For how we live.
On today's ballot: an amendment protecting decisions on prenatal care, childbirth, contraception, abortion and fertility care, with state restrictions allowed only to serve a compelling interest.
On today's ballot: a constitutional amendment protecting abortion until fetal viability, and after that point when a treating practitioner judges it needed to protect the patient's life or health.
An interrupted time-series study of 32.9 million births estimated roughly 2,300 more preterm births to Latina women than expected in the nine months after November 2016. It is an association, not proof of cause.
A US survey and a Finnish register study agree that health shapes turnout, but not in one direction: diabetes was linked to higher voting, dementia to markedly lower. Both are associations, not proof.
On today's California ballot: a measure requiring nonprofit safety-net health centers to spend at least 90 percent of total revenue on health care services, capping other costs at 10 percent.
On today's ballot: a measure letting California borrow $8.4 billion for immunology and immunotherapy research, half for a University of California-affiliated institute and half for competitive grants.
Community-engagement requirements are now federal law. The one US state that fully implemented them, Arkansas, produced a two-year study: 18,000 lost coverage, and employment did not rise.
A CDC-journal study found the human-adapted subtype IfA12G1R5 rose to 67.5% of genotyped cases in 2023 while the long-dominant IbA10G2 fell from 79.7% to 1.6%, as COVID-era measures reshaped transmission.
A CDC-journal review identified six confirmed Cryptococcus gattii infections during 2016–2024, five of one genotype in western Nova Scotia and four in people who had never left the province — a sign of local acquisition.
An outbreak investigation published by the CDC traces a 33-day family cluster of pneumonic plague in Fenoarivobe to a man first treated for malaria, with antibiotics reaching patients only in the fourth week.
A CDC-journal outbreak investigation found 189 of 549 suspected cases in Cuba's capital were laboratory-confirmed, as the virus spread to all 15 provinces amid dengue cocirculation that masked it.
CMS finalised the Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2027. It sets federal Exchange user fees at 1.9% and 1.5% of premiums and lets catastrophic plans run up to ten years.
A proposed rule under Operation Stork Speed would revise minimum and maximum levels of four of the 30 required infant formula nutrients and set a first ceiling for manganese. Comments close 2 March 2027.
An interim enforcement policy signed by the HHS Secretary lets state-licensed pharmacies and physicians compound from peptide bulk substances on an appendix list while the 503A bulks list is written through rulemaking.
A final order codifies a new device category for consumer tools that flag the risk of sleep apnea, built on the De Novo clearance of a smartwatch feature. The devices still need 510(k) review and cannot diagnose.
In the PROGRESS trial, 744 patients with moderate aortic stenosis and an at-risk feature got early TAVR or clinical surveillance. Death or a heart-failure event at two years fell from 23.9% to 16.7%.
A CDC-journal serosurvey found PDCoV-neutralizing antibodies in 9 of 100 young people with near-daily swine contact versus 1 of 200 adults — the first US evidence of human exposure to this swine coronavirus.
In PANKU-Lung01, 432 people with EGFR-mutated NSCLC that progressed on a third-generation EGFR tablet got izalontamab brengitecan or chemotherapy. Median progression-free survival was 11.1 versus 5.7 months.
In the P4 trial, 1105 patients having coronary stents placed were randomised to planning by CT angiography or by intravascular ultrasound. Target-vessel failure at one year was 4.1% versus 4.6% — non-inferior.
A Kaiser Permanente analysis found acute cardiovascular hospitalisations ran 1.62 times higher in the two days after the 2016 vote than the week before. It is an association, and cannot prove the election caused it.
In 107 Australian adults, a five-session internet course reduced monthly functional seizures versus usual care — and, oddly, the self-guided version outperformed the therapist-guided one.
A single intranasal dose of mebufotenin beat a low-dose comparator on depression scores at day 29 and let most patients leave within two hours — a phase 2b signal, not a settled treatment.
A single-centre randomised trial found the Bergen 4-day treatment cut obsessive-compulsive symptoms far more than an unguided internet CBT programme, with 61% responding at three months versus 25%.
The FDA logged a Class I recall of Ventec's VOCSN, V+Pro, VC and V*Home ventilators on 28 October, citing an internal cable connector that can detach, rebooting the device and interrupting breathing support.
On 21 October the agency added ravulizumab's fifth indication - cutting protein leakage in adults at risk of progression - but granted it on a surrogate alone, with no proof yet that it slows kidney decline.
A 23 October label change adds a 720 mg subcutaneous starting course at weeks 0, 2, 4 and 8, letting patients begin risankizumab without the three intravenous infusions the drug has required since 2022.
In STOP-V1 and STOP-V2, oral povorcitinib roughly tripled the share of adults reaching 75% facial repigmentation at a year — but even on the drug, fewer than one in five got there.
A meta-analysis of 10 randomised trials found ultra-processed diets raised weight and eating rate, yet the effect on how much people ate mostly disappeared when diets were not more energy-dense.
Ginger's strongest evidence is unglamorous: it eases nausea in pregnancy and during chemotherapy, and modestly relieves osteoarthritis pain. The trials are small and the quality is moderate at best.
Garlic supplements modestly lower blood pressure in hypertensive people, and may nudge cholesterol down a little. The cold-prevention evidence rests on a single trial, and no study shows garlic prevents heart attacks.
Beetroot juice really does lower blood pressure — the effect is one of the better-documented in food science, driven by dietary nitrate. But most trials are short and small, and no study shows it prevents heart attacks.
Sleeping apart is increasingly common and can genuinely cut disturbance. But the lab evidence is double-edged: sharing a bed measures as slightly worse sleep yet feels better, and may even boost REM.
