Short Takes: Small changes can make big differences in breast cancer, weight assessment and HIV From AI detecting more breast cancers to BMI misclassifying millions and a simpler HIV treatment, three studies highlight how small shifts in medicine can have a wide-reaching impact.

Three studies show how small shifts in medicine ripple out:
• AI detects slightly more breast cancers—and much faster
• BMI may be misclassifying millions
• HIV treatment could become far simpler for long-term survivors
Incremental change, real impact.
medicalnewsinsider.substack.com/p/short-take...

Tales from the Morgue: Remembrance of Things Past Requires A Good Night's Sleep Deep Sleep is Important for Learning, Studies Suggest

“Sleep knits up the raveled sleeve of care.”
It also locks in your memories.
In this Tales from the Morgue, Neil Osterweil explores research showing that miss the first night of sleep after learning, and the memory may never stick.
📖 Read: medicalnewsinsider.substack.com/p/tales-from...

Following the rules saves lives in rare cancers In rare cancers such as sarcoma, people treated in line with the latest guidelines survive better, with the best treatment found in specialist centres rather than local hospitals, shows survey.

Rare cancers need rare expertise.
New data show survival improves sharply when patients are treated in specialist centres that follow guidelines.
Full story on Medical News Insider: medicalnewsinsider.substack.com/p/following-...
#CancerCare #Oncology

The kids are alright: New guidance helps young diabetes patients transition to adult care Moving to adult services can be fraught with anxiety for young people with diabetes and related conditions, but new European guidance offers a structured approach that could transform lives.

Transitioning to adult care isn’t a moment — it’s a process.
New European guidance sets out how to keep young people with diabetes and endocrine conditions from falling through the cracks.
Full story on Medical News Insider: medicalnewsinsider.substack.com/p/the-kids-a...
#Diabetes #AdolescentHealth

One-third of Americans Make Sacrifices to Afford Health Care Even high-income households are feeling the pain, pollsters say

A third of Americans say they’ve had to make sacrifices to afford health care — from skipping prescriptions to delaying retirement.
Even wealthy households aren’t immune.
New analysis by Neil Osterweil: medicalnewsinsider.substack.com/p/one-third-...

#Healthcare #HealthPolicy

Alzheimer’s dirty secret: It may be caused ‘directly by air pollution’ Last time out, I looked at how air pollution and climate-related extremes are reshaping heart health by accelerating cardiovascular disease, and even altering the structure of children’s hearts.

What we breathe may shape how our brains age.
A nationwide US study suggests PM2.5 air pollution raises Alzheimer’s risk — possibly through direct toxic effects.
Full story: medicalnewsinsider.substack.com/p/alzheimers...
#Dementia #EnvironmentalHealth

Dirty air and rising heat: The growing threat to heart health Air pollution and climate extremes are major, modifiable drivers of heart disease, say leading medical societies, with new evidence showing damage may begin as early as childhood.

Air pollution and climate extremes aren’t just environmental issues—they’re heart disease risk factors.
A new joint statement underlines that the heart “beats within an ecosystem.”
Full story: medicalnewsinsider.substack.com/p/dirty-air-...
#ClimateHealth #Cardiology

Tales from the Morgue: Resistance Is Futile—You Will Be Assimilated! Can Smart, Self-Assembling Medical Robots Take Over the World?

From HAL 9000 to Borg drones to nanobots in your bloodstream.
In this Tales from the Morgue archive piece, @neilosterweil.bsky.social explores early fears about self-replicating medical robots — and why those anxieties never really went away.
📖 medicalnewsinsider.substack.com/p/tales-from...

Aiming for precision in psychiatric diagnoses Psychiatry may be late to the party in exploring objective markers to guide diagnosis and treatment, but the gains in getting the right treatment to the right person at the right time could be huge.

How do you spot depression in a busy railway station?
Psychiatry still relies on symptoms and trial-and-error treatment. A new ECNP initiative wants to bring biomarkers into the picture.
Full story: medicalnewsinsider.substack.com/p/aiming-for...
#MentalHealthResearch #Psychiatry

Editorial: According to RFK Jr, everything you know is wrong “The obligation of free men is to use their opportunities to improve the welfare of their fellow human beings.”

