Medical Science: In-Depth Description

Image Credit: Scientific Frontline / AI generated

Medical Science is the comprehensive discipline responsible for the maintenance of health and the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of disease. It encompasses a vast spectrum of knowledge, ranging from the molecular interactions of genetics and biochemistry to the complex physiological systems of the human body. The primary goal of medical science is to understand the etiology (cause) and pathogenesis (development) of illnesses to develop effective therapeutic interventions and public health strategies.

Laparoscopic surgery significantly reduces blood loss and improves jaundice recovery for severe newborn liver disease

Pediatric surgery ward at Nagoya University Hospital, where laparoscopic surgery for biliary atresia is performed.
Photo Credit: Merle Naidoo, Nagoya University

Biliary atresia affects newborns when bile ducts become blocked, leading to liver damage that often requires transplants—a new study evaluates an alternative to traditional open surgery.

Nagoya University researchers and their collaborators have found that minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery significantly reduces blood loss and improves jaundice recovery compared to traditional open surgery for treating biliary atresia—a serious liver condition in newborns. The study, published in Hepatobiliary Surgery and Nutrition, also found that high-dose steroid therapy after surgery does not necessarily improve outcomes for treating this condition.

Biliary atresia affects 1 in 15,000 newborns and is the leading cause of liver transplants in children. It occurs when bile ducts become blocked or do not develop properly, which prevents effective liver function and leads to progressive damage. What causes this blockage is unknown, and surgery is usually performed within the first two to three months of birth when the condition is diagnosed. 

Particle accelerator waste could help produce cancer-fighting materials

Photo Credit: Courtesy of University of York

Energy that would normally go to waste inside powerful particle accelerators could be used to create valuable medical isotopes, scientists have found. 

The next step is to explore how the method could be scaled up to deliver clinically use 

Researchers at the University of York have shown that intense radiation captured in particle accelerator “beam dumps” could be repurposed to produce materials used in cancer therapy.  

Scientists have now found a way to make those leftover photons do a second job, without affecting the main physics experiments. 

A beam of photons designed to investigate things like the matter that makes up our universe, could at the same time, be used to create useful medical isotopes in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. 

Oral insulin delayed onset of type 1 diabetes in some children with increased risk of the disease

Half of the participants received daily treatment with oral insulin, and the other half received placebo.
 Photo Credit: Kennet Ruona

An international team of researchers has investigated whether oral insulin can prevent early signs of type 1 diabetes and clinical diagnosis in children with an increased risk of developing the disease. Although treatment with oral insulin could not prevent development of diabetes-related autoantibodies, oral insulin delayed the rate of disease progression in children who developed such autoantibodies. The results from the POInT study are now published in The Lancet. 

The POInT study has investigated whether treatment with oral insulin can prevent diabetes-related autoantibodies and type 1 diabetes in children with an increased genetic risk of developing the disease. These autoantibodies are used as biomarkers for type 1 diabetes, and the presence of two or more autoantibodies is called early-stage type 1 diabetes. The international study includes 1,050 children from Sweden, Germany, Poland, Belgium and the United Kingdom. Half of the participants received daily treatment with oral insulin, and the other half received placebo during their first three years of life. In type 1 diabetes, the body’s immune system attacks the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas and destroys them. 

What Is: Hormones

The "Chemical Messenger"
The Endocrine System and Chemical Communication
Image Credit: Scientific Frontline

The Silent Orchestrators

Hormones are the silent orchestrators of the human body. They are the unseen chemical messengers that, in infinitesimally small quantities, conduct the complex symphony of life. These powerful molecules control and regulate nearly every critical function, from our mood, sleep, and metabolism to our growth, energy levels, and reproductive functions.

At its most fundamental level, a hormone is a chemical substance produced by a gland, organ, or specialized tissue in one part of the body. It is then released—typically into the bloodstream—to travel to other parts of the body, where it acts on specific "target cells" to coordinate function.

The power of this system, which has identified over 50 distinct hormones in humans, lies in its exquisite specificity. Although hormones circulate throughout the entire body, reaching every cell, they only affect the cells that are equipped to listen. This is governed by the "lock and key" principle: target cells possess specific "receptors," either on their surface or inside the cell, that are shaped to bind only to a compatible hormone. This report will delve into the world of these powerful molecules, exploring the intricate system that creates them, the chemical language they speak, and the profound, lifelong impact they have on our daily health and well-being.