Probably not ideal. Even moderate light during sleep measurably raises night-time heart rate and next-morning insulin resistance, and in one large study women who slept with a light or TV on gained more weight.
A warm bedroom measurably degrades sleep, and the best-studied comfortable band sits at roughly 20–25°C. The effect is real but personal, and heat matters more than most people assume.
Knowing you are dreaming and sometimes steering it is real and surprisingly common, and it can be trained. But deliberately inducing it may carry a mental-health cost for some people.
A US Maternal-Fetal Medicine Units Network cohort of 217 matched pairs found developmental scores equivalent at 18 to 30 months whether or not mothers had an mRNA COVID vaccine in pregnancy.
An individual-participant meta-analysis of eight trials and 5,642 women found no clinically important difference in live births whether the time-lapse add-on gave undisturbed culture, smarter selection, or both.
An Italian trial comparing IVF with surgery for infertility in women with ovarian and deep endometriosis was halted after 130 women, once IVF's higher live-birth rate became clear in both study groups.
A secondary analysis of the APRIL trial found low-dose aspirin slashed recurrent preterm birth in women whose previous placenta had vascular malperfusion, and did nothing for the rest. Numbers are tiny.
In the French GETUG AFU 18 trial an 80 Gy dose beat the standard 70 Gy on 10-year progression-free survival (83.6% vs 72.2%), but the advantage at the prespecified 5-year mark was far smaller.
An analysis of 50 top-selling 'T booster' products found only 24.8% contained an ingredient with data showing it raises testosterone — and 10.1% contained something shown to lower it. Two herbs are partial exceptions.
Urinary infections in men were long treated as automatically complicated. A randomised trial found seven days of antibiotics non-inferior to fourteen, and guidelines say not to treat urine that causes no symptoms.
Men who carry a BRCA2 mutation develop prostate cancer earlier and in more aggressive forms. Trial evidence now supports offering them PSA screening from 40; the case for BRCA1 carriers is weaker.
A Bayesian meta-analysis of 10 trials and 2,365 preterm infants tied drug treatment of the patent ductus arteriosus to a higher risk of death before 36 weeks, with no offsetting fall in lung disease.
In 481 infants born before 28 weeks, making a three-strain probiotic routine halved the adjusted odds of necrotising enterocolitis and cut time to full feeds by two days. One baby developed probiotic sepsis.
In 240 adolescents primed with the Pfizer vaccine, a protein-based, non-mRNA booster called PHH-1V produced antibody levels no lower than in young adults, with mostly mild side effects, an early-phase study found.
A Swedish cohort of 1,455,645 children found maternal autoimmune disease in pregnancy raised offspring type 1 diabetes risk by 57 percent — but fathers carried nearly the same risk, pointing to shared family genes.
Long static stretches before training briefly weaken strength and power, and stretching does not prevent soreness or reliably cut injury. Save static stretching for after, or for flexibility itself.
The muscle-building literature converges on roughly 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight a day, with gains flattening above that — a target well clear of the deficiency floor most official figures quote.
No. When sets are pushed close to failure, light and heavy weights build muscle about equally. The one thing heavier loads reliably win is maximal strength.
The whole scare traces to one 2009 study that measured a hormone, not hair. In 2025, the first trial to actually assess hair follicles found no difference between creatine and placebo.
Visceral fat packed around the organs tends to be shed preferentially with modest weight loss. What lingers is subcutaneous fat — and you cannot choose where it comes off, which is what makes the belly feel stubborn.
A short walk after eating blunts the post-meal blood-sugar spike. Trials in people with type 2 diabetes and in healthy adults agree, and light walking beats standing, which beats sitting still.
Sea moss is sold as a 92-mineral cure-all, but no human trial shows it delivers those benefits — and because seaweed's iodine content is wildly variable, the documented risk falls on the thyroid.
Two blinded randomised trials found magnetic wrist straps and copper bracelets worked no better than dummy versions for arthritis pain. The reported relief looks like a placebo effect.
As blood stem cells age, mutant clones take over. By the eighth decade this shows up in about one person in ten — and it tracks with higher mortality and heart disease.
Finnish cohorts link regular sauna bathing to lower cardiovascular and all-cause mortality, with a dose-response. But these are observational studies, and no randomised trial has tested sauna against death.
Losing the ability to walk is a turning point in later life. In a large randomised trial, structured activity cut the rate of major mobility disability — evidence that movement protects independence, read honestly.
Failing mitochondria are one of ageing's core hallmarks, and human trials of mitochondria-targeted compounds show flickers of benefit — but the strongest endpoints keep coming back null.
In UK Biobank participants tracked with wrist light sensors, high nighttime light exposure was tied to thickened, weaker heart muscle and 24–33% higher risks of heart attack, stroke and heart failure.
Exposure is real and universal. One human study links plastics in artery plaque to worse outcomes. No causal harm is established, and the measurements are still maturing.
A five-year panel study found sales of mental-disorder medicines rose 144% in a cyclone's landfall year and 173% the next in coastal districts, with no measurable effect further inland.
A tyre-wear chemical that kills coho salmon at trace levels is now measured in most people's urine. What that means for human health is only beginning to be studied.
Computer-aided detection lifts polyp pickup in ordinary screening. In 757 patients having surveillance for an inherited cancer syndrome, a randomised trial could not show the same gain.
Rejoyn, the first prescription digital therapeutic cleared for major depression, beat a sham app on a backup analysis. Its pre-specified primary endpoint fell just short of significance.
A January 2025 draft guidance lays out the documentation the agency expects across an AI device's whole life, including bias checks across demographic groups and postmarket monitoring. It is not yet binding.
Wrist trackers infer light, deep and REM sleep from movement and pulse. Two validation studies find they track total sleep passably but each misjudges the stage breakdown its own way.
