A sweeping review of more than 153,000 adults found that calcium and vitamin D supplements, alone or together, do little to prevent fractures or falls in most older people. Researchers say the findings challenge routine supplementation for prevention and point instead toward strategies such as balance and resistance exercise.

A growing Bundibugyo virus outbreak is showing how a little-known relative of Ebola can become a major threat when diagnosis and treatment options are limited. Experts warn that preparing only for familiar pathogens could leave the world vulnerable when rare but deadly viruses suddenly reemerge.

Scientists discovered a population of cells that can start the process of programmed cell death, survive it, and then help rapidly rebuild damaged tissue. Their descendants become far more resistant to future damage, revealing a mechanism that could improve healing but may also help cancers return after treatment.

Scientists are testing a counterintuitive way to fight mesothelioma, an aggressive asbestos-linked cancer with few effective treatments. A new experimental mesothelioma drug kills cancer cells by disabling PRX3, an antioxidant defense that tumors use to survive intense oxidative stress. In an early clinical trial, it controlled disease progression in 67% of patients and produced encouraging survival results, raising hopes that the strategy could eventually be used against other cancers.

Cancer rates are rising in adults under 55, and new research suggests accelerated biological aging may be one piece of the puzzle. Scientists found that people from more recent generations tended to have bodies that appeared biologically older than those of earlier generations at the same chronological age. Greater biological age acceleration was linked to a higher risk of early onset cancers, with specific patterns seen for lung, gastrointestinal, uterine and colorectal cancers.

Low vitamin D levels may make recovery from breast cancer surgery more painful, according to a study of 184 women undergoing mastectomy. Patients with vitamin D deficiency were three times more likely to experience moderate to severe pain during the first 24 hours after surgery and also used substantially more of the opioid painkiller tramadol. They received slightly more fentanyl during surgery and experienced more postoperative nausea as well.

Researchers found that blocking IL1RAP could disrupt a powerful inflammatory network that helps pancreatic cancer survive treatment. In preclinical experiments, the approach reduced tumor-protecting cells and fibrosis while boosting the activity of cancer-fighting T cells. That could make chemotherapy and immunotherapy more effective.

UCLA researchers developed ready-made cancer-fighting T cells from cord blood stem cells that can attack solid tumors through two separate detection systems. In mice, a single dose controlled cancer and extended survival while avoiding a dangerous complication associated with donor-derived T-cell therapies.

Researchers have designed a new DNA-based treatment that targets PCSK9, a protein closely tied to high LDL cholesterol and atherosclerosis. Their most effective molecule reduced PCSK9 protein by 87% in human liver cells and lowered cholesterol by 47% in genetically modified mice after a single injection.

An experimental compound called AP503 significantly strengthened bones in mice by activating GPR133, a receptor that boosts bone formation while slowing bone loss. Because the same treatment has also been linked to stronger muscles, researchers see intriguing potential for combating age-related decline and osteoporosis.

Semaglutide, the drug found in Ozempic and Wegovy, was linked to nearly 40% fewer asthma attacks in a large real-world study. It was also associated with about 20% fewer COPD flare-ups. Researchers say GLP-1 drugs may offer respiratory benefits in addition to their effects on diabetes and obesity, but clinical trials are needed to confirm the findings.

Researchers have found a potential way to attack prostate cancers that evade treatment by changing their cellular identity. Combining two types of drugs reversed many of these changes and sharply slowed tumor growth in preclinical experiments, offering a possible new strategy for aggressive, treatment-resistant disease.

Starting statins soon after a type 2 diabetes diagnosis may do more than protect the heart. In a nationwide Danish study of more than 132,000 people, those who began statin treatment within a year of diagnosis had a 15% lower relative risk of developing dementia over 10 years compared with those who did not start statins.

Cancer is becoming an even larger global health threat, with nearly 21 million people diagnosed and 9.8 million dying from the disease in 2024. New estimates suggest about 1 in 5 people worldwide will develop cancer during their lifetime, while cases could climb by 67% to 34 million by 2050 simply because populations are growing and aging.

Researchers have mapped breast tumors in striking detail and uncovered hidden pockets of dormant cancer cells that may help explain why cancer can return after treatment. Unlike rapidly dividing cells, these quiet cells can essentially hibernate, allowing them to evade chemotherapy and reactivate later. The team found that they are often surrounded by immune cells and connective tissue cells that may act like a protective shield.

Aging may be partly fueled by immune cells losing their ability to clear away damaged, inflammation-promoting cells. Blocking a single receptor restored that cleanup process in mice, reducing inflammation and helping their organs, muscles, and memory remain remarkably youthful.

Sitting for long, uninterrupted stretches may carry greater health risks than sitting the same amount of time in shorter bouts. Researchers found that each extra hour of prolonged sedentary behavior was associated with a 9% higher risk of cancer death. Breaking up sitting with movement showed the opposite pattern, while replacing an hour of prolonged sitting with light activity was linked to a 12% lower risk.

Researchers discovered a possible way cancer cells hide from the immune system: they build a thick, sugar-rich coating around themselves. High blood sugar can strengthen this protective shield under conditions that resemble the environment inside tumors, with the protein HSF1 playing a key role. Blocking this process could make cancer cells easier for the immune system to recognize and destroy.

