WHO says people now live almost as long as before COVID, while dementia has climbed from the 19th to the 5th biggest cause of death

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28 more stories on this beat.

Each with its own sources. None of these is a link to the story above.

1. 02

   Refugees in the US lose Medicaid

   From 1 October, refugees in the US began losing Medicaid, the US government's health cover for people on low incomes. [11] The change comes from H.R. 1, the budget law Republicans passed in 2025, which narrowed which immigrants can get Medicaid. [11] KFF Health News estimates 280,000 people will lose it in October, including people let in on humanitarian grounds who are waiting for a green card. [11] Mustafa Rfat, a social work professor who arrived as a refugee from Iraq, says more than a third of refugees have at least one disability. [11]

   Why it matters — Rfat says refugee parents of disabled children now call him not knowing how they will get medicines. [11] These are people who fled war or persecution, and many arrived with physical or mental illness. [11]

2. 03

   Montana enforces Medicaid work rules

   Montana began enforcing work rules for Medicaid on 1 October, three months before the US deadline of 1 January 2027. [12][14] Adults covered must show they work, volunteer or study 80 hours a month, or prove they are exempt, for example as a carer or as medically frail. [12] The state cannot yet check university enrolment automatically, so students must find and send the paperwork themselves. [12] Nebraska started first, in May. Of its new applicants, 46% met the rules, 39% were exempt and 14% were refused or cut off. [13]

   • Met the work rules46 · 46%
   • Exempt39 · 39%
   • Refused or cut off14 · 14%
   • Short-term hardship2 · 2%

   Why it matters — The 2025 law makes 44 US states, counting Washington DC, impose these rules from January. [14] Advocates fear the early start in Montana, Nebraska and Arkansas will cost thousands of eligible people their cover over confusing rules. [12]

3. 04

   Florida county declares a dengue emergency

   Hillsborough County in Florida, whose main city is Tampa, declared a local state of emergency over dengue on 24 September. [9] Health officials there had recorded 134 confirmed cases. [9] Dengue is a virus spread by mosquitoes, and its pain is so severe it is nicknamed breakbone fever. [9] A Yale-led study of earlier Florida outbreaks found they began from frequent new arrivals of the virus, mostly from the Caribbean. [10] Warmer weather that suits the mosquitoes, and more cases brought in by travellers, were the biggest risk factors. [10]

   Why it matters — The emergency lets the county ask the state and federal government for help with spraying and warnings. [9] The study found no sign yet that the virus survives in Florida from one season to the next. [10]

4. 05

   Disabled children fare worst in US foster care

   NPR analysed federal records on 505,591 children in US foster care in 2025. [15] Only 60% were marked as disabled or not, and almost half of those had a disability. [15] Its reporting found disabled children stay in foster care longer and come out with the worst results. [15] One of them, Christian Williams, died at 15 of diabetes complications in a group home in Mesa, Arizona, after a staff member told police he was pretending. [15]

   Why it matters — Researchers' estimates of how many children in foster care are disabled run from 25% to 80%, depending on how disability is counted. [15] The federal data alone cannot say how many disabled children are in care. [15]

5. 06

   A parcel locker for abortion pills in Warsaw

   Two Polish groups, Women Help Women and the Abortion Dream Team, opened a 22-compartment locker for abortion pills in Warsaw this week. [16] A woman collects her pills with a six-digit code. [16] Poland bans almost all abortions, and handing someone the pills is a crime punishable by up to three years in prison, though taking them is not. [16] The groups say a machine in between makes the law unclear. [16]

   Why it matters — About 50,000 people contacted Poland's network of pro-choice groups last year for help. [16] Prime Minister Donald Tusk said in 2025 there was no majority in parliament to change the law. [16]

6. 07

   NHS staff suspended over a dead child's records

   Ten staff at East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust, which runs hospitals in eastern England, were removed from duty or suspended. [17] The breach involved the medical records of Noah Woods, a three-year-old found dead in a pond in Brantham, Suffolk, in September. [17] The trust reported the breach to the Information Commissioner's Office, the UK data watchdog. [17] NHS England's chief executive, Sir Jim Mackey, has ordered every trust to strengthen protection of records. [17]

