Scientists found that when chronic back pain flares, the brain switches on the network tied to your sense of self, the opposite of what ordinary pain does

Low back pain is the leading cause of disability worldwide, and for many people it never fully goes away. Researchers at UC San Diego wanted to see what happens in…

Oct 31, 2026 · 3 min read

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Medical Research & Innovations

People who got less than 42 minutes of bright daylight a day had a higher risk of dementia, and it predicted risk better than six well-known risk factors

Most adults spend their days indoors, where light levels are a small fraction of what they get outside, even on a cloudy…

3 min read · General Psychiatry

Neuroscience

Scientists estimated that about 3 in 4 former NFL players who died between 2008 and 2023 had CTE, after correcting for which families donate brains

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, is a brain disease linked to repeated hits to the head, and it can only be confirmed…

4 min read · JAMA Network Open

Medical Research & Innovations

For the first time, four major US medical groups say a woman’s period should be treated as a vital sign for her heart

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in women, killing more than 400,000 a year in the United States, yet only…

4 min read · Circulation

Medical Research & Innovations

A liquid painted on children’s cavities in seconds stopped decay in more than half of treated teeth without drilling, but it comes with one visible trade-off

Tooth decay is the most common chronic disease in American children, affecting more than four in ten. For very young kids, treating it often means drilling, injections, or even surgery…

Oct 27 · 4 min read

Scientists found that when chronic back pain flares, the brain switches on the network tied to your sense of self, the opposite of what ordinary pain does

People who got less than 42 minutes of bright daylight a day had a higher risk of dementia, and it predicted risk better than six well-known risk factors

Scientists estimated that about 3 in 4 former NFL players who died between 2008 and 2023 had CTE, after correcting for which families donate brains

For the first time, four major US medical groups say a woman’s period should be treated as a vital sign for her heart

A liquid painted on children’s cavities in seconds stopped decay in more than half of treated teeth without drilling, but it comes with one visible trade-off

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1 in 3 women with an autoimmune disease said a doctor had blamed their symptoms on their mind, and for some diseases it was more than half

A study of 899 gun homicides in the Chicago area found that deaths on greener streets were less likely to be shootings. But in the poorest neighborhoods, being near a park pointed the other way.

Researchers posed as patients and called in-network mental health providers, and fewer than 1 in 4 calls that reached someone got an appointment

A study of 18 fossils from a South African cave found that Homo erectus, likely our direct ancestor, lived there 2 million years ago. At that site, it was outnumbered 10 to 1 by another human species.

Scientists found that night owls were 70% more likely than morning people to stop working early because of poor health, and their jobs did not explain it