The University of Texas at San Antonio has been awarded a five-year, $44 million contract from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health for a landmark Risk Underlying Rural Areas Longitudinal (RURAL) Cohort Study focused on persistent health challenges in the rural South.

For nearly 25 years, scientists believed they knew what caused the most severe form of narcolepsy. A new UCLA Health study now suggests they were only half correct. In a study published in Nature Communications, UCLA Health researchers discovered that narcolepsy with sudden loss of muscle strength, known as cataplexy, involves degeneration of neurons in not one, but two regions of the brain. Using a combination of postmortem brains and animal models, UCLA researchers found degeneration of neurons in a second critical region located on the brainstem known as the locus coeruleus. This small but important cluster of cells produces norepinephrine, a neurotransmitter involved in arousal and the regulation of muscle tone.

New research published in BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health found that a low-fat vegan diet reduced food-related greenhouse gas emissions by 57%—nearly three times more than a Mediterranean diet—while also improving key cardiometabolic outcomes.

Artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT are increasingly being explored in cancer care, but they can sometimes produce outdated or incorrect information. In medicine, where accuracy is critical, that risk is a serious concern.