An experimental treatment happens to be the solution to delay Alzheimer's symptoms in some people. These people are the ones who are genetically destined to get the disease in their 40s or 50s. These new findings form ongoing research has now been caught up in Trump administration funding delas. The early results of the study has been published on Wednesday and the participants too are worried that politics could cut their access to a possible lifeline.

One of the participants had said, "It is still a study but it has given me an extension to my life that I never banked on having." The participant is named Jake Henrichs, form New York City, who is 50 years old. He is one of them to be treated in that study for more than a decade now and has remained symptom-free despite inheriting an Alzheimer's-causing gene that had killed his father and brother around the same age.

Slowing Down The Symptoms

Two drugs which can modestly slow down early-stage Alzheimer's are sold in the United States. These drugs clear the brain of one of its hallmarks, a sticky gunk-like part called the amyloid. However, there have not been any hints that removing amyloid far earlier, way many years before the first symptoms appear, may postpone the disease.

How Was The Research Conducted?

The research is led by Washington University in St Louis, which involved families that passed down rare gene mutation as participants. This meant it was almost guaranteed that they will develop symptoms at the same age their affected relatives did.

The new findings is based on a subset of 22 participants who received amyloid-removing drugs the longest, on average eight years. Long-term amyloid removal cut in half their risk of symptom onset. The study is published in the journal Lancet Neurology.

Washington University's Dr Randall Bateman, who directs the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer's Network of studies involving families with these rare genes says, "What we want to determine over the next five years is how strong is the protection. Will they ever get the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease if we keep treating them?”

The researchers before though did not know what exactly caused Alzheimer's which affects nearly 7 million Americans, most of them in their later life. However, it is clear that these silent changes occur in the brain at least two decades before the first symptom shows up. The big contributor. At some point amyloid buildup can trigger a protein named tau that then starts to kill neurons, which can lead to cognitive decline.

Researchers are now thus studying the Tau-fighting drugs and are looking into other factors, like inflammation, brain's immune cells and certain virus.

The National Institute of Health (NIH) has expanded its focus as researchers have found more reasons for Alzheimer's. In 2013, the NIH's National Institute on Aging funded 14 trials of possible Alzheimer's drugs over a third targeting amyloid. By last fall, there were 68 drugs and 18% of them target amyloid. However, there are scientists too who think that amyloid is not everything and their is way more in the brain tissue, immune cells, and more which can be studied.

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), officially declared a Public Health Emergency in May 2026, has surpassed 10,000 cases and is approaching 5,000 deaths, making it the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak in history.

Driven by the Bundibugyo Ebola virus, the outbreak has spread beyond the DRC to Uganda, Kenya and Nigeria, raising concerns about cross-border transmission. There is currently no licensed vaccine against this strain, although candidates are in development.

More than 1,000 children have died, accounting for over one-quarter of recorded fatalities, according to Save the Children.

“It's extraordinarily serious. Over 1,000 children have died of Ebola,” Greg Ramm, Save the Children's Country Director in the DRC, told the media.

“The world needs to start paying attention. We will break 15,000 deaths by the new year. And just because Ebola isn’t going to become a pandemic doesn’t mean it is not a global health security threat as well as a humanitarian disaster,” Dr Angela Rasmussen, a virologist, warned in a post on X.

Africa CDC Warns of Wider Global Risk

Africa CDC Director-General Dr Jean Kaseya has warned that the outbreak's unprecedented geographical spread could put countries beyond Africa, including the UK, at risk.

“The geographic extension of this outbreak is unprecedented,” he said, noting that three African regions had been affected. Drawing parallels with COVID-19, he warned: “We don’t want to see the UK and other countries become the hotspot,” The Guardian reported.

In response, the UK Health Security Agency's (UKHSA) Dr Sam Collins stressed that the risk to the UK remains low and that the country “is well prepared to respond safely and effectively to the risk of imported cases arising here”.

Genetic Analysis Links Kenya, Nigeria Cases to Congo

Scientists have linked Ebola viruses detected in Kenya and Nigeria to those circulating in Beni, eastern DRC, raising questions about a possible shared transmission chain or an unidentified source, Bloomberg reported.

