At least 12 percent of Americans now communicate with their healthcare providers about appointments, test results, and ongoing treatments via secure online patient portals and health apps, a new study shows.

The findings of this systematic review and network meta-analysis suggest that combining lifestyle treatment with obesity management medications was associated with the greatest short-term (typically 6 to 12 months) weight reduction in adolescents with obesity. Health behavior and lifestyle treatment remained an indispensable component of any effective weight management, delivering meaningful weight loss and healthier body composition on its own. Combined with lifestyle treatment, pharmacotherapy was a key component, not solely an adjunct, associated with the greatest body mass index (BMI) and BMI z score improvements, and long-term sustainability and safety were monitored.           

 In this qualitative study of the consequences of abortion bans across multiple medical specialties, abortion bans were associated with disrupted clinical care far beyond what is traditionally categorized as abortion, with treatment delays that endanger patients, undermined patient autonomy and physician-patient trust, and with new gatekeeping roles for physicians. These restrictions shifted medical decision-making from clinical judgment and patient values toward legal risk mitigation, with potential long-term consequences including exacerbation of health care inequities and compromised ability to provide safe and effective care for pregnant patients.

This nationally representative study showed that 1 in 8 transition-age youth (TAY) had suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STB), yet less than half of those with STB had any mental health care. Asian, Black, and Latine TAY experienced substantial access disparities, with treatment rates 14 to 21 percentage points lower than white peers. Despite all TAY having STB in the subsample in this study, the large service access differences suggest that structural barriers, rather than clinical appropriateness or patient preference alone, drive these inequities. 

A new study from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai shows that social determinants of health—including environmental conditions, health behaviors, access to resources, and social well-being—can play an equally important or even greater role than genetics in predicting a person’s risk of developing common diseases. Published in the June 22 online issue of The American Journal of Human Genetics [DOI: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2026.05.014], the study, titled "Integrating Social Determinants of Health and Genetic Risk in Disease Risk Models," examined how inherited genetic risk and social, behavioral, and environmental factors interact to influence disease risk across diverse populations.

A protein that acts as a 'control switch,' preventing Mycobacterium tuberculosis from accessing the energy sources it needs to survive, has been identified by researchers at the University of Surrey. The discovery points to a specific vulnerability in the bacterium that could be targeted by new tuberculosis (TB) treatments. 

A new study from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln sheds light on how parental smoking shapes adolescents’ attitudes and use of both traditional cigarettes and e‑cigarettes, finding that fathers’ behaviors may play a more influential role than those of mothers.