Health Policy News

August 5, 2025

Top Headlines

This Diet Helped People Lose Twice as Much Weight, Without Eating Less

Aug. 5, 2025 — People eating minimally processed foods lost twice as much weight as those on ultra-processed diets, even though both diets were nutritionally balanced and participants could eat freely. This real-world, long-term study revealed that food processing ...

Researchers Discover Key Social Factors That Triple Long COVID Risk

Aug. 4, 2025 — New research led by Mass General Brigham reveals that people facing social challenges—like food insecurity, financial strain, and limited healthcare access—are two to three times more likely to develop long ...

Fatigue, Anxiety, Pain? They Might Be MS in Disguise

Aug. 2, 2025 — New research suggests that multiple sclerosis (MS) may quietly begin affecting the body up to 15 years before the first obvious neurological symptoms appear. Researchers found a steady increase in healthcare visits related to vague symptoms like ...

Can AI Predict Cancer? New Model Uses Genomics to Simulate Tumors

July 27, 2025 — A team of scientists has developed a remarkable new approach to modeling how cells behave over time—using a digital "forecast" much like predicting the weather. By combining patient genomics with a groundbreaking plain-language “hypothesis ...

7000 Steps a Day Cuts Death Risk by 47%—and That Might Be All You Need

July 27, 2025 — Walking 7000 steps a day may be just as powerful as hitting the much-hyped 10,000-step goal when it comes to reducing the risk of early death and disease. A sweeping global review of 57 studies shows that 7000 steps per day slashes the risk of dying ...

Ivermectin: The Mosquito-Killing Pill That Dropped Malaria by 26%

July 26, 2025 — A groundbreaking study has revealed that the mass administration of ivermectin—a drug once known for treating river blindness and scabies—can significantly reduce malaria transmission when used in conjunction with bed ...

A Simple Twist Fooled AI—and Revealed a Dangerous Flaw in Medical Ethics

July 24, 2025 — Even the most powerful AI models, including ChatGPT, can make surprisingly basic errors when navigating ethical medical decisions, a new study reveals. Researchers tweaked familiar ethical dilemmas and discovered that AI often defaulted to intuitive ...

New Study Cracks the “tissue Code” — Just Five Rules Shape Organs

July 16, 2025 — Scientists have uncovered a surprisingly simple “tissue code”: five rules that choreograph when, where, and how cells divide, move, and die, allowing organs like the colon to remain flawlessly organized even as they renew every few days. ...

Heart Disease Deaths Worldwide Linked to Chemical Widely Used in Plastics

July 6, 2025 — DEHP, a chemical used in plastics, may have contributed to over 356,000 heart-related deaths globally in 2018—most heavily in Asia and the Middle East. The chemical, linked to inflammation in arteries, is found in items like food packaging and ...

Candy Colors, THC Inside: How Cannabis Edibles Are Tricking Teen Brains

June 28, 2025 — Teens are being misled by cannabis edibles dressed up like health foods. Bright colors, fruit imagery, and words like vegan make these products look fun, natural, and safe even when they re not. A WSU study warns that this could increase the risk of ...

The Molecule That Might Save Your Sight—and Your Heart

June 25, 2025 — Washington University researchers found that raising a molecule called ApoM helps eye cells sweep away harmful cholesterol deposits linked to age-related macular degeneration, potentially preventing vision loss, and the same trick might aid failing ...

The Invisible Killer: PM 1 Pollution Uncovered Across America

June 16, 2025 — A groundbreaking 25-year analysis using satellite technology has now mapped PM 1 levels across the U.S., uncovering how wildfires, vehicle emissions, and industrial byproducts have shaped the air we breathe. Although regulations have improved air ...

Latest Headlines

updated 11:51am EDT

Cognitive Collapse and the Nuclear Codes: When Leaders Lose Control

July 17, 2025 — A shocking study reveals that many leaders of nuclear-armed nations—including US presidents and Israeli prime ministers—were afflicted by serious health problems while in office, sometimes with ...

Johns Hopkins Blood Test Detects Tumor Dna Three Years Early

June 13, 2025 — Researchers at Johns Hopkins found that fragments of tumor DNA can appear in the bloodstream up to three years before a cancer diagnosis, offering a potentially revolutionary window for early ...

Tea, Berries, Dark Chocolate and Apples Could Lead to a Longer Life Span, Study Shows

June 3, 2025 — Eating a colorful variety of flavonoid-rich foods like tea, berries, dark chocolate, and apples may significantly lower your risk of chronic diseases ...

Clinical Research on Psychedelics Gets a Boost from New Study

June 3, 2025 — As psychedelics gain traction as potential treatments for mental health disorders, an international study stands to improve the rigor and reliability of clinical ...

Earlier Measles Vaccine Could Help Curb Global Outbreak

May 30, 2025 — The global measles outbreak must trigger an urgent debate into whether a vaccine should be recommended earlier to better protect against the highly contagious disease during infancy, a new review ...

When Climate Disasters Hit, They Often Leave Long-Term Health Care Access Shortages

May 30, 2025 — Immediate recovery efforts receive the most attention after severe natural disasters, yet new data from researchers at Drexel University and the ...

Understanding Cultural Differences in Salt Usage May Help Lower Consumption

May 30, 2025 — An analysis of data from a national health survey conducted before the pandemic found that pizza, soup and chicken are some of the main sources of sodium (salt) intake for people in all racial and ...

