Does yellow mucus mean you need antibiotics? What phlegm can—and can't—say about your health

The US Food and Drug Administration recently convened a panel of experts to examine a sensitive and increasingly urgent question: should antidepressants be prescribed to women suffering from depression during pregnancy?

Osteoblasts are specialized bone cells responsible for building and regenerating bone tissue. Researchers at Leipzig University have shown that a specific receptor plays a key role in the strength of bone cells—and how this receptor can be selectively activated. These findings could pave the way for the development of new medications with fewer side effects to help strengthen bones and muscles in aging patients. The research has been published in the journal Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy.

Chronic liver disease (CLD) is a major global health concern, affecting approximately 1.5 billion people. This life-threatening disease often progresses silently, eventually leading to worsened conditions like liver cirrhosis or liver cancer. There is currently no treatment for CLD other than liver transplantation.

There's something oddly luxurious about sleeping in. The sun filters through the curtains, the alarm clock is blissfully silent, and your body stays at rest. Yet sleeping in is often treated as an indulgence, sometimes framed as laziness or a slippery slope to soft living.

New research by a University of Michigan psychologist and colleagues makes the strongest case yet that ultra-processed foods—including chips, cookies, soda and other heavily engineered products—aren't just tempting; they can actually be addictive.

Millions of people who recover from infections like COVID-19, influenza and glandular fever are affected by long-lasting symptoms. These include chronic fatigue, brain fog, exercise intolerance, dizziness, muscle or joint pain and gut problems. And many of these symptoms worsen after exercise, a phenomenon known as post-exertional malaise.

I saw it firsthand after my cat Murphy died earlier this year. She'd been diagnosed with cancer just weeks before.

A new study has estimated, for the first time, the number of children born globally with hepatitis C virus. The research, led by researchers from the National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit in Evaluation and Behavioral Science (NIHR HPRU EBS) at the University of Bristol, estimated that each year around 74,000 children globally are born with hepatitis C virus (HCV), with around 23,000 of these children estimated to still have HCV infection at age five.

New research from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King's College London, in partnership with University College London and Anna Freud, has found that negative school experiences generate twice the emotional burden in autistic and ADHD adolescents compared to their neurotypical classmates, and that this is significantly correlated with depression and anxiety.

Solitary drinking has soared among young adults, climbing to rates not seen since the late 1970s.

An international study casts doubt on the widespread belief that higher levels of formal education directly protect against cognitive decline and brain aging. The study analyzed longitudinal data from more than 170,000 people in 33 western countries, making it one of the largest studies of cognitive aging to date.

You need fiber. That much is true. But in the world of online health trends, what started out as sound dietary advice has spiraled into "fibermaxxing"—a push to consume eye-watering amounts in the name of wellness.

Researchers at Edith Cowan University (ECU) have developed a cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence (AI) system that could support medical professionals in detecting and accurately diagnosing the stage of disease in a range of serious health conditions, including cardiovascular disease (CVD), diabetic eye complications, and cancer.

The targeted drug olutasidenib is highly effective in certain patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a condition considered incurable without transplantation, according to a new clinical study led by researchers at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

A research project led by the Ineos Oxford Institute for antimicrobial research (IOI) to study the cause and impact of antimicrobial-resistant sepsis in Nigeria has resulted in reduced newborn deaths, improved awareness about neonatal infection prevention among parents, and strengthened capacity and training for local doctors. The findings have been published in Nature Communications.

A groundbreaking new medical dataset is poised to revolutionize health care in Africa by improving chatbots' understanding of the continent's most pressing medical issues and increasing their awareness of accessible treatment options.

How much does your weight really say about your health? Probably less than you think. You could eat your five-a-day, hit the gym regularly, have textbook blood pressure and cholesterol levels—and still be dismissed as "unhealthy" based on the number on the scale. Meanwhile, someone with a so-called "healthy" weight might be skipping meals, running on stress and caffeine, and rarely moving their body.

Reliable and gentler control of cellular activity with light: Researchers at the Cluster of Excellence Multiscale Bioimaging (MBExC) and the Else Kröner Fresenius Center for Optogenetic Therapies (EKFZ OT) of the University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG) have developed a light-sensitive protein that can restore vision and hearing and regulate heart rhythm.