Top Health News

March 15, 2026

Top Headlines

The Financial Crisis That Quietly Stunted a Generation

Mar. 15, 2026 When the Asian financial crisis sent rice prices soaring in Indonesia in the late 1990s, the shock didn’t just strain household budgets—it left lasting marks on children’s bodies. Researchers from the University of Bonn found that kids exposed ...

Scientists Discover ALS Protein That Links DNA Repair to Cancer and Dementia

Mar. 15, 2026 A protein tied to ALS and dementia may have a much bigger role in disease than scientists realized. Researchers found that TDP43 controls a key DNA repair process, but when the protein becomes ...

Gut Bacteria That Make Serotonin May Hold the Key to IBS

Mar. 13, 2026 Researchers have identified two gut bacteria that can produce serotonin, a key chemical that regulates bowel movements. In experiments with mice lacking serotonin, the microbes boosted serotonin levels, increased nerve cells in the colon, and ...

Microplastics May Be Quietly Damaging Your Brain and Fueling Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s

Mar. 13, 2026 Tiny plastic particles may be quietly threatening brain health. New research suggests microplastics—now widely found in food, water, and even household dust—could trigger inflammation and damage ...

Monty Python Got It Wrong About Medieval Disease

Mar. 13, 2026 In medieval Denmark, people could pay for more prestigious graves closer to the church — a sign of wealth and status. But when researchers examined hundreds of skeletons, they discovered something unexpected: even people with stigmatized diseases ...

A “Mirror” Molecule Can Starve Cancer Cells Without Harming Healthy Cells

Mar. 12, 2026 Scientists have discovered that a rare “mirror-image” version of the amino acid cysteine can dramatically slow the growth of certain cancers while leaving healthy cells largely untouched. Unlike ...

Depression May Start with an Energy Problem in Brain Cells

Mar. 12, 2026 Researchers have discovered a surprising change in how cells produce energy in people with depression. Brain and blood cells in young adults with major depressive disorder produced more energy molecules at rest but had trouble increasing energy ...

A Surprising Blood Protein Pattern May Reveal Alzheimer’s

Mar. 12, 2026 A new study suggests Alzheimer’s disease may be detectable through subtle shape changes in proteins found in the blood. Researchers discovered that structural differences in three blood proteins closely track the progression of the disease. By ...

New "Super Antibiotic" Stops Deadly Gut Infection Without Destroying the Microbiome

Mar. 11, 2026 A newly developed antibiotic called EVG7 could offer a powerful new way to stop Clostridioides difficile, a dangerous gut bacterium that often returns after treatment. In mouse studies, researchers ...

Scientists Solve the Mystery of a Vitamin B5 Molecule That Powers Your Cells

Mar. 11, 2026 Coenzyme A, a molecule derived from vitamin B5, is vital for metabolism throughout the body. Scientists discovered that most of it resides inside mitochondria, yet how it reached these cellular ...

Scientists Turn Brain Cells Into Alzheimer’s Plaque Cleaners

Mar. 11, 2026 Scientists have developed a promising new approach to treating Alzheimer’s disease by turning ordinary brain cells into powerful plaque-clearing machines. Instead of requiring frequent antibody infusions like current therapies, the experimental ...

Cannabis Study Finds THC Can Create False Memories

Mar. 11, 2026 THC doesn’t just blur memories—it can create new ones that never happened. In a controlled experiment, cannabis users were much more likely to recall words that were never shown and struggled with tasks like remembering to do something later. ...

Latest Headlines

updated 7:09am EDT

Millions of Kids Take Melatonin but Doctors Are Raising Red Flags

Mar. 15, 2026 Melatonin is now widely used to help children sleep, but scientists say the enthusiasm may be getting ahead of the evidence. A major review found clear benefits for children with conditions like ...

Scientists Tested Vitamin D for COVID and Found an Unexpected Long COVID Clue

Mar. 15, 2026 A major clinical trial has delivered an unexpected twist in the search for ways to fight COVID-19 and its lingering effects. Researchers at Mass ...

Fathers’ Tobacco Use Linked to Metabolic Changes in Their Children

Mar. 15, 2026 A new study in mice suggests that a father’s nicotine exposure could influence the metabolic health of his children. Researchers found that when male mice consumed nicotine, their offspring showed ...

How Often Do People Really Fart? Scientists Built Smart Underwear to Find out

Mar. 14, 2026 Researchers have created “Smart Underwear,” a wearable device that measures flatulence by detecting hydrogen produced by gut microbes. Early ...

Study Finds Two Types of Colon Polyps Can Raise Bowel Cancer Risk Fivefold

Mar. 13, 2026 Researchers studying over 8,400 colonoscopies discovered that having both adenomas and serrated polyps in the bowel can raise the risk of serious precancerous changes by up to five times. These two ...

Severe COVID or Flu May Raise Lung Cancer Risk Years Later

Mar. 13, 2026 A severe case of COVID-19 or influenza could increase the risk of lung cancer later on, according to new research. Scientists discovered that serious viral infections can alter immune cells in the ...

Scientists May Have Found a Pill for Sleep Apnea

Mar. 11, 2026 A European clinical trial found that the drug sulthiame significantly reduced breathing interruptions in people with moderate to severe sleep apnea. Patients taking higher doses experienced up to 47% ...

Omega-3 Fish Oil Supplements Cut Heart Attacks and Strokes by 43% in Dialysis Patients

Mar. 10, 2026 A major international trial has found that daily fish oil supplements significantly reduced life-threatening cardiovascular events in dialysis ...

AI Finally Tests a Century Old Theory About How Cancer Begins

Mar. 10, 2026 Cancer often begins when the genetic instructions that guide our cells become scrambled, allowing cells to grow uncontrollably. Now, scientists at EMBL have developed an AI-powered system called ...

