Joint Health News

August 26, 2025

Top Headlines

The Surprising Reason X-rays Can Push Arthritis Patients Toward Surgery

Aug. 26, 2025 — Knee osteoarthritis is a major cause of pain and disability, but routine X-rays often do more harm than good. New research shows that being shown an X-ray can increase anxiety, make people fear exercise, and lead them to believe surgery is the only ...

A Startling Omega-3 Deficiency May Explain Women’s Alzheimer’s Risk

Aug. 22, 2025 — Researchers discovered that women with Alzheimer’s show a sharp loss of omega fatty acids, unlike men, pointing to sex-specific differences in the disease. The study suggests omega-rich diets could be key, but clinical trials are ...

One Small Walking Adjustment Could Delay Knee Surgery for Years

Aug. 16, 2025 — A groundbreaking study has found that a simple change in walking style can ease osteoarthritis pain as effectively as medication—without the side effects. By adjusting foot angle, participants reduced knee stress, slowed cartilage damage, and ...

A $2 Gold Nanotech Test That Detects Deadly Diseases in Minutes

Aug. 15, 2025 — Arizona State University scientists have unveiled NasRED, a revolutionary one-drop blood test that can detect diseases like COVID-19, Ebola, HIV, and Lyme with incredible speed and precision. Using gold nanoparticles to spot microscopic disease ...

Can a Diet Really Ease Lipoedema? Sunniva’s Journey to Pain Relief and Weight Loss

Aug. 10, 2025 — Sunniva Kwapeng struggled with lipoedema, a painful condition causing disproportionate fat accumulation, until finally being diagnosed in her 40s. An NTNU study found that a low-carb diet helped ...

Lupus Often Fades with Age. Scientists Finally Know Why

Aug. 4, 2025 — Lupus, a relentless autoimmune disease, appears to mellow with age. While it aggressively targets organs with runaway interferon signaling in younger adults, researchers at UCSF have found that the aging process itself may naturally tone down these ...

This Gut Hormone Could Explain 40% of IBS-D Cases—and Lead to a Cure

July 29, 2025 — A mysterious gut hormone may be behind many cases of chronic diarrhea, especially in people with undiagnosed bile acid malabsorption, a condition often mistaken for irritable bowel syndrome. Researchers from the University of Cambridge identified ...

New Genetic Test Predicts Obesity Before You Start Kindergarten

July 23, 2025 — A groundbreaking study involving genetic data from over five million people has uncovered how our DNA can predict obesity risk as early as childhood. The new polygenic risk score outperforms previous methods, helping to identify high-risk children ...

Weight-loss Wonder Drug Mounjaro/Zepbound Shrinks Breast Cancer Tumors

July 15, 2025 — A cutting-edge mouse study reveals that tirzepatide, the dual GLP-1/GIP drug already hailed for impressive weight loss, does more than trim fat: it slashes the growth of obesity-linked breast tumors. University of Michigan researchers found mice ...

Tirzepatide: The Weight-loss Drug That Also Shrinks Breast Tumors in Mice

July 13, 2025 — In a striking new study, the anti-obesity drug tirzepatide, known as Mounjaro and Zepbound, not only triggered significant weight loss in obese mice but also slashed breast cancer tumor growth. The research, presented at ENDO 2025, links body fat ...

How a Hidden Brain Circuit Fuels Fibromyalgia, Migraines, and PTSD

July 10, 2025 — What if your brain is the reason some pain feels unbearable? Scientists at the Salk Institute have discovered a hidden brain circuit that gives pain its emotional punch—essentially transforming ordinary discomfort into lasting misery. This ...

Myth-busting Study Shows Controversial Seed Oils Reduce Inflammation

June 21, 2025 — A new study is turning heads by challenging the popular belief that seed oils are harmful to health. Researchers analyzed blood markers from nearly 1,900 people and found that higher levels of linoleic acid — an omega-6 fat commonly found in seed ...

Latest Headlines

updated 11:45am EDT

Fitness Trackers Are Failing Millions — This Fix Could Change Everything

June 20, 2025 — Fitness trackers often fail people with obesity by underestimating their energy burn, leading to discouraging results and misguided health data. A scientist's frustrating experience in an exercise ...

Why Your Diet Might Be Making You Sad--Especially If You're a Man

June 7, 2025 — New research reveals a surprising downside to calorie-cutting diets: a link to higher levels of depressive symptoms, especially in men and those who are overweight. Despite popular beliefs that ...

Global Shortage of Essential Nutrient Poses Health Concern

May 29, 2025 — There is a global shortage of omega-3 partly due to environmental factors, according to new research. This is not just a healthcare issue; it is a public health and environmental ...

Discovery Offers New Insights Into Skin Healing in Salmon

May 27, 2025 — Scientists have discovered cells in the skin of Atlantic salmon that offer new insights into how wounds heal, tissues regenerate, and cellular transitions support long-term skin ...

Location Matters: Belly Fat Compared to Overall Body Fat More Strongly Linked to Psoriasis Risk

May 27, 2025 — Researchers have found that central body fat, especially around the abdomen, is more strongly linked to psoriasis risk than total body fat, ...

Vitamin D Supplements Show Signs of Protection Against Biological Aging

May 21, 2025 — A randomized trial suggests vitamin D can protect against telomere shortening, which is linked to risk of age-related ...

Depression Linked to Physical Pain Years Later

May 21, 2025 — Middle-aged and older adults who experience pain are more likely to have had worsening symptoms of depression up to eight years before the pain began, according to a new ...

Why Some Viral Infections Appear to Trigger Autoimmune Disease

May 20, 2025 — By studying Chikungunya virus, scientists shed light on how immune responses to viral infections may lead to persistent symptoms of autoimmune ...

