Topic
Heart & Metabolic
Cardiometabolic health: weight, weight-loss drugs, blood sugar and diabetes, cholesterol, blood pressure and heart health.
Regular cannabis users had 9% fewer extra heartbeats on days they were randomly assigned to inhale
UC San Francisco cardiologists set out to test whether cannabis adds extra heartbeats. In 108 regular users the count fell instead, and the team warns that is no evidence cannabis is good for the heart.
Sep 14, 2026
Hormone therapy for hot flashes tied to lower heart risk when started within 10 years of menopause
University of Pittsburgh and Virginia Commonwealth University researchers tracked 2,737 women with hot flashes for 20 years. Starting hormones went with a fifth fewer heart events, but the authors warn against taking them for the heart.
Sep 14, 2026
Benefits of a type 1 diabetes pill faded within a year of patients stopping it
Baricitinib preserved insulin production in newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes, raising hopes of a course of treatment rather than a lifetime of it. Following 88 patients after the drug stopped answered that.
Sep 8, 2026
Turning on glucose monitor alarms helped hospital patients; making them predictive added nothing
Continuous glucose monitors are moving into hospital wards, with no agreement on whether their alarms should be switched on. Randomizing 533 inpatients tested the alarms rather than the sensor.
Sep 8, 2026
One in three patients with chest pain and clear arteries had a hidden circulation problem
An angiogram showing open arteries is usually treated as reassurance. Measuring the smaller vessels in 1,003 patients found a third had dysfunction, and it tracked worse outcomes.
Sep 8, 2026
Pacemakers outperformed catheter ablation for irregular heart rhythm in patients over 75
Catheter ablation is the standard offer for persistent atrial fibrillation, and it works less well the older the patient. Randomizing 196 people with a median age of 82 tested the blunter alternative.
Sep 8, 2026
A newer heart rhythm ablation method carried a higher 30-day stroke risk than the older one
Pulsed field ablation spread fast on the promise of being safer than burning tissue. A single-center registry comparing it against radiofrequency found more strokes and mini-strokes at 30 days.
Sep 8, 2026
Hip fractures were five times more common in type 1 diabetes, peaking in people in their forties
Bone is not on the checklist for type 1 diabetes, and fracture screening is aimed at people decades older. Comparing 5,035 patients against 12,286 controls found the excess risk starts early.
Sep 8, 2026
A newer drug slowed kidney decline in people whose damage came from blood pressure, not diabetes
Kidney trials are built around diabetes, so the second-largest group has been treated on borrowed evidence. Within a trial of 1,584 patients, the 459 with blood-pressure-driven damage were examined on their own.
Sep 7, 2026
Liver stiffness readings used to judge fatty liver treatment were checked against biopsy for the first time
Guidelines already accept a 30% drop in liver stiffness as evidence a treatment is working. In 160 patients who had both the scan and the biopsy, someone finally tested whether that holds.
Sep 7, 2026
After a heart valve replacement, a blood thinner beat aspirin by nearly half
Aspirin is the default after a valve is fitted through a catheter, on the reasoning that anything stronger bleeds. Randomizing 360 patients found the stronger drug both worked better and did not bleed more.
Sep 7, 2026
A statin alternative cut serious leg artery events by 36% in people who cannot take statins
Peripheral artery disease ends in amputation often enough that limb outcomes are the ones patients care about, and cholesterol trials rarely report them. This one did, in 1,624 patients who could not tolerate statins.
Sep 6, 2026
Left-side breast radiotherapy raised heart risk only in women who already had three risk factors
Radiotherapy to the left breast puts the heart in the field, and modern technique was supposed to have solved it. Across 23,305 women, the residual harm turned out to sit almost entirely in one group.
Sep 6, 2026
A cholesterol drug cut deaths from any cause by 20% in people who had never had a heart attack
Cholesterol drugs are judged on heart attacks and strokes, and rarely move the count of deaths at all. Across 12,301 people with no prior event, this one moved it, and moved deaths that had nothing to do with the heart.
