Medical Bulletin 23/September/2026 - Video

Here are the top medical news for today:

Study Links Enlarged Breast Tissue in Women to Migraine, Neck Pain and Sleep Apnea

Women with macromastia, or unusually enlarged breast tissue, may be more likely to experience chronic migraine, neck pain, obstructive sleep apnea and cervical radiculopathy, according to a new study. The findings suggest that macromastia may be associated with health problems extending beyond physical discomfort.

Published in Headache, the study analysed electronic health records of 687 women treated at headache and neurology clinics affiliated with Stanford Medical Center between 2017 and 2024. The group included 347 women with macromastia and 340 without the condition.

After accounting for factors including age, body mass index, depression and anxiety, women with macromastia were about 40% more likely to have chronic migraine and twice as likely to experience neck pain compared with women without macromastia. They were also about 50% more likely to have obstructive sleep apnea and more than twice as likely to have cervical radiculopathy, a condition caused by irritation or compression of nerves in the neck.

People with macromastia commonly report headaches, neck and back pain and shoulder discomfort. Some seek breast reduction surgery to relieve these symptoms. In the study, however, neck pain was the only condition significantly associated with a greater likelihood of undergoing breast reduction surgery.

Researchers said enlarged breast tissue may contribute to mechanical strain or other factors that affect the neck, spine and sleep-related breathing, but the study did not establish how these conditions may be connected.

The findings are based on a review of existing medical records and show associations rather than cause and effect. The study also involved patients from a specific clinical setting, which may limit how broadly the findings apply.

Further research is needed to understand whether treating macromastia, including through breast reduction, can improve migraine, neck pain, sleep apnea or other neurological symptoms and whether these conditions share underlying mechanisms.

REFERENCE: Kristyn Pocock, et al.; Patterns of Head and Neck Pain and Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Women with Macromastia: A Cross-Sectional Analysis; Headache The Journal of Head and Face Pain; DOI: 10.1111/head.70226

GLP-1 Drug Discontinuation Linked to Higher Risk of Heart Attack and Stroke: Study

Stopping GLP-1 drugs may rapidly reduce their heart-protective benefits, with two years off treatment linked to a 22% higher risk of major cardiovascular events, according to new research published in BMJ Medicine.

GLP-1 drugs have become widely used for treating type 2 diabetes and supporting weight loss, and they are also associated with cardiovascular benefits. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis tracked more than 333,000 veterans with type 2 diabetes for three years to examine what happens when treatment is interrupted or stopped.

The study found that interrupting GLP-1 treatment for as little as six months was associated with an increased risk of major cardiovascular events compared with continuous treatment. The longer patients remained off therapy, the greater the increase in risk.

After two years without GLP-1 treatment, the risk of heart attack, stroke and death was 22% higher than among people who continued treatment. Treatment gaps were also associated with a reduced cardiovascular benefit after patients restarted therapy.

Among participants who remained on GLP-1 therapy continuously for three years, the risk of major cardiovascular events was 18% lower than among those taking sulfonylurea medicines. This represented about four fewer major cardiovascular events per 100 people over three years.

People who stopped treatment for one year had a 14% higher cardiovascular risk than continuous users, while those who remained off treatment for two years had a 22% higher risk.

Restarting GLP-1 therapy appeared to restore some cardiovascular protection, but not all of it. Temporary treatment interruptions were associated with an average 12% reduction in cardiovascular risk, compared with 18% among continuous users.

However, the study was observational, meaning it cannot prove that stopping GLP-1 treatment directly caused the increased cardiovascular risk. Factors such as treatment adherence, side effects, cost and underlying health may also have influenced outcomes.

Further research is needed to determine how quickly these benefits decline after treatment interruption and how completely they return after restarting therapy.

REFERENCE: Yan Xie, Taeyoung Choi, Ziyad Al-Aly. Glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonist discontinuation and risks of major adverse cardiovascular events in adults with type 2 diabetes: target trial emulation. BMJ Medicine, 2026; 5 (1): e002150 DOI: 10.1136/bmjmed-2025-002150

Study Links Childhood Sugar Exposure to Higher Anxiety Risk in Adulthood

A study suggests that lower sugar exposure during the first 1,000 days of life may be linked to a reduced risk of anxiety in adulthood, while also being associated with differences in brain development and later preference for sweet foods.

Published in Translational Psychiatry, the study analysed data from more than 45,000 UK Biobank participants born between 1951 and 1956, when sugar rationing was in place in the United Kingdom. Researchers compared people exposed to rationing during pregnancy and early childhood with those exposed for shorter periods or born after rationing ended.

The researchers found that women who experienced longer periods of sugar rationing early in life were less likely to develop anxiety in adulthood. An association with depression was also observed, but it became weaker after statistical adjustment, suggesting that later-life dietary factors may have contributed to the finding.