Scientists Discover Molecule That Stops Aggressive Breast Cancer in Its Tracks

Mar. 10, 2026 Scientists at Oregon Health & Science University have developed a new molecule that could open the door to treating triple-negative breast cancer, ...

A Lab Mistake at Cambridge Reveals a Powerful New Way to Modify Drug Molecules

Mar. 14, 2026 Cambridge scientists have discovered a light-powered chemical reaction that lets researchers modify complex drug molecules at the final stages of development. Unlike traditional methods that rely on ...

Hidden Metabolism Found Operating Inside the Cell Nucleus

Mar. 9, 2026 Researchers have found hundreds of metabolic enzymes attached to human DNA inside the cell nucleus. Different tissues and cancers show unique patterns of these enzymes, forming a “nuclear metabolic ...

Brain Scans Reveal How Ketamine Quickly Lifts Severe Depression

Mar. 8, 2026 A new brain-imaging study has revealed how ketamine produces its fast antidepressant effects in people with treatment-resistant depression. Researchers tracked changes in a critical brain receptor ...

A New “magic Mushroom” Drug Could Treat Depression Without Psychedelic Hallucinations

Mar. 8, 2026 Scientists are exploring a new way to harness the medical promise of psychedelic compounds without the mind-bending side effects. Researchers created modified versions of psilocin — the active form ...

Parents’ Stress May Be Quietly Driving Childhood Obesity, Yale Study Finds

Mar. 8, 2026 A Yale study found that lowering parent stress can help protect young children from obesity. When parents practiced mindfulness and stress-management skills, their kids showed healthier eating ...

Scientists Discover Hidden Brain Cells That May Stop Alzheimer’s Tau Buildup

Mar. 8, 2026 Scientists have uncovered a surprising new role for little-known brain cells called tanycytes that may influence the development of Alzheimer’s disease. These specialized cells appear to help ...

Cannabis Compounds CBD and CBG May Help Reverse Fatty Liver Disease, Study Finds

Mar. 6, 2026 CBD and CBG, two non-intoxicating cannabis compounds, may help combat fatty liver disease by boosting liver energy reserves and restoring cellular cleanup systems. In the study, both compounds ...

Scientists Discover a Brain Signal That May Trigger Autism’s Domino Effect

Mar. 7, 2026 Researchers have uncovered a surprising molecular chain reaction in the brain that may play a role in some forms of autism. The study suggests that nitric oxide, a tiny signaling molecule normally ...

Boosting a Key Brain Protein Could Help Treat Rett Syndrome

Mar. 6, 2026 Researchers have discovered a new way to increase a key brain protein damaged in Rett syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that affects thousands of children worldwide. Early studies in mice and ...

Scientists Discover the Brain Protein That Drives Cocaine Relapse

Mar. 6, 2026 Cocaine addiction isn’t simply a failure of willpower — it’s the result of lasting biological changes in the brain. Researchers at Michigan State University discovered that repeated cocaine use ...

This Ancient Sea Creature May Already Have Had a Brain

Mar. 6, 2026 Advanced 3D reconstructions of the comb jelly’s aboral organ reveal a sensory system far more complex than scientists expected. The organ contains a wide variety of specialized cells and is closely ...

AI Blood Test Finds Silent Liver Disease Years Before Symptoms

Mar. 6, 2026 Researchers created an AI-driven liquid biopsy that scans patterns in fragments of DNA circulating in the blood. The system detected early liver fibrosis and cirrhosis—conditions that often go ...

New Drug Cuts Seizures by Up to 91% in Children With Rare Epilepsy

Mar. 4, 2026 A new experimental drug is showing remarkable promise for children with Dravet syndrome, a severe genetic form of epilepsy. In clinical trials, the treatment zorevunersen cut seizures by as much as ...

Ozempic-Like Weight Loss Drugs May Help the Heart Recover After a Heart Attack

Mar. 4, 2026 Popular weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro may do more than help people shed pounds. New research suggests these GLP-1 medications could also help protect the heart after a heart ...

Laser Printed Hydrogel Implant Could Transform Bone Repair

Mar. 3, 2026 When a bone break is too severe to heal on its own, surgeons often rely on grafts or rigid metal implants — but both come with serious drawbacks. Now, researchers at ETH Zurich have created a ...

Scientists Find the Genetic Switch That Makes Pancreatic Cancer Resist Chemotherapy

Mar. 3, 2026 Scientists have identified a crucial molecular switch that decides whether pancreatic cancer cells resist chemotherapy or respond to it. The key player, a gene called GATA6, keeps tumours in a more ...

A Simple Hand Photo May Be the Key to Detecting a Serious Disease

Mar. 4, 2026 Researchers at Kobe University have developed an AI system that can detect acromegaly, a rare hormone disorder, by analyzing photos of the back of the hand and a clenched fist. The disease often ...

Teens Sleep Longer and Perform Better When School Starts Later

Mar. 11, 2026 Teenagers naturally fall asleep later, which makes early school start times a recipe for chronic sleep deprivation. Researchers studying a Swiss high school that introduced flexible start times found ...

Scientists Discover the Protein That Malaria Parasites Can’t Live Without

Mar. 5, 2026 Scientists have uncovered a crucial weakness in the malaria parasite that could open the door to new treatments. Researchers identified a protein called Aurora-related kinase 1 (ARK1) that acts like ...

Scientists Discover the Genetic Switch That Keeps Your Organs Healthy

Mar. 1, 2026 Scientists have uncovered a powerful genetic switch that helps some of the body’s most important immune cells grow up properly and keep our organs healthy. The switch, called MafB, guides immature ...