Sep 6, 2026
Children exposed to diabetes in the womb developed it five times as often
Gestational diabetes is described as ending at delivery. Following 2.85 million children to a median age of 16, exposure before birth tracked far higher diabetes rates, and control around conception shifted the odds.
Sep 6, 2026
Losing a tenth of body weight tracked seven times the odds of cirrhosis recovering
Decompensated cirrhosis is treated as one-way: once the liver fails, the list is transplant or palliation. Among 344 patients, 64 climbed back out, and weight loss was the strongest thing separating them.
Sep 6, 2026
Eye drops improved vision in diabetic macular swelling, a condition normally treated by injection
Treatment for diabetic macular edema means a needle into the eye, repeatedly, for years. Drops had never been considered effective. In 148 patients, a steroid suspension beat placebo drops on reading-chart letters.
Sep 4, 2026
Heat and wildfire smoke together tracked more heart deaths than either alone
Heat waves and smoke days are studied as separate hazards and increasingly arrive on the same day. Across 5.9 million cardiovascular deaths in six countries, the overlap was worse than adding the two together.
Sep 4, 2026
Each 20-point drop in blood pressure tracked 24% fewer kidney failure deaths
Kidney disease kills more people in Mexico than almost anywhere, and blood pressure was suspected rather than measured. Following 133,470 adults in Mexico City, the relationship ran in a straight line with no threshold to hide under.
Sep 2, 2026
Fenofibrate tracked 68% less diabetic macular edema across 4,571 matched patients
A cheap old cholesterol drug has been tied to slower diabetic eye disease since two trials noticed it by accident. Across matched patients with early retinopathy, fenofibrate users developed less of every problem studied but one.
Sep 2, 2026
Mediterranean living tracked half the heart deaths in adults with type 2 diabetes
The Mediterranean diet is sold as a shopping list. This index scored the rest of it too, including naps and eating with other people, and all three parts of the score pulled in the same direction.
Sep 2, 2026
Flu vaccination tracked 20% less new atrial fibrillation across 276,888 matched adults
Flu is known to trigger heart events, but whether the shot affects heart rhythm was untested. A European Heart Journal team matched 276,888 adults on 65 characteristics and found the vaccinated developed less irregular heartbeat.
Sep 1, 2026
Semaglutide and tirzepatide tracked half the femoral fractures of another diabetes drug
The worry about weight-loss drugs is that fast loss costs muscle and bone, which should show up as broken hips. Comparing 27,896 matched over-65s against a rival diabetes medicine, fractures and falls both ran lower over a year.
Sep 1, 2026
Sitting at the top of the 'normal' BMI range carried 78% more type 2 diabetes across 1.8 million people
Guidelines draw the risk line at a BMI of 25 and treat everything below it as fine. Pooling 11 cohorts, researchers found people at 22.5 to 24.9 already carried substantially more diabetes than people lower in the same band.
Aug 31, 2026
Pushing potassium to the top of the normal range cut atrial fibrillation events by a third in a trial
A low-normal potassium level is usually left alone. In 1,200 patients with implanted defibrillators, deliberately raising it by 0.3 mmol/L cut hospital admissions and treatments for atrial fibrillation over three years.
Aug 31, 2026
A third of people with 'preclinical' obesity crossed into the clinical kind within five years
A Lancet commission split obesity into two conditions: one that is only a body measurement, one that has started causing harm. Nobody had counted how often people move between them. In 92,396 US adults, 26% did in under three years.
Aug 31, 2026
Digital nudges lifted statin refills from 12% to 14%, and a second nudge worked as well as the first
Health systems send reminders constantly and rarely test them. A JAMA trial randomized 20,604 patients who had stopped refilling statins, then re-randomized everyone who ignored the first message, and found repeating beat switching channel.
Aug 31, 2026
A raised heart-strain marker that came back down carried no extra risk eight years later
Most risk markers are measured once and treated as a verdict. An Annals of Internal Medicine analysis of 8,454 adults measured one twice, three years apart, and people whose reading normalized ended up where those who never had it did.