Researchers have produced a form of Spirulina containing biologically active vitamin B12 at levels comparable to beef. By carefully controlling the light used to grow the algae, they overcame a major problem with conventional Spirulina, which mainly contains a form of B12 the human body cannot use. The carbon-neutral system could provide a more sustainable source of the essential vitamin.

CAR T-cell therapy dramatically reduced disease activity in six people with severe rheumatoid arthritis that had resisted other treatments, with three achieving medication-free remission. The treatment may work by clearing out harmful immune cells and effectively rebooting part of the immune system, although much larger studies are still needed.

The belief that huge doses of vitamin C can ward off colds was popularized more than 50 years ago by Nobel Prize winner Linus Pauling. Since then, larger studies have found that vitamin C does not prevent most people from catching a cold, although regularly taking it may make severe symptoms slightly shorter or milder.

Older adults who received the Shingrix shingles vaccine were 24% less likely to be diagnosed with dementia over four years in a study of more than 500,000 people. Researchers estimate the difference could amount to roughly one dementia case prevented for every 17 people vaccinated.

Researchers have found a way to supercharge natural killer cells, powerful immune cells that can attack cancer, so they can penetrate solid tumors and keep fighting once inside. In mice, these specially prepared tissue-resident cells slowed the growth of several tumors, including melanoma and head and neck cancers, and worked even better when paired with the antibody drug cetuximab.

People who reach 110 and beyond appear to have unusually large numbers of rare immune cells capable of killing abnormal cells. These CD4 cytotoxic T cells became more common with age and often expanded into large groups of nearly identical cells, suggesting the immune system was repeatedly responding to persistent threats.

Older adults with mild cognitive impairment and sleep problems who took at least 5,000 IU of vitamin D daily scored more than 13% higher on a cognitive test than those taking none. The preliminary findings suggest vitamin D could be worth studying as a potentially modifiable factor during an early window of cognitive decline.

A simple yeast-based food supplement may help restore the immune system’s ability to fight cancer, according to new research in mice. Scientists found that yeast beta-glucan reprogrammed early immune cells in the bone marrow, leading to stronger, longer-lasting cancer-fighting responses against colorectal, skin, and breast cancer cells.

AI may be able to predict how strongly someone will respond to a vaccine before they receive it. By analyzing antibody patterns in more than 4,000 people, researchers found signs of “immune readiness” that helped distinguish strong responders from weak ones. Surprisingly, even some healthy people responded poorly, while some immunosuppressed people mounted strong responses.

Engineered probiotic bacteria were able to infiltrate pancreatic tumors, stimulate cancer-fighting immune cells, and slow tumor growth in animal studies. Even more strikingly, the treatment worked better when combined with chemotherapy, radiation, or immunotherapy.

Breast cancer is rising rapidly among Asian American women, with some of the most alarming increases occurring in younger women and in aggressive or advanced cancers. Researchers say screening alone can't explain the surge, suggesting important risk factors may still be undiscovered.

Researchers have uncovered a surprising way triple-negative breast cancer may turn the body against itself. Tumors appear to recruit macrophages—immune cells normally involved in healing and fighting infection—and use them to release a protein called BDNF that draws nerves into the tumor. Those nerves may then help the cancer grow, resist treatment, and potentially spread.

Scientists have uncovered why two seemingly opposite ways of targeting the same brain receptor can both promote weight loss. In mice, activating the GIP receptor in the brainstem reduced appetite, while blocking it in the hypothalamus removed a kind of “brake” on fullness signals. The discovery helps explain why very different obesity drugs can achieve similar results and suggests that carefully combining GIP-targeting treatments with GLP-1 drugs like those related to Wegovy and Ozempic could produce stronger effects.

Women who used estrogen-only hormone therapy later in life were less likely to develop dementia and showed fewer signs of Alzheimer’s disease in their brains, according to a large study of more than 21,000 participants. Hormone therapy use was linked to 39% lower odds of a dementia diagnosis and 35% lower odds of Alzheimer’s-related brain changes at autopsy, including amyloid plaques and tau tangles. Biomarker tests also suggested less amyloid buildup among hormone therapy users.

A large study of more than 5,500 adults over 50 found a striking combination of risk factors: abdominal obesity paired with vitamin D deficiency was linked to a 123% higher risk of death over six years. Each condition was associated with increased risk on its own, but together they appeared to create a dangerous feedback loop, with belly fat reducing the amount of vitamin D available in the bloodstream while low vitamin D may worsen inflammation and other health problems.

Researchers have found a striking new way to potentially eliminate HIV soon after infection using a one-time combination of three therapies. In newborn nonhuman primates treated within three days of exposure, the regimen—standard antiretroviral drugs, broadly neutralizing antibodies, and the experimental antibody leronlimab—completely cleared the virus, even though none of the treatments could do so alone.

UCLA researchers have created a blood test that can scan DNA signals for multiple cancers, liver diseases, and signs of organ damage—and even indicate where trouble may be developing. Early results suggest the inexpensive approach could bring medicine closer to a single blood test capable of catching a wide range of diseases before they become harder to treat.

A protein that evolved long before the human circulatory system may help unlock stronger cancer treatments. When C3 is produced inside tumors, it blocks immune-suppressing cells and gives immunotherapy a better chance to work. Researchers were even able to recreate this effect in resistant tumors, significantly improving survival in mice.