epidemiology

The UN is set to review the legal status of nicotine. An outright ban would go too far, but there is no case for its easy availability The health case for banning cigarettes is ironclad. As the then head of the World Health Organization, Gro Harlem Brundtland, put it in 2000, “a cigarette is the only consumer product which when used as directed kills its consumer”. Smoking is still the leading ca…

Ignorance around hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome is a public health catastrophe, say readers in response to an article on how sufferers have to wait 21 years for a diagnosis Your coverage of hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS) is a vital start to addressing a systemic public health catastrophe ( UK hypermobility sufferers wait up to 21 years for diagnosis, study suggests, 15 June ). I am…

In 1964, the Surgeon General issued an advisory on smoking and cancer, which eventually led to a reduction in smoking prevalence, and smoking-related cancers and deaths. In January 2025, the Surgeon General issued an advisory on alcohol and cancer risk, highlighting the International Agency for Research on Cancer's designation of alcohol as a Group 1 carcinogen, alongside tobacco, asbestos, and f…

Sudden cardiac arrest is statistically rare but among the leading causes of death for children and young people. And families often have no idea of the risk until it’s too late Before Alexandra Thoms goes to sleep, she puts together a flat-pack dining table with her father, Gordon. She needs the table for her otherwise sparse two-bedroom Melbourne apartment which she has moved into just weeks ear…

A new study suggests professional football players with documented concussions have higher odds of being arrested. The findings highlight the need for comprehensive, long-term support for athletes dealing with the behavioral aftereffects of repetitive head trauma.

Scientific Reports, Published online: 20 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41598-026-57151-8 Changes in obesity and waist circumference in children and parents during the COVID-19 pandemic

For many people, checking blood pressure means visiting a doctor’s office a few times each year. However, new research suggests that regularly checking blood pressure at home may offer much greater benefits than many people realize. A large study from Scotland has found that people with high blood pressure who measured their own blood pressure […] The post A Simple Home Blood Pressure Program May…

Study suggests exposure to ‘forever chemicals’ may be a main driver of disease, formerly called PCOS, authors say New research for the first time links prenatal exposure to Pfas “forever chemicals” with the development of polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS) later in life. PMOS, formerly known as polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), is estimated to impact about 13% of women. Many cases …

Each additional hour of bending forwards linked to 36% heightened risk Bending forwards, and to a lesser extent, walking a lot at work in early pregnancy, may raise the risk of miscarriage, finds a large study of more than 470,000 Danish women, published online in the journal Occupational & Environmental Medicine. Each additional hour of bending forwards, ...

Vulnerable adults suffered broken bones and severe neglect in Northern Irish hospital at centre of major police investigation A major inquiry into the abuse of vulnerable adults at Muckamore Abbey hospital, in Northern Ireland, has found “mistreatment became a normality ” and patients suffered black eyes, broken bones and severe neglect. The hospital is at the centre of the UK’s largest police in…

Nature Communications, Published online: 18 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41467-026-74415-z South Asian populations remain underrepresented in cancer genomics, thus increasing health inequities. Here, the authors analyse data from 57,416 individuals of Bangladeshi and Pakistani ancestry in the UK-based Genes & Health cohort, finding ancestry-associated cancer risk variants and cancer-comorbidity pairs.

BackgroundDuchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a severe, progressive, and life-limiting neuromuscular disorder that imposes a substantial economic burden on healthcare systems and families. While the clinical severity of DMD is well established, limited data exist regarding its socioeconomic and psychological impacts in Saudi Arabia. This study investigated patient and caregiver demographics, dir…

A major study of more than 112,000 people found that eating foods containing common preservatives may be linked to a higher risk of high blood pressure and heart-related diseases. Researchers tracked participants for up to eight years and discovered that people consuming the highest amounts of certain preservatives had significantly greater risks of hypertension, heart attack, stroke, and other c…

Blood lead levels in young children in the U.S. are declining overall but remain higher among children belonging to racial minorities or low-income families, according to a new Harvard Chan School study.

A major systematic review and meta-analysis links higher BMI to increased risk of 19 cancer types, including leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, bladder cancer, and glioma, which were not previously recognized in major consensus reports. The study also reveals regional and sex-based variation in cancer risk, with genetic evidence generally supporting many observational links while highlighting the ne…

Nature, Published online: 17 June 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-01903-z Existing global efforts to reduce harms caused by smoking have targeted tobacco smoking, but vapes containing nicotine are also harmful.

IntroductionMental health disorders (MHDs) is a global public health concern. Existing evidence highlighted the need for context-specific measurements of MHDs among adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This review aimed to provide an evidence-based inventory of effective mental health (MH) screening tools applicable to adolescents in SSA aged 12–18 years.MethodsWe systematically searched Medl…

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted routine health care in unprecedented ways, forcing providers and patients alike to delay or forgo preventive services. At the University of Colorado Anschutz School of Dental Medicine, those disruptions allowed a team of oral health and informatics researchers to better understand what happens when routine periodontal maintenance is paused, and what those findings …

After identifying significant differences in stroke care and outcomes for patients on different Medicare plans, a UVA Health doctor is launching an ambitious effort to better understand the sources of those differences and ensure patients get the best care possible.

Researchers found that several common health and lifestyle factors are associated with a higher risk of early-onset dementia, highlighting potential opportunities for prevention earlier in life.