The loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities, which is experienced in everyday life and can be very distressing, is a core symptom of major depression. However, it has remained unclear exactly how anhedonia, also known as a pleasure deficit, manifests itself. Researchers at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB), the University of Bonn, and the University Hospital Tübingen have found that people with depression do not perceive food as less rewarding when they actually consume it. The differences compared to people without depression emerge during anticipation: how much they want something before they receive it. This reduced desire is also linked to the clinical severity of anhedonia. The study’s findings have now been published in the journal Cell Reports Medicine.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors are widely used in elderly cancer patients, but data on tumor-specific immune-related adverse events (irAEs) remain limited. A Chinese Medical Journal study analyzed 407 elderly patients with gastrointestinal (GI) tumors or lung cancer. Results showed higher irAE incidence in lung cancer patients, skin toxicity more prevalent in GI tumor patients, and thyroid dysfunction more common in lung cancer patients. This study provides evidence for personalized safety management of immunotherapy in elderly patients.

Predicting whether a healthy 45-year-old will struggle to climb stairs or walk a decade later has long been a challenge for geriatric medicine. Now, a study published in JMIR Aging, a leading open access journal from JMIR Publications, reveals that early mobility decline can be predicted using a simple set of home-based measurements and artificial intelligence.

For decades, scientists have known that estrogen protects cardiovascular health, but exactly how that protection works—and what happens when it disappears—has remained unclear. New research from University of Texas at Arlington points to the liver and the immune system as critical players.