Health & Medicine News

October 31, 2025

Top Headlines

Your Pumpkin Might Be Hiding a Toxic Secret

Oct. 30, 2025 — Researchers in Japan have revealed how some gourds draw pollutants into their fruits. The secret lies in a protein that carries contaminants through the plant sap. By manipulating this protein’s structure, scientists hope to breed crops that ...

It Sounds Creepy, but These Scientific Breakthroughs Could Save Lives

Oct. 30, 2025 — From mini-brains to spider-inspired gloves and wolf apple coatings, scientists are turning eerie-sounding experiments into real innovations that could revolutionize health and sustainability. Lab-grown brain organoids may replace animal testing, ...

Electricity Reprograms Immune Cells to Speed Up Recovery

Oct. 30, 2025 — By electrically stimulating macrophages, scientists at Trinity College Dublin have found a way to calm inflammation and promote faster healing. The process turns these immune cells into tissue-repairing helpers, enhancing regeneration and blood ...

Scientists Reverse Alzheimer’s in Mice with Groundbreaking Nanotech

Oct. 30, 2025 — Researchers used supramolecular nanoparticles to repair the brain’s vascular system and reverse Alzheimer’s in mice. Instead of carrying drugs, the nanoparticles themselves triggered natural clearance of amyloid-β proteins. This restored ...

“Immortal” Flatworm Rewrites the Science of Healing

Oct. 29, 2025 — Flatworms can rebuild themselves from just a small fragment, and now scientists know why. Their stem cells ignore nearby instructions and respond to long-distance signals from other tissues. This discovery turns old stem cell theories upside down ...

Gum Disease May Quietly Damage the Brain, Scientists Warn

Oct. 29, 2025 — People with gum disease may have higher levels of brain white matter damage, a new study finds. Researchers observed that participants with gum disease had significantly more white matter hyperintensities, even after accounting for other risk ...

Omega-3 Benefits May Vanish Quickly After You Stop

Oct. 29, 2025 — Finnish scientists found that eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) from fish oil impacts each person’s metabolism uniquely. Participants showed strong but short-lived increases in EPA levels, with significant differences in lipid profiles. The results ...

Your IQ May Determine How Well You Hear in a Crowd

Oct. 29, 2025 — New research reveals that intelligence plays a key role in how well people process speech in noisy environments. The study compared neurotypical and neurodivergent individuals and found that cognitive ability predicted performance across all groups. ...

Scientists Find Hidden Antibiotic 100x Stronger Against Deadly Superbugs

Oct. 29, 2025 — A team of scientists discovered a hidden antibiotic 100 times stronger than existing drugs against deadly superbugs like MRSA. The molecule had been overlooked for decades in a familiar bacterium. It shows no signs of resistance so far, offering ...

Why Women Live Longer Than Men, Explained by Evolution

Oct. 28, 2025 — An international team of researchers led by scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, working with 15 collaborators around the world, has conducted the most comprehensive study yet of lifespan differences ...

A Revolutionary DNA Search Engine Is Speeding Up Genetic Discovery

Oct. 28, 2025 — ETH Zurich scientists have created “MetaGraph,” a revolutionary DNA search engine that functions like Google for genetic data. By compressing global genomic datasets by a factor of 300, it allows researchers to search trillions of DNA and RNA ...

Surprising Study Finds Processed Fats May Not Harm Heart Health

Oct. 28, 2025 — A new study offers reassurance about the safety of certain processed fats found in everyday foods. Interesterified fats made from palm or plant oils didn’t raise cholesterol or cause metabolic harm in healthy adults. The research challenges the ...

Latest Headlines

updated 4:00am EDT

Scientists Discover COVID mRNA Vaccines Boost Cancer Survival

Oct. 28, 2025 — Researchers found that COVID-19 mRNA vaccines significantly increased survival in lung and skin cancer patients undergoing immunotherapy. The vaccine appears to prime the immune system in a powerful, ...