Researchers create simple method for viewing microscopic fibers

Computational scattered light imaging shows the orientation and organization of tissue fibers at micrometer resolution. The colors represent different fiber orientations.
Image Credit: Marios Georgiadis

Every tissue in the human body contains a network of microscopic fibers. Muscle fibers direct mechanical forces, intestinal fibers are involved in gut mobility, and brain fibers transmit signals and form the communication network to drive cognition. Together, these fibers shape how organs function and help maintain their structure.

Likewise, almost all diseases involve some form of degeneration or disruption of these fiber networks. In the brain, this translates to disturbances in neural connectivity that are found in all neurological disorders.

Despite their biological importance, these microscopic fibers have been difficult to study, as scientists have struggled to visualize their orientations within tissues.

Now, Stanford Medicine researchers and their colleagues have developed a simple, low-cost approach that makes those hidden structures visible in remarkable detail.

“Rotten egg” gas could be the answer to treating nail infections, say scientists

Nearly half of people aged over 70 suffer from nail infections, which are notoriously difficult to treat.
Photo Credit: Wang Yanwei

Hydrogen sulphide, the volcanic gas that smells of rotten eggs, could be used in a new treatment for tricky nail infections that acts faster but with fewer side effects, according to scientists at the University of Bath and King’s College London (KCL).

Nail infections are mostly caused by fungi and occasionally by bacteria. They are very common, affecting between 4-10% of the global population, rising to nearly half those aged 70 or over.

These infections can lead to complications, particularly in vulnerable groups such as diabetics and the elderly, but are notoriously difficult to treat.

Current treatments include oral antifungals taken in pill form, and topical treatments which are applied directly to the nail.

Successful bone regeneration using stem cells derived from fatty tissue

Bone formation by ADSC bone-differentiated spheroids
Treatment of a mouse with a disease similar to osteoporosis using bone-differentiated spheroids. At 8 weeks post-treatment, the bone’s strength was significantly improved.   
Image Credit: Osaka Metropolitan University

An Osaka Metropolitan University team has used stem cells extracted from adipose, the body’s fatty tissue, to treat spine fractures in rats similar to those caused by osteoporosis in humans. These cells offer the advantages of being easy to collect, even from elderly individuals, and causing little stress to the body, suggesting a non-invasive way of treating bone diseases.

Osteoporosis is a disease that causes bones to become brittle and prone to fractures. Due to the aging of the population, the number of patients in Japan is estimated to exceed 15 million in the near future. Among osteoporosis-related fractures, compression fractures of the spine, known as osteoporotic vertebral fractures, are the most common type of fracture and pose a serious problem, leading to a need for long-term care and a significant decline in quality of life.

Missing nutrient in breast milk may explain health challenges in children of women with HIV

UCLA study finds tryptophan is depleted in breast milk of mothers living with HIV
Photo Credit: Julia Koblitz

A new UCLA study reveals that breast milk from women living with HIV contains significantly lower levels of tryptophan, an essential amino acid likely important for infant immune function, growth, and brain development. This discovery may help explain why children born to women living with HIV experience higher rates of illness and developmental challenges, even when the children themselves are not infected with the virus. 

Approximately 1.3 million children are born to women living with HIV annually worldwide. Even with effective antiretroviral therapy that prevents HIV transmission, these children who are exposed to HIV but not infected continue to face a 50% increase in mortality in low-income settings along with increased risks of infections, growth problems, and cognitive challenges. Prior to antiretroviral therapy, these children had mortality rates that were two to three times higher than infants not exposed to HIV. Understanding why these children remain vulnerable despite not being infected has been a critical gap in maternal and child health research. This study provides the first metabolic explanation for these persistent health disparities and points toward potential nutritional interventions that could protect vulnerable infants.

Gluten sensitivity: It’s not actually about gluten

Photo Credit: Melissa Askew

A landmark study has revealed that gluten sensitivity, which affects approximately 10 percent of the global population, is not actually about gluten but part of the way the gut and brain interact.

The findings are expected to set a new benchmark for how gluten sensitivity is defined, diagnosed and treated.

The research review, published in The Lancet, examined current published evidence for non-coeliac gluten sensitivity (NCGS) to better understand this highly prevalent condition.

People with NCGS experience symptoms after consuming gluten but do not have coeliac disease, an autoimmune disease triggered by gluten. Common symptoms include bloating, gut pain and fatigue.

New findings on how breastfeeding affects the skeleton could boost development of drugs against osteoporosis

Within six months or less after the women stopped breastfeeding, the researchers observed a seven percent difference in bone density.
Photo Credit: Wendy Wei

Pregnancies do not weaken a woman’s skeleton. Breastfeeding, however, can reduce bone density considerably. These are findings from a research report produced at Lund University in Sweden. But breastfeeding women need not worry.