Aug 30, 2026
Stroke patients who hit the cholesterol target but had not halved it still had 12% more repeat events
Stroke guidelines set an absolute cholesterol target and stop there. A Neurology analysis of 89,414 Korean patients found the size of the fall from baseline mattered independently, and only about 30% achieved a 50% reduction.
Aug 30, 2026
Lean people with fatty liver and no risk factors still faced 2.5 times the liver death rate
Fatty liver is treated as a consequence of obesity and metabolic problems. A Gut analysis of 30,847 MRI-scanned UK Biobank participants found a slim group with none of those markers, and followed it to a higher rate of liver-related death.
Aug 30, 2026
A diabetes drug tracked a third fewer deaths in over-75s, alongside a stroke signal nobody can explain
Trials of SGLT2 inhibitors barely recruited the very old. A Japanese target trial emulation of 8,486 people aged 75 and over found lower death and dialysis rates than a rival drug class, and more strokes.
Aug 30, 2026
People given the newer shingles vaccine had 9% less heart disease over the next seven years
A Nature Medicine team used America's abrupt switch from the live to the recombinant shingles vaccine as a natural experiment in adults over 60. Heart disease, heart failure and atrial fibrillation were all lower seven years on.
Aug 30, 2026
Sudden vision loss hit 3 more GLP-1 users per 10,000 over 18 months than two rival diabetes drugs
An Annals of Internal Medicine target trial emulation compared GLP-1 users against two other diabetes drug classes. Ischemic optic neuropathy was more common on GLP-1s, concentrated in men, over-50s and those with eye or heart disease.
Aug 28, 2026
Gum disease tracked 18 to 25% more new diabetes across 28 studies and 300,000 people
A WHO-funded Lancet Public Health review found the link between oral disease and diabetes runs both ways. Periodontitis predicted later type 2 diabetes, and so did tooth loss. The reverse direction was real but less consistent.
Aug 28, 2026
Treating gum disease lowered blood pressure by 4.64 mmHg across 12 randomized trials
A Journal of Periodontology meta-analysis pooled 12 randomized trials of periodontal therapy. Systolic pressure fell 4.64 mmHg, diastolic 1.84, and C-reactive protein dropped alongside them. Evidence certainty was moderate to low.
Aug 28, 2026
Squeezing a handgrip for 12 weeks lowered blood pressure in medicated hypertensive women
Isometric handgrip training is already in clinical guidelines, but its effect during physical stress was untested in women. A Journal of Human Hypertension trial found 12 weeks lowered resting pressure and the pressure reached under strain.
Aug 26, 2026
Probiotics trimmed waist size in adults with metabolic syndrome, but left blood pressure alone
An Obesity Reviews analysis of 19 randomized trials in adults with metabolic syndrome found probiotics, prebiotics and synbiotics reduced waist circumference and body weight. Blood pressure did not move, and neither did body mass index.
Aug 26, 2026
Brisk walking lowered blood pressure, but the benefit peaked near 460 MET-minutes a week
17 trials and 1,493 people with high blood pressure. Brisk walking lowered both numbers, and the systolic dose-response curve turned back on itself: around 460 MET-minutes a week was the peak, and more did less.
Aug 25, 2026
Endometriosis tracked more blood clots, from a low base
A Danish registry compared 63,999 women with endometriosis against 255,996 matched women. Clots ran at 2.18 per 1,000 women a year against 1.54, which is about one extra clot a year for every 1,500 women.
Aug 17, 2026
Flossing tracked 23% fewer strokes in 98,866 Korean adults followed for nine years
A Korean study followed 98,866 adults for nine years. Those who brushed twice daily and used floss and interdental brushes had 23% fewer ischemic strokes. Nobody has ever run a trial that randomizes people to floss.
Aug 17, 2026
Walkable streets tracked lower diabetes risk, but clearly only in richer areas
Diabetes Care followed 12,403 New York women who had gestational diabetes. One in five developed type 2 diabetes within 12 years. Walkable streets tracked lower risk, and clearly so only in the most affluent neighborhoods.