   Why it matters — The trust found the breach only because it went looking, as the case was in the news. [17] The data watchdog says a series of recent cases paints an extremely worrying picture. [17]

7. 08

   Psychedelics proposed for patients in a coma

   A review published this week looks at psychedelic drugs for disorders of consciousness: coma, and the states where a brain-injured person is awake but shows little or no awareness. [26] Drugs such as psilocybin, from magic mushrooms, and LSD act on one serotonin receptor and change how brain areas link up. [26] In these patients the links between brain areas are weak, which is why the idea appeals. [26] The authors say the human evidence so far comes from pilot studies and single cases. [26]

   Why it matters — No controlled trial has shown lasting recovery of awareness, and the right dose and safety are still unknown. [26] There are few treatments of any kind for these patients. [26]

8. 09

   A breathing course lowered anxiety in 30 adults

   Thirty adults with anxiety disorders took a four-week course of mindful attention, slow breathing and heart-rate feedback. [20] Heart-rate variability is the small change in time between heartbeats; more of it usually means the calming side of the nervous system is in control. [20] Scores for anxiety felt in the moment fell 18%, and scores for a person's usual level of anxiety fell 11.5%. [20] Heart-rate variability rose within sessions but did not change steadily across the four weeks. [20]

   Before the course43.8

   After four weeks35.9

   Why it matters — The study had no comparison group, so some of the fall could come from time passing or from expecting to feel better. [20] The authors say it needs a proper randomised trial. [20]

9. 10

   Anxiety in early Parkinson's showed on brain scans

   A Dutch study scanned 105 people with early Parkinson's disease, a brain illness that slows movement, and 37 healthy people on a powerful 7 Tesla MRI scanner. [22] Thirty-one of the patients had anxiety. [22] The worse the anxiety, the smaller the caudate, a deep brain area involved in movement and reward. [22] Anxious patients also showed changes in the shape of the thalamus and the amygdala, the brain's threat detector. [22]

   Why it matters — Anxiety is common in Parkinson's, and little is known about what drives it in the brain. [22] The patients were scanned once, so it cannot show which change came first. [22]

10. 11

    Stiff nights, fewer steps in Parkinson's

    Some people with Parkinson's struggle to turn over or move in bed at night, a symptom called nocturnal hypokinesia. [23] Researchers matched 44 patients who have it with 44 who do not and tracked their steps for five days with a wrist tracker. [23] Those with the night symptom walked fewer steps a day and walked backwards more slowly. [23] Some test differences faded once fear of falling was taken into account. [23]

    Why it matters — The authors call the night symptom disabling and under-recognised. [23] The link with daily steps was the most robust finding. [23]

11. 12

    Older adults on ten or more medicines

    Researchers looked at 6,550 people aged 65 or over who take ten or more medicines, through their family doctors' records. [31] 83% took at least one drug that blocks acetylcholine, a chemical messenger the nerves and brain use. [31] One scoring tool put 50% of them at high risk from these drugs, while two other tools put about a quarter there. [31] Lorazepam, a sleeping and anxiety pill, and tramadol, a painkiller, contributed most. [31]

    Drug Burden Index50.2%

    Duran's scale27.2%

    ACB scale24.8%

    Why it matters — The answer to who is at risk depended on which tool was used. [31] The burden was highest in women, people with dementia and people on 15 or more medicines. [31]

12. 13

    Miscarriage history and later diabetes

    A study of 39,468 US women in the Sister Study, run by the US National Institutes of Health, followed them after their child-bearing years. [30] Over more than half a million years of follow-up, 2,874 developed type 2 diabetes. [30] Women whose pregnancy history pointed to a higher tendency to miscarry had a higher risk. [30] That held even after allowing for gestational diabetes, the high blood sugar some women get in pregnancy. [30]

    Why it matters — A woman's pregnancy history may carry early warning of diabetes years later. [30] The study shows a link, not a cause.

