A study in Nature Medicine used a natural experiment created by the US switch from the live shingles vaccine to the recombinant one. Researchers matched 36,460 adults aged 60 and over vaccinated in 2018, when 93.5% received the recombinant shot, with the same number vaccinated in 2017, when 98.6% received the live vaccine. Over up to seven years the recombinant group had a 9% lower overall cardiovascular disease burden, with heart failure 12% lower and ischemic heart disease 10% lower. The link weakened over time, and the study cannot prove cause and effect.
A study published on September 21 finds that chronic inflammation, the low-grade kind tied to stress, lifestyle, mental health and socioeconomic conditions, may change the heart long before symptoms appear. People with the highest inflammation levels faced a 43% greater risk of heart attack and related cardiac events, which suggests risk builds quietly over years rather than starting on the day a patient reaches an emergency room. The work lands alongside other findings this month: eight common preservatives in processed foods were linked to higher rates of high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease, and a review of more than 153,000 adults found calcium and vitamin D supplements do little to prevent fractures or falls.
Pennsylvania's health department has requested emergency CDC support, known as an Epi-Aid, for one of the largest and deadliest measles outbreaks in the United States, on the condition that the agency recognises four measles-associated deaths reported by the state. Secretary of health Debra Bogen made the request in a letter to CDC director Erica Schwartz, according to a document reviewed by Reuters. The move deepens a dispute with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who along with Schwartz has blamed Governor Josh Shapiro for not accepting earlier federal offers of help. Epi-Aid teams typically help with case finding, contact tracing and vaccination outreach.
A new generation of pTau217 blood tests is changing how Alzheimer's disease is detected. The FDA cleared Roche and Eli Lilly's Elecsys pTau217 plasma test as the first single-biomarker assay that can both rule in and rule out amyloid pathology in adults aged 55 and older, and Fujirebio's Lumipulse G pTau217 ratio test came first. Both measure proteins in blood instead of relying on PET scans or lumbar punctures, which are costly and hard to access. Researchers estimate about 75 percent of people with dementia remain undiagnosed. A JAMA viewpoint warns that wider testing carries risks, including unnecessary treatment and unclear use in primary care.
The CDC has not published new COVID-19 or RSV recommendations for the 2026-2027 season and has carried over last year's flu guidance, so four medical groups have issued their own advice. The American Academy of Pediatrics covered children, the American Academy of Family Physicians covered adults, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists covered pregnant people, and the Infectious Diseases Society of America covered patients with weakened immune systems. All four recommend a flu shot for everyone six months and older, and their COVID-19 and RSV advice varies by age and risk.
Medicare has launched a pilot program meant to make GLP-1 weight-loss drugs easier to obtain, with some seniors paying as little as $50 a month. But KFF Health News reports that many patients with the most serious illnesses do not qualify for the discount and face full retail prices instead. One patient, Jeff La Marca, received a prescription for Zepbound in January but could not afford the $750 monthly cost. Medicare has long been barred from covering drugs used for weight loss, so the pilot works through narrow criteria, and doctors say patients with similar conditions can end up with very different bills.
Eating-disorder specialists are calling for screening before patients start GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, warning that appetite suppression and delayed gastric emptying can harm people with restrictive eating patterns. Guidance from the National Eating Disorders Association says the drugs can be harmful when inadequately monitored, when prescribed by clinicians without eating-disorder expertise, or when weight loss is driven by weight stigma. Clinicians writing on the topic say GLP-1s should not be used in active restrictive eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa or ARFID, and should be used cautiously in bulimia and binge-eating disorder. A 2026 JAMA Psychiatry study flagged misuse of the drugs to sustain rapid restriction.
People who limited eating to an eight-hour window lost more weight than those who ate across 12 hours or longer, according to a pooled analysis of individual data from five trials. The results were covered by medical news outlets on September 14. A separate Spanish study of 99 adults found that weight loss was maintained a year later in fasting groups whether the window came early or late. At the American Diabetes Association 2026 sessions, specialists debated how much muscle mass patients lose during rapid weight loss, and a physician survey found most think fixing the food environment matters more than relying only on GLP-1 drugs.
The TAME trial, the planned study of whether the diabetes drug metformin can delay diseases of aging, has still not launched because it remains short of funding. It is designed as a six-year randomized trial of about 3,000 adults aged 65 to 79 at 14 US sites, coordinated at Wake Forest, and is estimated to cost $45 million to $70 million. The National Institute on Aging has set aside about $5 million. Researchers say the obstacle is that metformin is a cheap generic, so no drugmaker expects a return. Claims that the trial has enrolled patients or produced results are inaccurate.
Results from a phase 2a trial of rentosertib, a drug designed with generative AI, show reversal of predicted biological aging across six proteomic aging clocks. The study, published in Nature Biotechnology, analysed more than 2,800 proteins in blood samples from 42 people with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis over 12 weeks. Experts say the signal is promising but that a younger aging-clock score is not proof that patients have become biologically younger.