Significant Declines in Maternal Mental Health Across US

May 30, 2025 — A new study reveals a concerning decline in self-reported mental health among mothers in the United States between 2016 and 2023. The study also found modest but measurable declines in self-reported ...

Exercise and Eat Your Veggies: Privileged Prescriptions Like These Don't Always Reduce Risk of Heart Disease

May 26, 2025 — A leading cardiovascular disease researcher is ringing the alarm on universal recommendations intended to improve heart health around the globe. ...

PREVENT Equation Accurately Estimated 10-Year CVD Risk and Those With Calcium Buildup

May 23, 2025 — A new risk calculator accurately identified participants who had calcium buildup in their heart arteries and those who had a higher future heart ...

Social Connection Is Still Underappreciated as a Medically Relevant Health Factor

May 22, 2025 — New studies reveal that both the public and healthcare providers often overlook social connection as a key factor in physical health, even though loneliness rivals smoking and obesity in health ...

Male Bodybuilders Face High Risk of Sudden Cardiac Death, Especially Those Who Compete Professionally

May 20, 2025 — Sudden cardiac death is responsible for an unusually high proportion of deaths in male bodybuilders worldwide with the highest risk among professional bodybuilders, according to new ...

Landmark Report Reveals Key Challenges Facing Adolescents

May 20, 2025 — Poor mental health, rising obesity rates, exposure to violence and climate change are among the key challenges facing our adolescents today, according to a global ...

Genomic Data Shows Widespread Mpox Transmission in West Africa Prior to 2022 Global Outbreak

May 19, 2025 — Historically, most human mpox infections have resulted from zoonotic transmission --m eaning from animals to humans -- and these spillovers have rarely led to human-to-human transmission. But during ...

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 event, including heart attack, surgery to treat ...

People With Critical Cardiovascular Disease May Benefit from Palliative Care

May 15, 2025 — Palliative care is specialized medical care focused on easing symptoms, addressing psychological and spiritual needs, and helping patients and caregivers make critical decisions aligned with their ...

Drinking Water, Select Foods Linked to PFAS in California Adults

May 14, 2025 — A new study examined associations between diet, drinking water, and 'legacy' PFAS -- chemicals that were phased out of production in the US in the 2000s -- with blood samples from ...

New Study Raises Concerns About the Safety of Long-Term ADHD Medication Treatment in Children

May 14, 2025 — A recent study reveals that the average duration of ADHD medication for children and adolescents is more than three years. However, reliable, controlled data on the safety of marketed ADHD medicines ...

New Study Shows AI Can Predict Child Malnutrition, Support Prevention Efforts

May 14, 2025 — A multidisciplinary team of researchers has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) model that can predict acute child malnutrition in Kenya up to six months in advance. The tool offers governments ...

The Risk of Death or Complications from Broken Heart Syndrome Was High from 2016 to 2020

May 14, 2025 — The risk of death or complications from the stress-related heart condition associated with stressful events, such as the death of a loved one -- called Takotsubo cardiomyopathy or broken heart ...

Measles Virus Detected in Houston Wastewater Before Cases Were Reported

May 12, 2025 — An innovative outbreak detection program that tracks disease-causing viruses in wastewater identified the measles virus in Houston samples collected in early January 2025, before cases were ...

Studies Point to Redlining as a 'Perfect Storm' for Breast Cancer

May 9, 2025 — New research indicates that while the residential segregation policy was outlawed decades ago, it still impacts women's health ...

Health Care Workers, Firefighters Have Increased PFAS Levels, Study Finds

May 8, 2025 — Researchers looked at PFAS serum concentrations in health care workers for the first time and were surprised by what they ...

HIV Drugs Offer 'Substantial' Alzheimer's Protection, New Research Indicates

May 8, 2025 — The drugs, called NRTIs, have the potential to prevent a million cases of Alzheimer's every year, the researchers ...

AI-Human Task-Sharing Could Cut Mammography Screening Costs by Up to 30%

May 7, 2025 — The most effective way to harness the power of artificial intelligence when screening for breast cancer may be through collaboration with human radiologists -- not by wholesale replacing them, says ...

Climate Change: Future of Today's Young People

May 7, 2025 — Climate scientists reveal that millions of today's young people will live through unprecedented lifetime exposure to heatwaves, crop failures, river floods, droughts, wildfires and tropical ...

Teens Driving Older Vehicles Have Increased Risk for Fatal Crashes

May 7, 2025 — Researchers reviewed US national fatal crash data (2016-2021) and examined the vehicle age and driver assistance technologies of vehicles driven by teen and middle-aged drivers, and their ...

Most People Say They Want to Know Their Risk for Alzheimer's Dementia, Fewer Follow Through

May 6, 2025 — A new study examines the choices healthy research volunteers make when given the opportunity to learn their risk of developing Alzheimer's disease dementia. The researchers found a large ...

New Chronic Pain Therapy Retrains the Brain to Process Emotions

May 6, 2025 — Researchers have created an effective therapy for chronic pain that reduces pain intensity by focusing on emotional ...

Teens With Mental Health Conditions Use Social Media Differently Than Their Peers, Study Suggests

May 5, 2025 — One of the first studies in this area to use clinical-level diagnoses reveals a range of differences between young people with and without mental health conditions when it comes to social media -- ...