From vaccines to food policy to global health, RFK Jr is reshaping US medicine—by rejecting evidence and embracing conspiracy.
@neilosterweil.bsky.social explains why this matters far beyond US borders.
medicalnewsinsider.substack.com/p/editorial-...
#HealthPolicy #ScienceMatters

AI in cancer care: Trust, but verify, experts caution The promise of artificial intelligence is huge, with the potential to transform and streamline cancer care, but the European Society for Medical Oncology argues that a little more evidence is required

AI is already reading scans and slides in cancer care—but is it ready to guide treatment?
ESMO says enthusiasm is racing ahead of evidence, and calls for stricter standards.
Our latest deep dive: medicalnewsinsider.substack.com/p/ai-in-canc...
#Oncology #AIethics

Double Agents Infiltrate Cancer Cells, Then Kill Them Call it “Stealth Medicine”: Bispecific agents are sneaking up on cancers and quietly killing them

Cancer drugs that work like double agents?
At #ASH2025, bispecific antibodies showed impressive results in aggressive and indolent lymphomas—especially in older, frailer patients.
@neilosterweil.bsky.social explains: medicalnewsinsider.substack.com/p/double-age...
#CancerCare #Immunotherapy

Tales from the Morgue: Sacrifice Two Goats and Call Me in the Morning What we can learn (and might want to forget) from Ancient Greek medicine

What did ancient Greek doctors really give us — wisdom, superstition, or both?
In this Tales from the Morgue piece, @neilosterweil.bsky.social explores Hippocrates, Galen, bloodletting, ethics, and why some ancient debates still won’t go away.
📖 medicalnewsinsider.substack.com/p/tales-from...

The sound of sexual dysfunction: brain test predicts antidepressant-related problems Antidepressant therapy often has a devastating impact on the sexual lives of people with depression, but now researchers have discovered that sexual dysfunction may be predicted with a brain test.

Can a headset predict sexual side effects from antidepressants before they happen?
A Danish team says yes—using a sound-processing brain test with 87% accuracy.
Full story from #ECNP2025: medicalnewsinsider.substack.com/p/the-sound-...
#MentalHealth #SSRI

Tales from the Morgue: Dying to Win? Even Legal Sports Supplements Can Make a Body Mighty Sick

A football player collapses. A banned supplement resurfaces years later.
In this week’s Tales from the Morgue, @neilosterweil.bsky.social exposes the hidden dangers of sports supplements — and the billion-dollar myth of “safe” performance enhancers.
📖 medicalnewsinsider.substack.com/p/tales-from...

A wandering mind might boost creativity in ADHD The oft-noted link between ADHD and creativity might be explained by a greater capacity for deliberately letting the mind wander, suggests research presented at the recent ECNP Congress.

What links ADHD and creativity?
A new study finds the key might be deliberate mind wandering—not distraction, but intentional drift.
From #ECNP2025, I report: medicalnewsinsider.substack.com/p/a-wanderin...
#ADHD #MentalHealth

Thoughts on (re)watching ER 30 years on In many ways, medicine has made breathtaking advances since this popular TV show first aired. In other ways, nothing has changed.

Three decades after ER hit the screen, some things in medicine have changed drastically—and others haven’t budged.
@neilosterweil.bsky.social revisits the show and looks at modern healthcare through that lens.
Read it here: medicalnewsinsider.substack.com/p/thoughts-o...
#MedicineThenAndNow #ER30

Tales from the Morgue: School of Hard Knocks Hostile Hallways

Hostile hallways, silenced students and the fight for safety in schools.
@neilosterweil.bsky.social's 2001 Tales from the Morgue piece is hauntingly current, as anti-LGBTQ violence and censorship rise again.
📖 medicalnewsinsider.substack.com/p/tales-from...
#LGBTQRights #Education #SocialJustice

Tramadol no ‘magic bullet’ when it comes to chronic pain An analysis of data on more than 6500 people from several trials has shown the opioid drug tramadol is not particularly effective, and is linked to several harms, none of which is a surprise to me.

A new review finds tramadol offers only modest pain relief—and carries serious risks.
It may be time to rethink its place in chronic pain care.
Read my latest for Medical News Insider: medicalnewsinsider.substack.com/p/tramadol-n...
#Opioids #ChronicPain

Enzalutamide plus leuprolide reduces the risk of death by more than 40% in biochemically recurrent prostate cancer compared to leuprolide alone, according to research presented at #ESMO25 by @sfreedlandmd.bsky.social of @cedarssinaicancer.bsky.social. #pcsm #gucsm #ESMO2025

shorturl.at/H6RtB

Adjuvant ensartinib improves disease-free survival compared to placebo following complete resection of ALK-positive NSCLC, according to research presented at #ESMO25. #lcsm #ESMO2025

shorturl.at/XHWQh

Tales from the Morgue: Toxin to Cells: You’re Under Arrest! Bacterial toxin could be platform for new antibiotics, anticancer agents

A toxin that arrests cell division sounds terrifying—but it might also lead to breakthroughs in cancer and antibiotic development.
In this week’s Tales from the Morgue, @neilosterweil.bsky.social dives into the strange dual life of CdtB.
📖 medicalnewsinsider.substack.com/p/tales-from...