“Genomic sequencing shows that the Ebola virus from Nigeria’s recently reported only imported case is highly similar to that from Kenya’s first imported case, differing by only one mutation,” Muhammad Ali Pate, Nigeria's Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, said in a post on X.

How Was The Genetic Analysis Conducted?

Scientists from four countries, led by Congolese virologist Jean-Jacques Muyembe, analysed 1,126 viral genomes after an Ebola case was detected in Abuja, Nigeria.

The Beni samples share a distinctive genetic signature, including a mutation absent from other sequenced viruses from Congo.

The viruses also lack genetic markers associated with Uganda's documented Ebola transmission chains from May and June, suggesting they did not descend from those previously identified outbreaks.

Researchers have yet to establish where the patients contracted the virus or whether they were infected through the same transmission chain. Genetic sequencing alone cannot prove direct transmission.

Travel Histories Point To Possible Congo Uganda Connection

Investigators are examining the patients' movements through Uganda during their potential exposure periods.

The Nigerian patient was in Uganda from September 15 to October 3 and developed symptoms three days after returning to Abuja. The Kenyan patient travelled from Congo through Uganda between October 1 and 3 before flying to Nairobi from Entebbe.

Both patients reportedly travelled on flights on October 3. Authorities are checking their travel records for possible overlap and tracing potentially exposed passengers.

Nigeria, Kenya Step Up Ebola Response

Nigeria has traced 62 contacts of the infected woman, NCDC Director-General Jide Idris said. Of these, 50 are in isolation, five are being monitored at home and seven remain unlocated.

Uganda recorded 20 confirmed cases and two deaths before declaring the outbreak over in June.

Kenya has reported nine cases and two deaths. Seven patients, including three family members and four healthcare workers, are receiving treatment and responding well. Authorities have traced all 135 contacts linked to the first case, according to official data.

As many as 500 newborns at Albany Medical Center in New York received hepatitis B vaccine doses that had been stored at an improper temperature in a refrigerator.

While the improperly stored doses pose no health threat to the infants who received them, the hospital said the storage lapse may have compromised the vaccines' effectiveness. The newborns may now need repeat doses to ensure they are protected against hepatitis B.

State Department of Health workers reviewing refrigeration logs ahead of a hospital site visit found that the vaccines had been stored below the manufacturer's recommended temperature range, The Times Union reported.

Why Repeat Hepatitis B Vaccine Doses May Be Needed

Also read: Hepatitis B Infections Could Rise 83% If US Changes Newborn Vaccine Policy: Study

The improper storage may have affected the vaccines' effectiveness, meaning the infants who received them may not have developed adequate protection against hepatitis B and could need repeat doses.

Albany Medical Center said it has sent letters to affected parents and their children's doctors explaining that repeat doses may be necessary. A hospital spokesperson added that the Center has also apologised for the error and has implemented additional safeguards.

Hepatitis B vaccines require strict temperature control to maintain their effectiveness. Immunize.org recommends storing all hepatitis B-containing vaccines between 2°C and 8°C (36°F and 46°F) and cautions against freezing them.

According to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, vaccine storage errors must be assessed individually in consultation with health authorities. Doses found to be expired or nonviable generally cannot be counted as valid, and non-live vaccine doses may need to be repeated as soon as possible.

Why Hepatitis B Birth Dose Is Important For Newborns

Read More: RFK Jr-Backed Hep B Researchers Face Police Raid in Guinea-Bissau: Why the Newborn Vaccine Trial Is Controversial

The universal hepatitis B birth-dose recommendation was introduced in the US in 1991. The first dose provides early protection, including in cases where maternal infection is missed or a child's exposure risk is not recognised.

Newborns typically receive their first hepatitis B vaccine dose shortly after birth, often before they leave the hospital. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that newborns receive the first dose within 24 hours of birth, followed by a second dose within two months. School-aged children must receive three doses in total.

