All articles tagged with #medicine
Dr. Jeremy Faust, a Brigham and Women’s Hospital emergency physician, blends lifesaving care with boundary-pushing journalism through his Inside Medicine Substack, delivering timely scoops to about 85,000 subscribers—including an early report on hantavirus aboard the MV Hondius—while also conducting the Longwood Chorus.
A Verge interview/profile of Dr. Zachary Rubin, a pediatric allergist/immunologist who uses TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube to counter health misinformation and empower viewers to think critically about health claims. He stresses that uncertainty is a strength of science and that misinformation spreads quickly online, posing a major challenge. Rubin aims to bring the doctor’s office discussions to a wider audience, drawing on his book All About Allergies and collaboration with fellow clinician Dr. Idrees Mughal, while urging improved scientific literacy and clearer, transparent communication from scientists to maintain public trust.
A meta-analysis of 23 randomized trials including 2,028 patients with chronic musculoskeletal conditions found melatonin reduced pain intensity by about 9 points on a 100-point scale and improved sleep quality. Doses ranged 3–10 mg (commonly 3 mg) taken at bedtime, with safety similar to placebo and mostly mild side effects like nausea, dizziness, or headaches. The researchers caution melatonin should complement—not replace—standard treatments and advise discussing use with a doctor, especially when other meds or health conditions are involved.
In two major trials of enzalutamide for advanced prostate cancer, up to about 25% of patients showed radiographic progression on imaging despite stable or undetectable PSA levels, correlating with worse survival. The findings suggest PSA monitoring alone may miss disease growth, underscoring the value of periodic imaging—especially in the first two years—and may prompt updates to clinical guidelines. Possible mechanisms include tumors evolving to grow independent of androgen receptor signaling through lineage plasticity or neuroendocrine transformation.
A UK IFS analysis finds degree earnings vary by subject: medicine can add up to about £400,000 over a lifetime versus non-graduates, while economics also yields strong returns, whereas arts, philosophy, and languages often offer little or negative financial advantage. On average, graduates earn roughly £100,000 more across a lifetime, but about a quarter may be financially worse off than non-graduates. The findings come as the government considers capping low-return courses and introducing minimum English-language requirements for student finance, with debates on whether alternative routes like apprenticeships can offer viable paths.
A NEJM study shows OpenAI's o3 model aided doctors at Boston Children's Hospital in diagnosing 18 children with previously unsolved rare illnesses, using AI as a diagnostic tool under physician oversight to reach new diagnoses and guide treatment.
A roundup of doctors’ warnings about dangerous health trends, ranging from cannabis-related conditions (CHS) and THC-induced psychosis in young people, to rising vaping, ketamine misuse, and GLP-1 drug abdominal pain. The piece also highlights risky behaviors like energy‑drink overuse and sleep deprivation, unsafe sexual practices with lifelong treatment needs, heavy reliance on social media and screens affecting development, overuse of tablets in patient care, and nitrous oxide abuse. Together these trends illustrate how pop culture, access to medications, and modern technology are shaping troubling health patterns across age groups.
Genicular artery embolization (GAE), a minimally invasive procedure that injects resorbable gelatin microspheres to block abnormal knee vessels, aims to reduce inflammation and pain in osteoarthritis. In a real-world study of 194 participants (average age ~69), most experienced significant pain relief and improved function for at least 12 months, with 80% surpassing the minimum clinically important difference; about 23% needed a second GAE, and adverse events were mild and limited to 6.7% of participants. The treatment offers a potential middle option between injections and joint replacement.
ETH Zurich researchers engineered NPCbots—magnetically guided nanoparticles paired with patient-derived neural progenitor cells—to bridge a completely severed spinal cord in mice (and showed promising results in zebrafish). After 28 days, nerve ends reconnected and gait and coordination improved, with no adverse effects, signaling a potential new therapy for spinal injuries pending further animal testing and optimization of magnetic stimulation before human trials.
The 2026 AHA/ACC/ADA/ASN guideline replaces the 2013 obesity guideline with a living, interdisciplinary framework for cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic (CKM) syndrome, emphasizing early risk detection (PREVENT equations), CKM staging, and routine metabolic and kidney health assessment across cardiology, endocrinology, nephrology, and primary care, with extensive clinician resources and supporting materials.
An American doctor treated in a German hospital has recovered, with live updates detailing his condition and ongoing care.
A BuzzFeed roundup compiles 24 unsettling medical facts about the human body, from eyelash mites and organ transplant quirks to the microbiome and links between dental health and heart disease, highlighting how bizarre and powerful our biology can be.
BuzzFeed collects Reddit anecdotes and expert notes to highlight 21 enduring puzzles about the human body—ranging from colic and labor triggers to how anesthesia or sleep truly works and why autoimmune diseases or brain injuries defy easy prediction—illustrating that much of biology remains not fully understood.
A former chiropractor recounts his early hope that chiropractic offered a humane, concrete alternative to medicine, then chronicles how the field's diagnostics, marketing, and business practices rely on belief and profit rather than solid evidence. He describes questionable methods like applied kinesiology, the push for lifelong care plans, and a two-tier system where leaders critique medicine from afar while practitioners handle day-to-day billing and expectations. After decades of study showing few consistent benefits beyond non-specific factors (placebo, ritual, natural history) and with better science revealing diminishing apparent effects, he leaves the profession and reflects on the ethical and professional failures that harmed patients and stymied accountability.
A 56-year-old man with liver failure was connected to an externally perfused, genetically modified pig liver to keep him alive while awaiting a human liver transplant. The pig organ, engineered with six genetic changes to reduce rejection, functioned as a bridge for a few days; the patient subsequently received a human liver and is recovering. Researchers note the need for more details and that results should be published in a peer-reviewed journal.