This Easy Daily Habit Cuts Heart Risk by Two Thirds

Oct. 28, 2025 — New research reveals that walking in longer, uninterrupted bouts of 10–15 minutes significantly lowers cardiovascular disease risk—by up to two-thirds compared to shorter strolls. Scientists from ...

Bananas Could Be Ruining Your Smoothie’s Health Benefits

Oct. 27, 2025 — Researchers at UC Davis discovered that adding a banana to your smoothie may drastically reduce the absorption of flavanols — powerful compounds linked to heart and brain health. The culprit is ...

Scientists Discover a Surprising Way to Quiet the Anxious Mind

Oct. 27, 2025 — Generalized anxiety disorder affects millions, often trapping sufferers in cycles of fear and isolation that conventional medications barely relieve. At UCSF, neuroscientist Jennifer Mitchell is ...

Scientists Say Gluten Isn’t the Problem After All

Oct. 27, 2025 — Groundbreaking research published in The Lancet suggests that most people who believe they’re sensitive to gluten are actually reacting to other factors like FODMAPs or brain-gut dynamics. The ...

Scientists Turn “junk DNA” Into a Powerful Weapon Against Cancer

Oct. 27, 2025 — King’s College London researchers discovered that parts of our DNA once thought to be “junk” can actually help destroy cancer cells. In some blood cancers, damaged genes trigger chaos in these ...

Cavities and Gum Disease Could Nearly Double Stroke Risk

Oct. 27, 2025 — People with both cavities and gum disease were found to have an 86% higher stroke risk than those with healthy mouths. The study followed thousands of adults for two decades, linking poor oral health ...

Scientists Turn Flower Fragrance Into a Mosquito Killer

Oct. 27, 2025 — A team of researchers has developed a floral-scented fungus that tricks mosquitoes into approaching and dying. The fungus emits longifolene, a natural scent that irresistibly draws them in. It’s ...

Life Expectancy Gains Have Slowed Sharply, Study Finds

Oct. 26, 2025 — Researchers found that life expectancy growth in wealthy nations has dramatically slowed since 1939. Once driven by major reductions in child mortality, longevity gains are now limited by slower ...

Weight-Loss Drugs Like Ozempic May Also Curb Drug and Alcohol Addiction

Oct. 26, 2025 — GLP-1 drugs, originally developed for diabetes and obesity, may also curb addictive behaviors by acting on reward circuits in the brain. Early trials show reductions in alcohol intake, opioid ...

Ancient DNA Reveals the Deadly Diseases Behind Napoleon’s Defeat

Oct. 26, 2025 — Researchers have uncovered microbial evidence in the remains of Napoleon’s soldiers from the 1812 Russian retreat. Genetic analysis revealed pathogens behind paratyphoid and relapsing fever, ...

Scientists Just Made Gene Editing Far More Powerful

Oct. 25, 2025 — Scientists at The University of Texas at Austin have developed a revolutionary gene-editing method using bacterial retrons that can correct multiple disease-causing mutations at once. Unlike ...

Snake Pee Might Hold the Secret to Ending Gout Pain and Kidney Stones

Oct. 25, 2025 — Reptiles don’t just pee, they crystallize their waste. Researchers found that snakes and other reptiles form tiny uric acid spheres, a water-saving evolutionary trick. This discovery could ...

Running Fixes What Junk Food Breaks in the Brain

Oct. 21, 2025 — New research reveals that exercise counteracts the mood-damaging effects of a Western-style diet through specific gut and hormonal mechanisms. Running restored metabolites tied to mental well-being ...

Brain Fog During Menopause? Here’s What’s Really Going on

Oct. 21, 2025 — Menopause brings profound shifts not just in hormones but in the very structure of the brain. Scientists have found that gray matter in regions tied to memory and thinking can shrink, while white ...

Scientists Just Found a Surprising Link Between Gray Hair and Cancer

Oct. 25, 2025 — Japanese researchers discovered that hair graying and melanoma share a surprising cellular origin. When DNA damage strikes melanocyte stem cells, they may undergo a protective process called ...

