EurekAlert! News by Subject: Medicine & Health - News by Subject: Medicine & Health

Medicine & Health

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 31-Dec-2025 14:11 ET (31-Dec-2025 19:11 GMT/UTC)

Autonomous AI agents in healthcare

Technische Universität Dresden
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare is rapidly advancing beyond traditional applications. Autonomous AI agents are gaining significant attention for their potential to fundamentally transform medicine. However, researchers at the Else Kröner Fresenius Center (EKFZ) for Digital Health at TUD Dresden University of Technology highlight a growing mismatch between the capabilities of autonomous AI agents and existing medical device regulatory frameworks in the US and Europe. In their publication, they propose innovative regulatory approaches to close this gap while ensuring high patient safety standards. The article has been published in the scientific journal Nature Medicine.

Journal: Nature Medicine

Air pollution in Baltimore’s Curtis Bay community linked to nearby coal terminal activities and wind

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Bulldozer activity involving coal at an open-air facility at the Port of Baltimore is closely linked to air pollutants in the adjacent neighborhood of Curtis Bay, according to a community-driven study co-led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and South Baltimore community members.

GLP-1 drugs fail to provide key long-term health benefit

University of Virginia Health System
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Popular GLP-1 drugs help many people drop tremendous amounts of weight, but the drugs fail to provide a key improvement in heart and lung function essential for long-term good health, new research suggests.

Funder: NIH/National Institutes of Health, NIH/National Institutes of Health

Genetic test predicts obesity in childhood

University of Copenhagen - The Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new genetic test, based on data from more than five million people, can identify people at risk of severe obesity. The test can be performed on children before their genetic risk starts to shape their weight, from age five, which may support early prevention strategies.

Journal: Nature Medicine

Study challenges prejudice: Heredity only explains part of mental illness

Aarhus University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Large study shows that most cases of depression or schizophrenia occur in people without relatives diagnosed with the same condition. The study is based on data from over 3 million Danes, and the researchers hope it will help alleviate concerns and reduce stigma.

Journal: The Lancet Psychiatry
Funder: Novo Nordisk Fonden

Bacteriostatic activity and mechanism of minerals containing rubidium

Beijing Zhongke Journal Publising Co. Ltd.
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In the paper published on Science of Traditional Chinese Medicine, the authors outline the bacteriostatic activity and mechanism of minerals containing rubidium (MCR). According to the findings, MCR inhibited Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, and Escherichia coli with minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of 11.95, 2.60, and 2.60 mg/mL, respectively. The inhibitory activity of MCR was insignificant against Bacillus subtilis, Salmonella typhimurium, and Helicobacter pylori at 3.25 mg/mL. Mechanistic assessments showed that MCR affected bacterial conductivity, protein and nucleic acid levels, reducing sugar content, respiratory chain dehydrogenase activity, bacterial lipid peroxidation, intracellular adenosine triphosphate, and extracellular alkaline phosphatase.

Journal: Science of Traditional Chinese Medicine

Technion study discovers that soft drinks affect the communication of gut bacteria and the immune system

Technion-Israel Institute of Technology
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In their current study, the researchers investigated how these DNA inversions occur in response to dietary factors. They found that consuming soft drinks, which contain white sugar, can alter the DNA of gut bacteria and, in turn, impact the host’s immune system.

Journal: Nature Communications