New evidence indicates that chronic inflammation may be the true cause of cardiovascular disease, challenging decades of focus on cholesterol alone. Scientific American's May 2026 cover story, titled Your Heart In Flames, details how inflammation drives the disease process and how inexpensive inflammation-reducing drugs like colchicine could offer new treatment options.
The findings could reshape how doctors approach heart disease, the leading cause of death worldwide. If inflammation is the primary driver, then anti-inflammatory treatments could prevent heart attacks and strokes in millions of patients who currently receive only cholesterol-lowering therapy.
In other health news, scientists have renamed polycystic ovary syndrome, one of the most common hormonal disorders in women, saying the old name was inaccurate and misleading. The condition affects up to 15 percent of women of reproductive age and is a leading cause of infertility.
A hantavirus outbreak occurred on a cruise ship, highlighting the ongoing risks of infectious diseases in contained environments. Public health officials are monitoring the situation and working to trace contacts of infected passengers.
A large study published in JAMA Network Open found that telemedicine in the United States has not significantly expanded access to healthcare, nor has it increased medical spending. Researchers analyzed more than 120 million medical visits from 2019 to 2023 and concluded that telemedicine appears to function more as a substitute for in-person care rather than an expansion of it.