Medical Bulletin 23/July/2026

Here are the top medical news for today:

Researchers Discover Food Compound That May Enhance Vaccine Response in Older Adults

A natural compound called spermidine, found in foods like mushrooms, wheat germ, parmesan, and cheddar cheese, may help older adults develop a stronger immune response to vaccines, according to a new study published in Aging Cell.

As people get older, their immune system becomes weaker. This makes it harder for the body to fight infections and respond well to vaccines. Because of this, some older adults do not develop enough protection even after getting vaccinated.

To see if spermidine could help, researchers studied 40 healthy adults aged 65 and older. After receiving their third COVID-19 vaccine dose, participants took either 6 mg of spermidine or a placebo (dummy pill) every day for 13 weeks.

Researchers found that about one in four participants had very weak antibody responses even after three vaccine doses. Their immune cells also showed signs of aging and damage.

Among these low responders, those who took spermidine developed higher levels of COVID-19 antibodies and showed a stronger ability to fight different coronavirus variants compared with those who took the placebo.

The study also found that spermidine reduced signs of immune system aging and increased autophagy, a natural process that helps cells remove damaged parts and stay healthy.

Importantly, the supplement was safe and well tolerated, with no serious side effects reported during the study.

However, the researchers say this was only a small pilot study, so the results should be interpreted with caution.

Overall, the findings suggest that spermidine may help improve vaccine responses in some older adults by supporting healthier immune cells, but larger studies are needed to confirm whether it works for COVID-19 vaccines as well as other vaccines, such as the flu vaccine.

REFERENCE: Ghada Alsaleh, Mohammad Ali, et al.; Spermidine Mitigates Immune Cell Senescence and Boosts Vaccine Responses in Healthy Older Adults—A Pilot Study. Aging Cell, 2026; 25 (6) DOI: 10.1111/acel.70545

Study Suggests Early Electroacupuncture Helps Preserve Pancreatic Function in Prediabetes

A new study from researchers at the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences suggests that electroacupuncture (EA) may help control blood sugar, especially during the early stages of prediabetes.

Prediabetes is a condition in which blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. At this stage, the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas begin to lose their function. If left untreated, prediabetes can progress to type 2 diabetes. Currently, treatment mainly focuses on healthy eating, regular exercise, and medicines such as metformin.

The researchers tested the treatment in mice with different stages of high blood sugar: temporary high blood sugar, early (low-risk) prediabetes, and advanced (high-risk) prediabetes. Electroacupuncture was applied to an acupuncture point called ST36, located near the knee.

The results showed that electroacupuncture reduced blood sugar levels and increased insulin production in mice with temporary high blood sugar and early prediabetes. It also improved the body's ability to process glucose in the early-stage group. However, the treatment had only limited benefits in mice with advanced prediabetes.

The researchers also found that electroacupuncture appeared to activate the vagus nerve, which connects the brain and many organs, including the pancreas. This activation helped improve communication between the brain and the pancreas, reduced stress inside insulin-producing beta cells, and slowed down the aging of these cells.

The findings suggest that electroacupuncture may be most effective when used early, before prediabetes progresses and the pancreas becomes more damaged.

However, this research was conducted only in mice. More studies, including well-designed clinical trials in humans, are needed to confirm whether electroacupuncture can safely and effectively help people with prediabetes manage their blood sugar.

REFERENCE: Ya-jing, L., et al. (2026) Study on the underlying mechanisms of electroacupuncture at “Zusanli” （ST36） in restoring blood glucose homeostasis in prediabetes mice. Acupuncture Research. DOI: 10.13702/j.1000-0607.20250584. https://www.zhenciyanjiu.cn/thesisDetails#10.13702/j.1000-0607.20250584&lang=en

Frequent Weight Gain and Loss May Harm Muscle Health, Study Finds

Many people regain weight after dieting and then try to lose it again. But a new study from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) suggests that this repeated cycle of losing and gaining weight may speed up muscle loss in middle-aged adults.

The study, published in Radiology, followed 1,433 middle-aged adults for four years. Researchers compared people whose weight stayed fairly stable with those whose weight frequently went up and down.

Using MRI scans and artificial intelligence, they measured the amount of thigh muscle, fat inside the muscles, and fat around the knees.

The results showed that people who repeatedly lost and regained weight lost almost four times more thigh muscle than those whose weight remained stable. Weight cyclers lost about 3.7% of their thigh muscle, while people with stable weight lost only about 1% during the same period.

Interestingly, both groups ended the study at nearly the same overall body weight they had at the beginning. This suggests that while body weight returned, the lost muscle did not.

When people's weight cycled, they lost a lot of muscle along with fat, and they didn't gain the muscle back. The lead researcher also explained that protecting muscle during weight loss is just as important as losing fat.

Although the study did not involve people taking popular weight-loss drugs such as GLP-1 medications, the findings are especially relevant as more people start and stop these treatments.

Researchers say the results highlight the need to focus not only on the number on the weighing scale but also on maintaining healthy muscle mass. Preserving muscle through strength training, adequate protein intake, and healthy weight-loss strategies may be important for long-term health, mobility, and reducing the risk of conditions such as arthritis.

REFERENCE: Marth, A. A., et al. (2026). Association of Weight Cycling with MRI-based Thigh Muscle Quality and Knee-adjacent Obesity: Osteoarthritis Initiative Data. Radiology. DOI: 10.1148/radiol.253988. https://pubs.rsna.org/doi/10.1148/radiol.253988