults in the United States have experienced lower back pain in any three-month period, making it the most common musculoskeletal pain. Back pain remains one of the leading causes of disability worldwide, affecting millions and often leading to chronic discomfort, missed work and invasive procedures. Researchers and clinicians are increasingly turning to lumbar spine modeling, which bridges engineering and medicine, creating a virtual, patient-specific model of the lower back. This technology simulates how the spine ...

A researcher at the Hackensack Meridian Center for Discovery and Innovation (CDI) and physician-scientist colleagues from Hackensack Meridian Health have shown how a critical pathway is fundamental to the immune system. The results by Hai-Hui “Howard” Xue, Ph.D., and colleagues are published in the latest edition of Science Immunology - and could have implications in cancer immunotherapy and vaccine developments for years to come. Establishing cellular immunity depends on the thymus, a lymph gland located in front of the heart. This gland produces and exports T cells, a workhorse white blood cell, ...