Fast Food, Fast Impact: How Fatty Meals Rapidly Weaken Our Gut Defenses

May 19, 2025 — A study has become the first in the world to unravel the immediate effects of a high-fat diet on our gut ...

After Cardiac Event, People Who Regularly Sit for Too Long Had Higher Risk of Another Event

May 19, 2025 — People who were less active, with a daily average of more than 14 hours of sedentary behavior, were more than twice as likely to have another cardiac ...

People With Lupus Who Have Certain Antibodies Are More Likely to Experience Blood Clots, Researchers Find

May 14, 2025 — Some patients with lupus who possess specific antibodies are at a higher risk of thrombotic events such as a blood clot, stroke or heart attack, a new study shows. The finding might help clinicians ...

Making Connections: A Three-Dimensional Visualization of Musculoskeletal Development

May 14, 2025 — Using a new fluorescent mouse model with advanced imaging techniques, researchers have successfully visualized how musculoskeletal components are integrated into the functional locomotor system ...

Colonic Inflammation Explains Missing Link Between Obesity and Beta-Cell Proliferation

May 9, 2025 — How does obesity affect insulin production? Researchers are shining light on new stages of the ERK ...

Dual-Action Approach Targeting Inflammation Shows Potential as Type 1 Diabetes Treatment

May 7, 2025 — A new strategy may help prevent or slow the progression of Type 1 ...

Obesity a Leading Cause of Knee Osteoarthritis

May 7, 2025 — New research reveals that obesity, having a knee injury and occupational risks such as shift work and lifting heavy loads are primary causes of knee ...

Explaining the Link Between 'Good' Gut Bacteria and Rheumatoid Arthritis

May 1, 2025 — After spending years tracing the origin and migration pattern of an unusual type of immune cell in mice, researchers have shown in a new study how activity of 'good' microbes in the gut is ...

United States Sees Disproportionate Increase in Body Mass Index Rates of More Than 60

Apr. 28, 2025 — In the past 20 years, the average rate of obesity among adults in the United States has risen by approximately 30 percent, but the rate of those with the most severe forms of obesity, or those with a ...

Largest Osteoarthritis Genetic Study Uncovers Pathways to New Therapies and Repurposed Drugs

Apr. 28, 2025 — Researchers have uncovered multiple new genes and genetic pathways that could lead to repurposing hundreds of existing drugs for osteoarthritis, the most common form of ...

The Antibiotic That Takes the Bite out of Lyme

Apr. 23, 2025 — Piperacillin, an antibiotic in the same class as penicillin, effectively cured mice of Lyme disease at 100-times less than the effective dose of doxycycline, the current gold standard treatment. At ...

Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome May Be Driven by Remnants of Infection

Apr. 23, 2025 — Scientists believe they know what causes the treated infection to mimic chronic illness: the body may be responding to remnants of the bacteria that causes Lyme that tend to pool in the liver and ...

Micro-Nano-Plastics Found in Artery-Clogging Plaque in the Neck

Apr. 23, 2025 — A small study found that fatty buildup in the blood vessels of the neck (carotid arteries) may contain 50 times or more micronanoplastics -- minuscule bits of plastic -- compared to arteries free of ...

Key Enzyme in Lipid Metabolism Linked to Immune System Aging

Apr. 18, 2025 — New research suggests that decreased activity of ELOVL2 -- a key enzyme in lipid metabolism -- accelerates white blood cell aging and alters genes associated with the onset of blood ...

FDA Clears IND for Clinical Trial Testing Switchable CAR-T Therapy in Patients With Autoimmune Diseases, Without Chemotherapy

Apr. 9, 2025 — FDA has cleared an investigational new drug (IND) application to study switchable chimeric antigen receptor T cell (sCAR-T) therapy (CLBR001 + SWI019) in patients with autoimmune conditions. Patient ...

Titanium Particles Are Common Around Dental Implants

Apr. 9, 2025 — Titanium micro-particles in the oral mucosa around dental implants are common. This is shown in a new study which also identified 14 genes that may be affected by these ...

Long-Term Effects of Obesity on Brain and Cognitive Health

Apr. 9, 2025 — With the global prevalence of obesity on the rise, it is crucial to explore the neural mechanisms linked to obesity and its influence on brain and cognitive health. However, the impact of obesity on ...

Osteoarthritis: Largest Genome-Wide Association Study Uncovers Drug Targets and Therapy Opportunities

Apr. 9, 2025 — Osteoarthritis is the leading cause of disability and chronic pain worldwide, affecting an estimated 595 million people globally. Projections suggest that this number will rise to 1 billion by 2050. ...

ALS Drug Effectively Treats Alzheimer's Disease in New Animal Study

Apr. 8, 2025 — Experimental drug NU-9 -- a small molecule compound approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for clinical trials for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) -- improves ...

PEPITEM Sequence Shows Effects in Psoriasis, Comparable to Steroid Cream

Apr. 3, 2025 — Scientists have shown that a sequence of just three amino acids may reduce the severity of psoriasis, when applied topically in an emollient ...

Omega-6 Fatty Acid Promotes the Growth of an Aggressive Type of Breast Cancer, Study Finds

Apr. 1, 2025 — Linoleic acid, an omega-6 fatty acid found in seed oils such as soybean and safflower oil, and animal products including pork and eggs, specifically enhances the growth of the hard-to-treat ...

The Hidden Spring in Your Step

Mar. 27, 2025 — Researchers reveal the way our legs adapt to fast movements. When people hop at high speeds, key muscle fibers in the calf shorten rather than lengthen as forces increase, which they call ...