🩺 Daily Health Briefs

Scientists have discovered a hidden warning sign of skin damage that appears before collagen fibers visibly thin, break, or lose their connections. Using advanced light-based techniques, the team found that collagen’s carefully organized molecular “handedness” can collapse even while the tissue still appears structurally intact and contains the same amount... Read more

Researchers have uncovered a surprising culprit behind sleep loss in Alzheimer’s disease: the brain’s own immune cells. In mice with amyloid plaques, overactive microglia triggered inflammation that kept the brain from getting enough deep, restorative sleep. Temporarily removing most of these cells restored more than two hours of sleep per... Read more

A protein called SORLA may act as a powerful defense against the toxic tau tangles involved in Alzheimer’s disease. Mice with extra SORLA had less tau accumulation, less brain atrophy, and healthier connections between neurons, while mice without it experienced more severe damage. The findings also revealed a possible drug... Read more

Scientists have redesigned zinc oxide particles to create a mineral sunscreen that protects against ultraviolet radiation without leaving such a noticeable white cast. The SPF 30 formula could make sunscreen easier and more appealing to use across a wider range of skin tones.... Read more

The mysterious sound known as The Hum has been reported worldwide for decades, yet its source often remains impossible to find. Researchers tested whether people who hear it have exceptional low-frequency hearing or measurable sounds produced inside their ears, but neither explanation fit most participants. The strongest possibility is that... Read more

Medtronic announced a series of regulatory and clinical milestones aimed at expanding the capabilities and market reach of its Hugo robotic-assisted surgery (RAS) system in the United States. The company submitted 510(k) applications seeking FDA clearance for the use of Hugo in general surgery, including hernia repair, and gynecologic procedures,... Read more

Medtronic delivered its strongest annual revenue growth in a decade in fiscal 2026, reporting $36.4 billion in revenue, up 8.4% year over year, while fourth-quarter revenue climbed 9.9% to $9.8 billion. The performance was driven by broad-based growth across the company’s cardiovascular, medical surgical, neuroscience, and diabetes businesses. The cardiovascular... Read more

Indiana Governor Mike Braun announced that Boston Scientific will establish a new global medical device distribution facility in Plainfield, Indiana, creating up to 300 high-wage jobs and investing approximately $138 million in the project. The company plans to construct and equip a 500,000-square-foot facility at Plainfield Innovation Park to support... Read more

We are seeing it everywhere, Artificial Intelligence in our daily activities – smart thermostats and smart lights in our homes, facial recognition on our phones, robot vacuum cleaners doing our cleaning, navigation and ride-share apps, Movie and music recommendations on entertainment apps, personalized social media feeds. Like every other aspect... Read more

Consider a hypothetical scenario that reflects a pattern increasingly reported by manufacturers: a 510(k) submission for an AI-powered diagnostic tool with 99% sensitivity. Strong numbers. Solid validation. And yet — a deficiency letter comes back from FDA.  Not because the model underperforms. Because reviewers cannot determine what it is actually... Read more

South Carolina's measles outbreak exploded into one of the worst in the U.S., with state health officials confirming 99 new cases in the past three days.... Read more

U.S. flu infections showed signs of a slight decline last week, but health officials say it is not clear that this severe flu season has peaked.... Read more

In Australia, we are exposed to some of the harshest and most dangerous levels of ultraviolet radiation (UV) in the world, so many of us know how important high SPF sunscreen is.... Read more

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a vital skill anyone can perform. It is administered to an unconscious person who is not breathing normally.... Read more

In a recent study of the contiguous United States, Los Alamos National Laboratory researchers found that the risk of disease from hantavirus is higher in drier, underdeveloped geographic areas with more socioeconomic vulnerability and increased numbers of unique rodent species. This is the first study to examine the combined effects... Read more

NIH trial to assess if eating peanuts, eggs during pregnancy, breastfeeding protects infants.... Read more

NIH case study finds virus drives creation of cancer cells in context of defective T cells.... Read more

The AI agent could help lead to a better understanding of how different diseases and conditions affect groups of genes individually and together.... Read more

Next-generation system noninvasively images tiny nerve structures disrupted in brain disorders.... Read more

Effort is part of NIH’s ongoing commitment to scientific transparency and responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars.... Read more