“There is a dip, but the body is absolutely fantastic at making up the loss,” says Kristina Åkesson, professor of orthopedics.

Breastfeeding and pregnancy both require large amounts of calcium. That is why Lund University researchers Lisa Egund and Kristina Åkesson wanted to examine how the reproductive cycle affects the bone density of women. The study followed 750 women over a ten-year period to investigate the effect of pregnancy and breastfeeding on the skeleton. 

The women were 25 years old when the study began – an age when bone density is normally highest. Ten years later, the data was collected: How many had been pregnant and had children? If so, how many children? Were the children breastfed, and if so for how long?

Dangerous E. coli strain blocks gut’s defense mechanism to spread infection

Isabella Rauch, Ph.D., is the senior author on a new study published in Nature that reveals how a dangerous strain of E. coli blocks the body’s immune defenses to spread infection.
Photo Credit: OHSU/Christine Torres Hicks

When harmful bacteria that cause food poisoning, such as E. coli, invade through the digestive tract, gut cells usually fight back by pushing infected cells out of the body to stop the infection from spreading.

In a new study published today in Nature, scientists from Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, in collaboration with researchers from Oregon Health & Science University, discovered that a dangerous strain of E. coli — known for causing bloody diarrhea — can block this gut defense, allowing the bacteria to spread more easily.

The bacteria inject a special protein called NleL into gut cells, which breaks down key enzymes, known as ROCK1 and ROCK2, that are needed for infected cells to be expelled. Without this process, the infected cells can’t leave quickly, allowing the bacteria to spread more easily.

When healing turns harmful: adrenal support cells tied to cancer origin

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A new study from Karolinska Institutet, shows that support cells in the adrenal gland can regenerate hormone-producing tissue after birth. The same cells may also act as a starting point for adrenal tumors, offering new insights into cancer development and potential treatment strategies.

“We found that these glial-like cells not only help maintain healthy tissue but, in some paragangliomas, also carry the same tumor-initiating genetic event,” explains Susanne Schlisio, group leader at the Department of Oncology-Pathology and last author of the study. 

“In tumors with germline VHL mutations, subsets of these support cells showed loss of chromosome 3p, the ‘second hit’ leading to VHL inactivation. This suggests they may be the origin of certain tumors,” says Dr. Michael Mints, docent at the same department and co-corresponding author of the study.

Combination of pre- and probiotics offers superior anti-inflammatory benefits compared with omega-3 or prebiotic alone

Photo Credit: Cosmin Ursea

A new study, led by experts at the University of Nottingham, has found that combining certain types of dietary supplements is more effective than single prebiotics or omega-3 in supporting immune and metabolic health, which could lower the risk of conditions linked to chronic inflammation.

The findings of the study, which are published in the Journal of Translational Medicine, show that a synbiotic - a combination of naturally fermented kefir and a diverse prebiotic fiber mix - produces the most powerful anti-inflammatory effects among the three common dietary supplements tested.

The kefir and prebiotic mix were provided by Chuckling Goat Ltd. It contains a mx of naturally occurring probiotic bacteria and yeasts, which form during the traditional fermentation of goat’s milk with live kefir grains. These grains are living cultures that house dozens of beneficial microbial species.

Did Lead Limit Brain and Language Development in Neanderthals and Other Extinct Hominids?

UC San Diego researchers have found high levels of lead in the teeth of both Neanderthals (left) and modern humans (right). However, a gene mutation may have protected modern human brains, allowing language to flourish.
Photo Credit: Kyle Dykes/UC San Diego Health Sciences

Ancient human relatives were exposed to lead up to two million years ago, according to a new study. However, a gene mutation may have protected modern human brains, allowing language to flourish.

What set the modern human brain apart from our now extinct relatives like Neanderthals? A new study by University of California San Diego School of Medicine and an international team of researchers reveals that ancient hominids — including early humans and great apes — were exposed to lead earlier than previously thought, up to two million years before modern humans began mining the metal. This exposure may have shaped the evolution of hominid brains, limiting language and social development in all but modern humans due to a protective genetic variant that only we carry. The study was published in Science Advances.

The researchers analyzed fossilized teeth from 51 hominids across Africa, Asia and Europe, including modern and archaic humans such as Neanderthals, ancient human ancestors like Australopithecus africanus, and extinct great apes such as Gigantopithecus blacki.