Aug 17, 2026
Weight lost early in prediabetes still counted 34 years on
The Da Qing study followed 540 Chinese adults with impaired glucose tolerance for 34 years. Those who lost at least 5% of their weight in the first six years later had a third fewer deaths and half as many heart failure admissions.
Aug 14, 2026
Melatonin worsened blood sugar, but only in gene carriers
A tightly controlled Diabetes Care trial gave the same 21 adults both 5 mg of melatonin and a placebo. Glucose tolerance worsened in the 10 who carry a common diabetes risk variant, and not in the 11 who do not.
Aug 6, 2026
An oral GLP-1 pill cut weight 9% in a phase 2 trial
A trial in Nature Communications tested a once-daily GLP-1 tablet in 235 Chinese adults with obesity. The top dose beat placebo by about 7 percentage points over 26 weeks, with the usual gut side effects.
Aug 4, 2026
Adding family coaching to GP care worked for child obesity
A randomized trial across 41 US primary care practices gave 730 children either enhanced usual care or that plus family behavioral treatment. The families who got the coaching saw more than double the reduction in relative weight.
Aug 3, 2026
Heart deaths halved since 1990. The causes swapped places.
A JAMA Cardiology analysis of US deaths from 1990 to 2023 found the heart disease death rate down 58.7%, with smoking and air pollution receding as causes while high body weight and blood sugar climbed.
Aug 3, 2026
GLP-1 drugs carried higher hair loss risk than two rivals
Comparing 12,004 people starting a GLP-1 drug against those starting other diabetes medicines, researchers found more diagnosed hair loss. The absolute risk stayed low.
Aug 2, 2026
Lifestyle cut chronic disease. Metformin did not.
Two decades after the Diabetes Prevention Program, 1,173 participants were checked for accumulated illness. The lifestyle arm came out ahead. The drug arm matched placebo.
Aug 2, 2026
Mild cold lowered blood sugar. Colder did nothing.
A Diabetologia trial put people in a water-cooled suit until they shivered. In type 2 diabetes, the gentler cold cut 24-hour glucose. The harder cold did not.
Aug 1, 2026
Loneliness tracked heart and metabolic disease across 33 countries
Pooling six aging cohorts covering 81,978 people, researchers found loneliness preceded cardiometabolic disease, and unhealthy habits explained only 5% of the link.
Aug 1, 2026
GLP-1 drugs tracked with fewer fractures, but only with diabetes
A JAMA Network Open study of 133,606 matched patients found GLP-1 drugs linked to lower fracture risk in type 2 diabetes, and higher risk in people without it.
Jul 29, 2026
Mazdutide took off 16.7% of body weight in a phase 3 trial
A JAMA phase 3 trial of 461 Chinese adults with obesity found the dual glucagon and GLP-1 drug mazdutide cut body weight by 16.65% over 60 weeks against 1.50% on placebo.
Jul 29, 2026
The weight came back. The visceral fat loss didn't.
A Circulation follow-up scanned 366 people 5 and 10 years after two diet trials and found that despite complete weight regain, visceral fat stayed partly down, and 10% less of it cut diabetes risk 28%.
Jul 29, 2026
COVID vaccine tied to fewer heart events in over-75s
A JAMA Internal Medicine study of 1,039,659 US veterans found the 2024-2025 COVID vaccine tracked with fewer heart attacks, strokes and cardiovascular deaths, with the benefit concentrated in the oldest.
Jul 28, 2026
Weight-loss drugs worked better with lifestyle, not without
A JAMA Pediatrics network meta-analysis of 42 trials in 3,835 adolescents found every obesity drug performed better paired with lifestyle treatment than on its own.
Jul 28, 2026
Stopping GLP-1 drugs tracked with more anxiety after
A Nature Metabolism study of Shanghai health records found GLP-1 drugs carried no extra psychiatric risk during treatment, but higher risk of depression and anxiety after people stopped.
Jul 28, 2026
Semaglutide led the field for antipsychotic weight gain
A JAMA Psychiatry network meta-analysis of 95 trials ranked 39 drugs for reversing antipsychotic weight gain, and semaglutide came out well ahead at nearly 11 kg.