13. 14

    Mediterranean eating and high blood pressure

    Researchers scored the diets of 23,794 US adults from a national health survey run from 2005 to 2018 on how closely they matched a Mediterranean diet. [29] People with higher scores had about 29% lower odds of having high blood pressure. [29] The link was stronger in women, in people without diabetes and in non-drinkers. [29]

    Why it matters — Diet and blood pressure were measured at the same time, so the survey cannot show which came first. [29] The authors call for trials to test it. [29]

14. 15

    A keto diet, gut bacteria and MS

    In a randomised trial, people with relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS), a disease in which the immune system attacks nerve coatings, ate a fasting-style diet, a ketogenic diet or a usual diet for nine months. [24] A ketogenic diet is very low in carbohydrate and high in fat. [24] A new look at the data found the keto group's gut bacteria shifted in ways that went with less damage on brain scans. [24]

    Why it matters — The authors call the findings exploratory and say they need checking. [24] It adds to the idea that gut and brain affect each other, but does not show the diet treats MS.

15. 16

    A brain protein that guards against low mood, in mice

    Researchers found a protein called TIA1 fell in the hippocampus, a memory area of the brain, in mice under long stress. [21] Removing it from certain brain cells made the mice's depression-like behaviour worse. [21] TIA1 holds down another gene, Cacna2d1. [21] Blocking that gene, with genetics or a drug, reversed the extra low mood. [21]

    Why it matters — It names a new target for depression research. [21] The work is in mice, and mice show depression only through behaviour tests.

16. 17

    Gut bacteria in methamphetamine withdrawal

    Researchers compared the gut bacteria of 103 people with methamphetamine addiction and 80 people without it. [27] A set of 30 bacteria told the two groups apart in a separate test group, scoring 0.82 on a scale where 1 is perfect and 0.5 is a coin toss. [27] Over six months of stopping the drug, the 30 bacteria taken together did not change much. [27] One bacterium, Ruminococcus gnavus, went with more depressive symptoms early in withdrawal. [27]

    Why it matters — Doctors have no objective test for this addiction, and the authors present the bacteria as a candidate marker. [27] It is a first step, not a test anyone can use yet.

17. 18

    Khat and short sleep in Yemen

    Khat is a leaf people chew as a mild stimulant, and chewing it is common among university students in Yemen. [28] A survey of medical students at Thamar University found those who chewed every day had almost eight times the odds of sleeping under six hours. [28] The more days a week they chewed, the shorter their sleep. [28] Chewing had no link with exam results. [28]

    Why it matters — The study is a single survey, so it cannot show what caused what. [28] Short sleep was the clearest cost the students carried.

18. 19

    Bacon without nitrites sells, the evidence does not move

    Shoppers in Britain spent 34.8 million pounds on bacon made without nitrites in the year to 6 September, up 11.4%. [19] Nitrites are salts used to cure meat; they stop dangerous bacteria growing. [19] The UK Food Standards Agency says there is no evidence meat made without them is safer. [19] Eating about 50g of processed meat a day, two rashers, is linked to a 16% higher risk of bowel cancer, and no single ingredient has been shown to cause it. [19]

    Why it matters — Shoppers are paying for a change the UK food regulator says has not been shown to make bacon safer. [19] Removing nitrites means the meat must be kept safe some other way. [19]

19. 20

    UK nurses' union drops Teva as a sponsor

    The Royal College of Nursing, the UK union for more than 500,000 nurses, ended its partnership with Teva UK. [18] Teva is one of the NHS's biggest suppliers of medicines. [18] The union said further checks found Teva operations that had faced legal sanctions. [18] Over the last decade Teva has been ordered to pay about 1 billion pounds in Europe and the US, over bribery, price-fixing and blocking rivals. [18] Pro-Palestinian nursing groups had campaigned against the Israeli company. [18]

    Why it matters — Teva said it was disappointed and that healthcare was being politicised. [18] Campaigners now want the Royal College of Pharmacy to drop Teva too. [18]

20. 21

    Watching fluid move through the brain

    Fifteen healthy volunteers had a 7 Tesla MRI scan before and up to four hours after a dye was injected into a vein. [25] The dye showed up within 30 minutes along veins at the top of the brain, then faded. [25] It reached the sheath around the optic nerve later. [25] The fluid-filled spaces themselves changed less and more slowly. [25]

    Why it matters — Fluid moving in and out of the living brain is hard to study, and repeated scans of healthy adults like these are scarce. [25] Fifteen people is a small group.

