The American Cancer Society issued a new prostate cancer screening guideline on Thursday that, for the first time, directly recommends routine PSA blood testing rather than leaving it to a discussion between doctor and patient. Average-risk men aged 50 to 69 should be tested every two years. Black men and men with a strong family history should start at 45 and test every year. The change rests on a systematic evidence review that found screening lowers deaths and advanced-stage diagnoses. The society estimates 333,830 new prostate cancer cases and 36,320 deaths in the United States this year.
A study published in Nature on 11 November tested the Lancet Commission's obesity framework against the standard BMI cut-offs in cohorts from several countries with long-term follow-up. The framework counts people as obese if BMI is 40 or higher, or if BMI is 30 or higher plus a raised waist circumference or waist-to-height ratio, or if BMI is 25 to 29.9 plus both measures, with lower thresholds for Chinese populations. Researchers report that people in the overweight BMI range who met the added criteria had death rates close to those of people with BMI in the obese range, supporting the wider definition. A separate US analysis found a simpler rule performed better against body scans.
The US Food and Drug Administration approved updated COVID-19 vaccines for the 2026-27 season, with four products cleared: Pfizer-BioNTech's Comirnaty, Moderna's Spikevax and mNEXSPIKE, and Novavax's Nuvaxovid. The new formulas target XFG, a variant in the JN.1 lineage that advisers recommended in May. The vaccines are approved for adults 65 and older and for younger people with conditions that raise the risk of severe illness. Pfizer said shipping would begin immediately. The CDC said its existing recommendations for the 2026-27 respiratory season remain in effect while legal questions about federal guidance are unresolved. Pfizer said it would begin shipping doses immediately, with other makers following in the coming weeks.
A study of more than 120,000 older adults in Hong Kong found that people taking nitrogen-containing bisphosphonates for osteoporosis were 16 percent less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease or other dementias than untreated patients, and 24 percent less likely than those on other bone medicines. Over five years the absolute risk fell about 2.1 percentage points, and 48 patients would need treatment to prevent one case. The link was strongest in women and hip fracture patients. The work is observational, so it points to a trial rather than a prescription. The authors controlled for age, sex and other prescriptions, but say a randomised trial is needed.
Researchers at the University of Connecticut found that people with tinnitus had about 50 percent more of the ear protein prestin in their blood than people without it. The study, published in Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, covered 82 adults. If the finding holds in larger trials, it could give doctors the first objective test for a condition that affects roughly 15 percent of the world's population.
People with obesity who had bariatric surgery were about 20% less likely to develop cancers linked to excess weight, according to a registry study of more than 780,000 people in Sweden, Denmark and Finland, of whom nearly 100,000 had the operation. The work, led from the Karolinska Institute and published in JAMA Surgery, covered ten obesity-related cancers and found similar reductions for men and women and across age groups. The authors stress that weight loss remains the reason to operate, not cancer prevention, but argue the findings support equal access to surgery when it is clinically indicated. Registry data cannot prove cause and effect.
Research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions in Chicago found that FDA reports involving energy drinks or stimulant supplements were about 4.5 times more likely to mention heart attacks and four times more likely to mention arrhythmias than other reports. The pattern was strongest among adults aged 18 to 34. The study is preliminary and cannot show that caffeine caused the events.
The American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions open on Friday at McCormick Place in Chicago and run through Monday. The programme lists 23 late-breaking science presentations across six sessions, covering prevention, stroke, hypertension, arrhythmia, obesity, lipid management and artificial intelligence. Five trials are drawing the most attention: Lp(a)HORIZON on Lp(a) lowering, ZEUS on inflammation, PROGRESS on moderate aortic stenosis, SYNCHRONIZE-CVOT on obesity-related cardiovascular outcomes and OPTIMAL-DIABETES on blood-pressure control in type 2 diabetes.
The World Health Organization says six proven climate and health measures could prevent nearly 1.6 million deaths a year and avoid 16.7 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually. The steps include heat-health warning systems, climate-resilient drinking water and sanitation, better hand hygiene, cleaner household cooking energy and more efficient fossil fuel pricing. WHO estimates the package could generate up to $5.4 trillion a year in fiscal benefits and nearly $4 trillion more from avoided illness and disaster costs. The report lands a week before COP31 opens in Antalya, Turkey.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted tentative approval to a generic version of lenacapavir, the twice-yearly injection used to prevent HIV. The decision clears a path toward low-cost supply in 120 low- and middle-income countries across sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and Latin America. Gilead Sciences had been the only supplier, and demand has outstripped supply despite royalty-free licences with six generic manufacturers. Tentative approval is the FDA's standard status while the original product remains under patent, and it can speed reviews in other countries. Donors estimate the generic could cost about $40 a person a year once volume production begins.