Brain imaging provided additional evidence of differences associated with early sugar exposure. Among 139 brain regions, 80 showed differences in grey-matter volume across the rationing groups. Further analysis identified significant differences in 11 of these regions, including areas of the cerebellum.

Participants exposed to less sugar for the longest period, from pregnancy through the first 24 months of life, also reported a lower preference for sweet foods in adulthood. This suggests that early nutritional environments may influence dietary preferences later in life.

However, the study was observational and used sugar rationing as a natural experiment. It cannot establish that sugar exposure directly causes anxiety or changes brain development. Other childhood, socioeconomic, genetic and lifestyle factors may contribute.

The researchers said the findings highlight the importance of nutrition during early human development and childhood. Further studies are needed to determine whether early sugar exposure directly affects mental health, brain development and food preferences.

REFERENCE: Navratilova, H. F., et al. (2026). Dietary sugar exposure in early life and risk of adult mental health disorders: UK Biobank cohort study. Translational Psychiatry. DOI: 10.1038/s41398-026-04376-w. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41398-026-04376-w

Lower Bone Density Associated With Cognitive Decline and Age-Related Brain Damage: Study

Lower bone mineral density in the spine may be associated with faster cognitive decline and worsening age-related changes in the brain’s white matter, according to a new study published in Radiology.

Researchers from Johns Hopkins University analysed data from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis, combining chest CT scans, brain MRI results and cognitive testing. They used a deep-learning algorithm to measure thoracic vertebral volumetric bone mineral density from non-contrast chest CT scans.

The analysis included 715 participants with available bone-density measurements, brain MRI and cognitive assessments. Long-term MRI data on white matter changes were available for more than 400 participants.

The researchers found that lower baseline vertebral bone mineral density was associated with a faster decline in overall cognitive function. Lower bone density was also linked to greater accumulation of white matter hyperintensities in the corpus callosum, a brain structure involved in communication between the brain’s hemispheres and functions including attention, working memory and executive function.

In addition, people with lower bone mineral density showed a steeper decline in fractional anisotropy in the anterior limb of the internal capsule. Fractional anisotropy reflects the organisation and integrity of white matter fibres, with reductions associated with microstructural brain changes and cognitive decline.

Researchers stressed that the findings do not show that osteoporosis or low bone density causes dementia. Instead, the relationship may reflect shared biological processes that affect both bone and brain health during ageing. Possible common factors include insulin resistance, abnormal blood lipid levels and hormonal changes associated with menopause.

However, further research is needed to determine whether low bone density can reliably identify people at higher risk of cognitive decline and whether addressing shared risk factors could influence both skeletal and brain health.

REFERENCE: Shadpour Demehri, et al.; Deep Learning-derived Bone Mineral Density and Longitudinal White Matter Microstructure and Cognitive Decline: Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis; Radiology; https://pubs.rsna.org/journal/radiology

Gut Microbiome Development Delays in Children Linked to Triple Type 1 Diabetes Risk: Study

A new study suggests that how the gut microbiome develops during early childhood may be linked to the risk of type 1 diabetes, especially in children with high genetic risk.

Published in Nature Metabolism, the prospective study followed 887 children from Finland, Germany, Sweden and the United States at high genetic risk of type 1 diabetes. Researchers analysed more than 12,000 stool samples collected during the first six years to track changes in the children’s gut microbiomes over time.

Researchers identified three microbiome patterns: early-matured, late-matured and early-plateaued. Children with an early-matured microbiome showed substantial changes during the first year, including greater bacterial diversity and a shift towards bacteria that break down dietary fibre.

Children with an early-plateaued microbiome developed slowly and failed to catch up. Their gut bacteria remained less diverse and dominated by microorganisms adapted to digesting milk sugars after solid foods were introduced.

Children whose microbiome development plateaued early had about three times the risk of developing type 1 diabetes or showing the immune attack against insulin-producing cells that occurs before diagnosis, compared with those whose microbiomes matured normally. Similar associations were observed when the researchers separately assessed the early immune stage and clinical disease.

The relationship also varied according to genetic background. Certain genetic variants involved in antimicrobial and antiviral immune responses appeared to influence the strength of these associations, while the higher risk linked to an early-plateaued microbiome was seen across genetic groups.

However, the study was observational and cannot prove that delayed or stalled microbiome maturation causes type 1 diabetes. The findings may not apply to all children.

Further research, including larger clinical trials, is needed to determine whether microbiome-based testing or interventions could help predict or reduce type 1 diabetes risk in children.

REFERENCE: Dong, D., et al. (2026) Gut Microbiome Maturation in Early Childhood Interacts with Host Genetics to Predict Type 1 Diabetes Risk. Nature Metabolism. DOI: 10.1038/s42255-026-01614-9