21. 22

    Brain cells that guess the next word

    Researchers recorded 624 single brain cells in three people with electrode grids in the superior temporal gyrus, a brain area that handles heard speech. [33] As the people listened to speech, cells tracking speech sounds lined up with the meaning of whole words. [33] That suggests the brain predicts what it expects to hear and uses it to shape the sounds. [33] Recordings from the brain's surface missed the effect. [33]

    Why it matters — Recordings of single cells caught what the surface recordings missed. [33] Three people is a small group.

22. 23

    Screen time and bedtime stories crowd each other out

    A study followed 2,164 children in Taiwan at ages three, four and five. [32] When a family read together more than usual, the child had less screen time the next year. [32] When screen time rose more than usual, shared reading fell the next year. [32] The study measured the same children three times, so it could see which came first. [32]

    Why it matters — Both habits stayed fairly steady from year to year, and each still predicted less of the other. [32] The authors suggest helping families with both habits together. [32]

23. 24

    Babies born recently sat and walked later

    A Polish study compared 1,348 children born in three periods: 1992 to 1997, 2003 to 2008 and 2019 to 2022. [35] Children born in the two earlier periods sat up, stood and walked at younger ages than those born around the COVID pandemic. [35] Breastfed babies sat up a little earlier, and so did babies whose mothers had school rather than university education. [35] Parents reported the ages in questionnaires. [35]

    Why it matters — It is one country and relies on parents' memories. [35] The study does not prove the pandemic caused the delay.

24. 25

    Nutrient-matched meals lowered bad cholesterol

    A Japanese trial gave 300 people four weeks of meals: matched to Japan's nutrient guides, the same with less carbohydrate and more fat, or meals short of nutrients. [34] Belly fat and the stress and sleep hormones measured did not differ. [34] LDL cholesterol, the kind that clogs arteries, fell in both nutrient-matched groups. [34] A test of biological age looked better only in a small group of older men. [34]

    Why it matters — The main goals were missed, and the authors call the other results hypotheses. [34] Four weeks is too short to show any effect on disease.

25. 26

    Practical help and cirrhosis

    Researchers in China followed 567 adults with cirrhosis, scarring of the liver, for 12 months. [37] One in five had a clear drop in quality of life. [37] The drop hit 40% of those whose liver was failing, against 12% of those whose liver still coped. [37] People who got more practical help from others were much less likely to decline. [37]

    Why it matters — Support at home may matter alongside medical care in this illness. [37] The study shows a link, not that the help caused it.

26. 27

    Perimenopause missed for three years

    Sally Williams told the BBC she spent almost 11 months in hospital, across eight admissions, as her mental health collapsed over three years. [38] She left her finance job and was separated from her teenage son. [38] Nobody linked it to perimenopause, the years of hormone change before periods stop, which commonly starts around 46. [38] She says hormone replacement therapy brought her back to life. [38]

    Why it matters — Its symptoms include anxiety, mood swings and brain fog, which can be mistaken for other illnesses. [38] It is one person's account, not a study.

27. 28

    Hormone patches, pills and clots

    Letter-writers to the BMJ, a medical journal, discussed a Danish nationwide study of menopause hormone therapy. [39] It found hormone pills linked to more clots in the veins, strokes and heart attacks, and patches and gels overall were not. [39] The writers note far fewer women used patches, so some results were uncertain. [39] A Swedish study linked combined patch therapy with more clots. [39]

    Why it matters — Choices about hormone therapy often turn on clot risk. [39] The letter argues that the whole treatment, not only the route, may set the risk. [39]

28. 29

    A memory scientist wins a 'genius grant'

    Felipe De Brigard, a philosopher and brain scientist at Duke University, has won an 800,000-dollar MacArthur fellowship. [36] He is only the second philosopher to win one in 30 years. [36] He studies how the brain rebuilds memories by filling gaps, using the same machinery it uses to imagine. [36] His experiments found the hippocampus is needed to imagine what might have happened to oneself. [36]

    Why it matters — He studies why false memories form and why people dwell on choices they did not make. [36]