Do sodas drown sorrows, or cause them? German scientists suggest consuming sugary soft drinks might be linked to depression. Or is that people with depression simply have more sodas and fizzy drinks? Medical News Insider investigates.

Fizzy drinks and depression—linked by gut bacteria or just random noise?
A German study has experts divided. The verdict? Caution, not causation.
Read the full piece: medicalnewsinsider.substack.com/p/do-sodas-d...
#Microbiome #Depression #MedicalNews

Following ACS Survivor Guidelines Reduces Mortality in Men with Prostate Cancer Men who improve their adherence to ACS guidelines following diagnosis have a reduction in all-cause and cardiovascular mortality compared to those who maintain a low concordance with guideline recommendations.

Men with #prostatecancer who closely follow the @americancancersoc.bsky.social cancer survivor guidelines after diagnosis have lower all-cause and cardiovascular mortality compared to those who do not. Published in @jamanetworkopen.com.

https://bit.ly/4nYWww9

#pcsm #gucsm

Tales from the Morgue: What Do We Want? Rewards! When Do We Want ‘Em? Now! Instant Gratification, Addictive Behaviors May Lie in Specific Brain Area

Rats who couldn’t wait for the bigger prize helped reveal how impulsivity works in the brain.
@neilosterweil.bsky.social's latest Tales from the Morgue explores the nucleus accumbens, dopamine, and what connects addiction, ADHD, and gambling.
📖 medicalnewsinsider.substack.com/p/tales-from...

Listening in on cancer: AI tools may predict cancer’s next move, treatment responses, and muscle wasting At MAP 2025, artificial intelligence tools showed promise in outsmarting cancer by predicting tumour spread, treatment responses, and muscle wasting.

At #MAP2025, AI tools showed potential to forecast:
🔹 Muscle wasting in glioma
🔹 Which CUP treatments will work
🔹 When breast cancer turns invasive
Read on: medicalnewsinsider.substack.com/p/listening-...
#CancerResearch #AIinMedicine

Tales from the Morgue: Better Loving Through Bio-Chemistry? Natural Compounds May Give Viagra a Run for Its Money

Do “natural Viagras” work?
In this week’s Tales from the Morgue, @neilosterweil.bsky.social investigates Amazonian potions, Swedish “Romance in a Bottle,” and the line between true stimulants and sex-fool’s gold.
📖 medicalnewsinsider.substack.com/p/tales-from...
#Aphrodisiacs #AlternativeMedicine

Short Takes: Reprogramming obesity, cocaine dependence and a new treatment target in leukaemia This week’s short takes include a drug shown at EASD 2025 that reprogrammes obesity to aid weight loss; using semaglutide to treat cocaine dependency; and a new hope in treating incurable leukaemia.

A new obesity drug that reprograms fat cells
A diabetes med repurposed for cocaine addiction
A novel immune target in incurable leukaemia
This week’s #ShortTakes by Liam Davenport: medicalnewsinsider.substack.com/p/short-take...
#EASD2025 #AddictionScience #CLL

To Screen, or Not to Screen? It’s A Question of Age Older people found to have lung cancer through screening are more likely to die from any cause than their younger counterparts, but are just as likely to survive the disease following surgery.

Is it time to rethink lung cancer screening age limits?
New research shows older adults can benefit—if they’re fit enough for surgery.
@neilosterweil.bsky.social's latest for Medical News Insider from #WCLC2025: medicalnewsinsider.substack.com/p/to-screen-...
#PublicHealth #CancerCare

Tales from the Morgue: ‘Water Skippers’ Get That Sinking Feeling Snowmobiles and Water Don’t Mix, But Try Telling That to Enthusiasts.

Snowmobiles + water = trouble
In this week’s Tales from the Morgue, @neilosterweil.bsky.social reports on the dangerous sport of “water skipping,” where riders race across lakes on machines destined to sink.
📖 medicalnewsinsider.substack.com/p/tales-from...
#ExtremeSports #SnowmobileLife #Watercross