The vaccine protects against a virus that can cause serious liver disease. In New York, about 90% of children complete the full three-dose vaccine series before age three, according to Kaiser Family Foundation figures cited in The Times Union report.

What is Hepatitis B?

Hepatitis B is a viral infection that affects the liver and spreads through infected blood and certain bodily fluids, including during childbirth.

An infection acquired during infancy is particularly concerning because it is more likely to become chronic. Over time, chronic hepatitis B can lead to cirrhosis, liver failure or liver cancer.

In December 2025, the US Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended replacing universal vaccination at birth with shared decision-making for infants whose mothers test negative for hepatitis B.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention adopted this approach in January 2026. Babies born to mothers who test positive or whose infection status is unknown continue to be recommended to receive the birth dose promptly, along with hepatitis B immune globulin when indicated.

Colorectal cancer rates are rising across nearly all age groups in the United States, reversing more than two decades of decline, according to a new study.

The disease is the second-leading cause of cancer-related deaths overall in the US and the leading cause among adults younger than 50. The latest findings, published in the journal NEJM Evidence, show that the increase now extends to older adults.

“This is the first time that we have seen an increase in the overall rate in more than 20 years,” said Caitlin Murphy, professor of pediatrics and public health sciences at the University of Chicago.

Rates Rise Across Age Groups

Also read: 3-Time Colon Cancer Survivor Reveals First Symptom She Noticed At 14

Researchers analyzed National Cancer Institute data from 2000 to 2023. The age-adjusted incidence rate fell from 55.2 per 100,000 people in 2000 to 36.7 in 2022, before rising to 38.3 in 2023.

The sharpest increase was seen among adults aged 45–49, with rates rising 12.76% annually from 2019 to 2023. Researchers attributed this partly to increased screening after US guidelines lowered the starting age from 50 to 45.

Currently US guidelines recommend that adults at average risk begin screening at 45 and continue through 75.

“That means that screening is doing as we intend it to do—it’s catching cancer earlier,” Murphy said.

However, screening alone does not explain the broader trend. Rates are also rising among adults aged 65–69 and have plateaued among those aged 70–74, despite about 80% of these groups being up to date with screening. The findings suggest unknown risk factors may be offsetting its benefits.

Birth Cohort Effect May Explain the Rise

Murphy described a possible “birth cohort effect,” in which people born in the 1960s and later face higher risks as they age.

“As people born around the same time move through time and age together, we’re going to see more colorectal cancers being diagnosed,” she said.

The researchers also examined whether COVID-19 disruptions contributed to the increase. However, the trend persisted after data from 2020 and 2021 were excluded, making the pandemic an unlikely explanation for the rise in 2023.

Read More: Aspirin & Colon Cancer: Lancet Study Explains Why It Could Help At An Earlier Stage But Not After Spread

Environmental Chemicals Likely Reason

Researchers have yet to identify the drivers, but environmental chemical exposures are one possible contributor.

The team plans to measure thousands of exposures in small blood samples, then use organoids—specialized models of colon tissue—to study the effects of chemicals warranting further investigation.

American Cancer Society statistics show that incidence among adults aged 20–49 increased by 3% annually from 2013 to 2022.

Sonia Kupfer, director of the Gastrointestinal Cancer Risk and Prevention Clinic at UChicago Medicine, said identifying the causes could help researchers pinpoint and potentially reduce risk factors.

Screening Remains Key

The American Cancer Society notes that colorectal cancer is a cancer that starts in the colon or the rectum. Colorectal cancer impacts around 1.9 million people every year, noted the World Health Organization (WHO) as per its 2022 data.

It is a disease of large bowel and a type of cancer that originates from the rectum or colon. A person's colon, cecum, rectum and anus make up the large intestine.

The researchers called for continued monitoring as cancer registry data are updated annually. If the trend continues, rising diagnoses could increase demand for treatment and survivorship care.

Colonoscopy remains the gold standard, while blood-based and home-based stool tests offer alternatives. Adults younger than 45 who are not eligible for routine screening should watch for blood in the stool, changes in bowel habits and unexplained weight loss, and seek medical attention if these occur.