Study links wind-blown dust from receding Salton Sea to reduced lung function in area children

Researchers with the UC Irvine-led study sample dust at the southern edge of the Salton Sea. Joe C. Wen School of Population & Public Health
Photo Credit: Courtesy of University of California, Irvine

Children living near the Salton Sea, in Southern California’s desert region of Imperial County, are experiencing poorer lung function than children exposed to less wind-blown dust, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of California, Irvine’s Joe C. Wen School of Population & Public Health.

They found that higher dust exposure – measured in hours per year – was linked to lower lung function, with the negative effects most pronounced among children living closest to the lake. The work, published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, marks one of the first investigations to directly link dust events from a drying saline lake to measurable declines in children’s respiratory health.

A federal grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the Southern California Environmental Health Sciences Center funded the research in partnership with the Imperial Valley community-based organization Comite Civico del Valle.

Large Genetic Study Links Cannabis Use to Psychiatric, Cognitive and Physical Health

The study uncovered new relationships between gene variants associated with cannabis use and psychiatric, cognitive and physical health.
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University of California San Diego of Medicine researchers, in collaboration with the genetic testing company 23andMe, have identified regions of the human genome associated with cannabis use, uncovering new relationships with psychiatric, cognitive and physical health. The findings may inform the development of prevention and treatment strategies for cannabis use disorder. The study was published on October 13, 2025 in Molecular Psychiatry.

“Cannabis is widely used, but its long-term effects on health remain poorly characterized,” said Sandra Sanchez-Roige, Ph.D., associate professor of psychiatry at UC San Diego School of Medicine and senior author of the study. The researchers were also interested in the relationship between genetics and traits that contribute to the development of cannabis use disorder, which can interfere with a person’s daily life.

“While most people who try cannabis do not go on to develop cannabis use disorder, some studies estimate that nearly 30% will,” said Sanchez-Roige. “Understanding the genetics of early-stage behaviors may help clarify who is at greater risk, opening the door to prevention and intervention strategies.”

New technique detects genetic mutations in brain tumors during surgery within just 25 minutes

During neurosurgery at Nagoya University Hospital
Photo Credit: Department of Neurosurgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya University

A research team in Japan has developed an innovative system that can accurately detect genetic mutations in the brain tumor within just 25 minutes. Genetic mutations are crucial markers for diagnosis of brain tumors.

Unlike conventional genetic analysis methods, which typically take one to two days to obtain results, this new system allows surgeons to identify genotyping of brain tumors and determine optimal resection margins during surgery.

The new system succeeded in detecting mutations in isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) and telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) promoters. These mutations are key markers for diagnosis of diffuse glioma—the most common type of brain tumor—which exhibit highly infiltrative nature. The findings were published in the journal Neuro-Oncology.

Researchers discover of a new type of diabetes in babies

Photo Credit: Rene Terp

Advanced DNA sequencing technologies and a new model of stem cell research has enabled an international team to discover a new type of diabetes in babies.

The University of Exeter Medical School worked with Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) in Belgium and other partners to establish that mutations in the TMEM167A gene are responsible for a rare form of neonatal diabetes.

Some babies develop diabetes before the age of six months. In over 85 per cent of cases this is due to genetic mutation in their DNA. Research led by the University of Exeter found that in six children with additional neurological disorders such as epilepsy and microcephaly identified alterations in a single gene: TMEM167A.

To understand its role, ULB researcher Professor Miriam Cnop’s team used stem cells differentiated into pancreatic beta cells and gene-editing techniques (CRISPR). They found that when the TMEM167A gene is altered, insulin-producing cells can no longer fulfill their role. They then activate stress mechanisms that lead to their death.

New hope for MS

Micah Feri (left) and Seema Tiwari-Woodruff.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of University of California, Riverside

Multiple sclerosis, or MS, is a chronic autoimmune disease affecting more than 2.9 million people worldwide. It occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks the myelin sheath, the protective insulation around nerve fibers, causing disruption of nerve signals between the brain and body. Symptoms can include numbness, tingling, vision loss, and paralysis.

While current treatments can reduce inflammation, no therapies yet exist to protect neurons or restore the damaged myelin sheath. Researchers have now taken a major step forward in the development of such a therapy, supported by funding from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. They have identified two compounds that could remyelinate damaged axons.

Published in the journal Scientific Reports, the research, led by Seema Tiwari-Woodruff, a professor of biomedical sciences at the University of California, Riverside, School of Medicine, and John Katzenellenbogen, a professor of chemistry at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, or UIUC, was made possible through two National MS Society funding programs: a traditional investigator-initiated grant and the Society’s Fast Forward commercial accelerator program.