They Found Cancer’s Hidden Power Hubs and Learned How to Melt Them Away

Oct. 22, 2025 — Texas A&M researchers found that in an aggressive kidney cancer, RNA builds “droplet hubs” that activate tumor genes. By creating a molecular switch to dissolve these hubs, they stopped ...

Stanford’s Tiny Eye Chip Helps the Blind See Again

Oct. 22, 2025 — A wireless eye implant developed at Stanford Medicine has restored reading ability to people with advanced macular degeneration. The PRIMA chip works with smart glasses to replace lost photoreceptors ...

Scientists Detect Hidden Brain Damage Years Before MS Symptoms

Oct. 21, 2025 — Scientists at UCSF have uncovered evidence that multiple sclerosis silently damages the brain years before diagnosis. By studying proteins in blood samples, they identified early immune signals and ...

Scientists Find Immune Drug That Could Halt Skin Cancer’s Deadly Spread

Oct. 20, 2025 — Researchers found that pembrolizumab, an immune-activating cancer drug, lowered the risk of distant metastases in patients with Merkel cell carcinoma after surgery. Though recurrence rates overall ...

Tiny AI-Powered Eye Implant Helps the Blind See Again

Oct. 20, 2025 — A groundbreaking retinal implant called PRIMA has enabled blind patients with dry AMD to read again. The chip, powered by light and paired with AR glasses, sends visual data directly to the brain. In ...

This Powerful Drug Combo Cuts Prostate Cancer Deaths by 40%

Oct. 19, 2025 — A new drug combo of enzalutamide and hormone therapy has been shown to extend survival for men with recurring prostate cancer, reducing death risk by over 40%. The study followed more than 1,000 ...

Cancer Patients Who Got a COVID Vaccine Lived Much Longer

Oct. 19, 2025 — A groundbreaking study reveals that cancer patients who received a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine within 100 days of starting immunotherapy lived dramatically longer than those who didn’t. Researchers from ...

You Might Look Healthy, but Hidden Fat Could Be Silently Damaging Your Heart

Oct. 23, 2025 — McMaster researchers found that deep abdominal and liver fat can quietly damage arteries, even in people who appear fit. Their MRI-based study of over 33,000 adults shows these fats are closely ...

Scientists Just Found the Lung’s Hidden Self-Healing Switch

Oct. 24, 2025 — Researchers uncovered how lung cells decide whether to rebuild tissue or fight infection. This built-in “switch” may be the key to restoring the lungs’ natural repair ability. The discovery ...

Scientists Reveal the Best Exercise to Ease Knee Arthritis Pain

Oct. 20, 2025 — A sweeping review of over 200 studies finds that aerobic exercises like walking and cycling offer the best pain relief and mobility gains for knee osteoarthritis. Compared to other types of exercise, ...

This New Iron Supplement Heals Anemia Without Hurting Your Gut

Oct. 20, 2025 — Researchers have created a new iron supplement that merges iron, probiotics, and prebiotics. This “three-in-one” formula restores iron levels while maintaining gut health and preventing ...

How Cutting Lipids Could Starve Breast Cancer

Oct. 19, 2025 — Researchers found that triple-negative breast cancer cells are “addicted” to lipids, a feature tied to obesity. By studying mice, they discovered that high lipid levels alone accelerate tumor ...

Can Ozempic Help You Cut Back on Alcohol? Researchers Think So

Oct. 18, 2025 — Semaglutide, tirzepatide, and other GLP-1 drugs appear to slow alcohol absorption and blunt its intoxicating effects, according to new research. The study found participants on these medications felt ...

From Poison to Power: How Lead Exposure Helped Shape Human Intelligence

Oct. 16, 2025 — Long before humans built cities or wrote words, our ancestors may have faced a hidden threat that shaped who we became. Scientists studying ancient teeth found that early humans, great apes, and even ...