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Lithium levels tied to Alzheimer’s disease and dementia
New research suggests that lithium replacement could be a potential approach to prevent and treat mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease.
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Decoding inner speech from brain signals
Scientists designed a brain-computer interface to decode inner speech in real time from activity in the brain’s motor cortex.
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Progress toward a broad-spectrum antiviral
Small molecules that bind to carbohydrates on viral surfaces blocked infections of cells and mice by a wide range of viruses.
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March 11, 2025 Edition
Predicting preeclampsia
Researchers developed an approach that can predict preeclampsia in pregnant women as early as the first trimester by using cell-free DNA in blood samples.
Improving gene editing in the liver
Researchers designed a gene-editing system that replaced up to a quarter of the main type of cell in the mouse liver with edited cells.
Mapping MS-like lesions in marmosets
Researchers constructed a map of molecular and cellular changes in marmoset brains that occur in developing lesions like those in multiple sclerosis (MS).
March 4, 2025 Edition
Tracking diet from stool samples
Researchers developed a way to track what people ate by analyzing DNA from stool samples.
Diabetes boosts antibiotic resistance in mice
Researchers found that infectious bacteria in diabetic mice rapidly evolved resistance to antibiotics.
Cancer cells can cooperate to grow
Scientists found that, when deprived of amino acids, cancer cells cooperated to extract and share them from their environment.
February 25, 2025 Edition
Therapy boosts peanut tolerance in allergic kids
Peanut-allergic children who could tolerate eating at least a half peanut greatly boosted their tolerance by eating gradually increased daily doses of peanut butter.
Creating an artificial sense of touch
Tiny electrodes placed precisely in the brain let people with spinal cord injuries feel sensations of shape, motion, and the orientation of objects on the skin.
Scratching and allergic skin inflammation
Researchers found how scratching can worsen allergic skin symptoms but also protect from infection.
February 18, 2025
Risk and future burden of dementia in the United States
Researchers estimated that 42% of Americans over age 55 will eventually develop dementia.
Lasting effects of contact lenses that slow myopia in kids
Multifocal contact lenses slowed progression of nearsightedness in children, and the treatment benefit continued even after they stopped wearing the lenses.
Potential new target for malaria discovered
Researchers identified antibodies that bind to a previously untargeted portion of the malaria parasite.
February 13, 2025 Edition
Research in Context
Detecting cancer
Researchers have made huge strides in learning how to detect signs of cancer in bodily fluids like blood, saliva, and urine. Learn how these liquid biopsies are being tested to aid early cancer detection and guide treatment.
January 14, 2025 Edition
Prevention and screening drive drop in cancer deaths
Most deaths avoided from common cancers between 1975 and 2020 could be traced to prevention and screening efforts.
Building a better flu vaccine
A vaccine made by connecting antigens from different flu strains together elicited a more broadly protective immune response than a conventional flu vaccine.
Lipoprotein structure gives insights into “bad” cholesterol
Researchers uncovered the structural details of how low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or “bad,” cholesterol, interacts with its receptor molecule to enter cells.
December 18, 2024
2024 NIH Research Highlights - Human Health Advances
NIH accomplishments in disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment include an accurate blood test for Alzheimer’s disease, progress in food allergy prevention and treatment, and a brain-computer interface that helped a paralyzed man speak.
2024 NIH Research Highlights - Promising Medical Findings
NIH findings with potential for enhancing human health include insights into the mechanisms of ME/CFS, a skin test to detect Parkinson's disease and related disorders, and a promising target for cataract drug development.
2024 NIH Research Highlights - Basic Research Insights
Noteworthy NIH advances in basic research include insights into the H5N1 avian influenza outbreak, mapping how cancers form and spread, and progress in understanding the brain.
December 10, 2024 Edition
Wildfire smoke exposure and dementia risk
Wildfire smoke exposure was associated with greater odds of being diagnosed with dementia.
Chromosome abnormalities found in healthy breast tissue
Researchers found that normal human breast tissue harbors rare cells with chromosome abnormalities previously linked to invasive cancers.
Potential new target for treatment of inflammatory bowel disease
In mice with a condition similar to inflammatory bowel disease, blocking a cellular process called SUMOylation stopped inflammation and tissue damage.
November 26, 2024 Edition
How sleep leads to healing after heart attack
Scientists found that after heart injury, immune cells called monocytes travel to the brain and trigger a deep sleep that promotes recovery in both mice and people.
Liver-brain communication affects eating patterns and obesity
Disrupting the liver’s circadian clock genetically or with a high-fat diet altered eating patterns in mice.
Characterizing what human sensory nerves can sense
Researchers analyzed gene activity in different human sensory nerve cells to predict which would respond to stimuli such as heat, cold, and pressure