Jul 27, 2026
Bariatric surgery cost less downstream than GLP-1 drugs
A JAMA Network Open study matched 2,721 pairs of Israeli patients over up to 12.5 years and found those on GLP-1 drugs ran up $109 more per month in other health costs than surgery patients.
Jul 27, 2026
Black women developed high blood pressure 9.6 years earlier
A JAMA Network Open study of 15,313 US women found Black women developed hypertension nearly a decade earlier than White women, and the gap persisted regardless of neighborhood conditions.
Jul 27, 2026
Survodutide cleared liver fat in 84% of patients
A Nature Medicine phase 3 trial of 216 adults found survodutide cut liver fat by at least 30% in 84.2% of those treated, against 24.3% on placebo, alongside 12.2% weight loss.
Jul 27, 2026
Losing 15% early after a diabetes diagnosis cut complications
A Diabetes Care study of 72,480 UK patients found those who lost at least 15% of their weight within two years of a type 2 diabetes diagnosis had fewer heart and kidney complications later.
Jul 26, 2026
Obesity's metabolic risk gap has narrowed in older adults
A Lancet analysis of 978,425 people across seven countries found blood pressure and cholesterol in older adults with obesity now often match those at normal weight, largely because more of them are medicated.
Jul 26, 2026
Oral GLP-1 pill elecoglipron hit 10% weight loss in a trial
A Lancet phase 2 trial of 310 adults found the oral GLP-1 drug elecoglipron produced up to 10.5% weight loss in 26 weeks against 0.6% on placebo, with no injections and no food restrictions.
Jul 26, 2026
Sarcopenic obesity tripled type 2 diabetes risk
A Diabetes Care analysis of 479,607 UK Biobank participants found people with both low muscle strength and high body fat had over three times the type 2 diabetes risk, far above either problem alone.
Jul 26, 2026
Childhood fruit juice tracks with high blood pressure at 36
A Circulation study followed 25,749 Americans from age 12 to age 36 and found daily sugary drinks and daily fruit juice both tracked with higher rates of high blood pressure, while whole fruit did not.
Jul 25, 2026
Apitegromab kept muscle on during tirzepatide weight loss
A Nature Medicine trial of 102 adults found adding the antibody apitegromab to tirzepatide cut lean-mass loss by 1.9 kilograms over 24 weeks, without slowing total weight loss.
Jul 25, 2026
Food-as-medicine groceries improved blood sugar in diabetes
A Circulation randomized trial gave 460 Medicaid-insured adults with type 2 diabetes six months of weekly grocery deliveries and saw a modest but real improvement in long-term blood sugar.
Jul 25, 2026
Loneliness was tied to a higher risk of heart valve disease
Across 462,917 UK Biobank adults tracked for about 14 years, those who felt lonely had a higher risk of degenerative heart valve disease. Living alone or being socially isolated did not carry the same risk.
Jul 23, 2026
Heart attack patients carried more microplastics in blood
Italian researchers measured plastic particles in the coronary blood of 61 angiography patients. They turned up far more often in heart attack patients, though smoking history predicted their presence better than the heart attack.
Jul 23, 2026
Yo-yo dieting was tied to muscle loss on body scans
Researchers at UC San Francisco tracked 1,433 middle-aged adults with repeat MRI scans and found that people whose weight kept swinging lost more thigh muscle than those who stayed stable.
Jul 23, 2026
Why apoB may be a better cholesterol test than LDL
A Northwestern simulation of 250,000 statin-eligible US adults found guiding treatment by apoB, a count of harmful cholesterol particles, prevented more heart attacks and strokes than standard LDL goals. It is a projection, not a trial.
Jul 22, 2026
Ultra-processed food tied to 19% higher heart-death risk
An Australian study followed 39,544 adults for a median of 25 years. Those eating the most ultra-processed food were more likely to die of cardiovascular disease, even after accounting for sugar, salt and diet quality. A link, not proof.
Jul 21, 2026