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What did ordinary people really eat in premodern Japan, beyond the dishes described in cookbooks and the bones discarded at urban waste pits? Reconstructing past diets at the level of individual food items is remarkably difficult.

A scoping review of 54 studies found that coffee and several coffee-derived bioactive compounds influence pathways linked to skeletal muscle metabolism, including insulin signaling, mitochondrial function, oxidative stress, inflammation, glucose uptake, and protein turnover. Human studies reported associations with greater muscle mass and lower frailty or functional impairment, but most evidence remains observational or preclinical and cannot establish causality.

A mini-review finds that dietary patterns may influence Alzheimer’s disease through interconnected pathways involving neuroinflammation, insulin resistance, oxidative stress, blood-brain barrier dysfunction, homocysteine, and the gut-brain axis. The authors argue that genetics, sex, age, physical activity, and socioeconomic context may modify these relationships, supporting more individualized approaches to nutrition research and dementia prevention.

Researchers analyzing 51 longitudinal intervention studies found that reliable generation 2+ DNA methylation biomarkers, particularly those predicting mortality or pace of aging, were the most responsive to interventions aimed at longevity or healthspan. Pharmacological and lifestyle interventions produced the strongest biomarker changes, but the authors cautioned that responsiveness does not yet establish these measures as validated surrogate endpoints for slower aging or longer life.

Researchers found that higher urinary concentrations of BPA and several phthalate metabolites were associated with higher serum estrogen and progesterone levels in 90 premenopausal women from Iran. The cross-sectional study also identified positive associations for combined chemical exposures, although the authors cautioned that the mixture findings are exploratory and cannot establish causality.

A first-in-class therapy to target MYC, one of the most sought-after and difficult targets in cancer biology, showed promise in hard-to-treat blood cancers, according to a new preclinical study from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center published in Blood.

A large retrospective cohort study found that GLP-1 receptor agonist use was associated with a lower risk of tuberculosis in people with type 2 diabetes compared with sulfonylureas, metformin, DPP-4 inhibitors, and SGLT2 inhibitors. The observational findings suggest a possible benefit beyond metabolic control, but the authors emphasize that prospective and mechanistic studies are needed to determine whether GLP-1 therapies themselves reduce TB risk.

A new multi-institute study led by researchers at Dartmouth Health and Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth suggests that alpha-gal syndrome, the tick-borne disease that can result in a chronic allergy to meat and animal byproducts, also may complicate certain patients' ability to safely receive a blood plasma or platelet transfusion.

When one person helps, or refuses to help, another in public, this may change not only the provider's reputation but also the recipient's.

Across 11 annual U.S. surveys involving about 183,000 adults, higher social media use was consistently associated with self-reported depression, with social media ranking among the strongest predictors in machine-learning models. SHAP analyses suggested that social media use became a stronger positive signal for depression at around 150 minutes per day, although the authors stress that this is not an established clinical threshold and requires longitudinal and experimental testing.

A nationwide Japanese survey found that only 53.1% of respondents said they would accept vaccination in a hypothetical future pandemic with COVID-19-like fatality, despite substantially higher previous COVID-19 vaccine uptake. Willingness varied by demographics, perceived disease risk, exposure to misinformation, vaccine characteristics, and practical factors such as cost, evidence, professional recommendations, and accessibility.

A randomized, double-blind trial found that adults with mild constipation who drank a vinegar beverage daily for four weeks had more frequent bowel movements than those receiving placebo. Exploratory findings also suggested earlier improvements in bowel habits, although the small feasibility-based trial requires confirmation in larger and more diverse populations.

On the surface, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy (LATE) might seem like unrelated diseases.

During typical aging and Alzheimer's disease progression, higher levels of a protein called tau are associated with more depressive symptoms.

People with a comprehensive understanding of palliative care are more likely to prefer end-of-life care at home or in a hospice. Among individuals with less understanding about palliative care, hospital care is preferred.

The global landscape of oncology is shifting, and nowhere is this transition more complex or consequential than in China.

A short workout or a nap can help protect memory after a sleepless night, a McGill University-led study has found.

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in Germany. In the search for new therapeutic approaches that target the uncontrolled growth of tumor cells, a class of enzymes known as cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) has come into focus.

Researchers from University of California San Diego and University of California, Berkeley have found that certain landscapes surrounding California communities are associated with differing rates of Valley fever, a fungal respiratory infection caused by inhaling spores carried in windblown dust.

Findings from the 2025 Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey (OSDUHS) released today by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) suggest that Ontario middle and high school students have rebounded from the heightened mental health challenges seen during and immediately following the COVID-19 pandemic.