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Old Astria Health Medical Center converting to behavioral health facility
The building formerly as the Astria Regional Medical Center has been sold, with construction of an assisted living center at the site will begin soon.The buildi
How to improve mental health safety on social media – not just for young people
With social media companies losing or settling court cases about their products' impact on young peoples' mental health, experts offer tips for reducing impacts for those who use the platforms.
Kennedy, Oz announce new health care advisory committee
The Health and Human Services Department (HHS) and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on Thursday announced the formation of a new expert advisory panel that will make recommendations…
Sensitive patient health information leaked in Texas third-party software breach
Multiple Texas home health care providers are notifying patients of a data breach at Doctor Alliance, a third-party software platform, that exposed sensitive medical and personal information.
Trump admin opens investigations into race in admissions at 3 medical schools
President Donald Trump has been ramping up scrutiny of universities he decries as overrun by liberal influence.
Long-time UTSA supporter, Harvey E. Najim, helps strengthen pediatric health workforce
SAN ANTONIO – UT Health San Antonio, the academic health center of UTSA is expecting to help pediatric-focused professionals in dentistry, medicine and nursing
Kim Reynolds signs law hiking tax on private insurers to fund Medicaid
The Iowa law raises taxes on private health insurance providers, known as HMOs, to bring in funds to shore up a deficit in Iowa's Medicaid budget.
Virginia Department of Health Honors Virginia Medical Reserve Corps Program - Virginia Department of Health
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – March 25, 2026 Media Contact: Brookie Crawford, brookie.crawford@vdh.virginia.gov Virginia Department of Health Honors Virginia Medical Reserve Corps Program Awards for Volunteers, Partners for E.P.I.C Work RICHMOND, Va. – The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) presented four E.P.I.C. (Engage, Partner, Innovate & Champion) Awards to recognize Virginia health districts and partners for […]
UT Health San Antonio announces $6.5 million gift to strengthen pediatric health workforce through new Harvey E. Najim Pediatric Health Scholars Program - UT Health San Antonio
UT Health San Antonio, the academic health center of The University of Texas at San Antonio (UT San Antonio), has announced a $6.5 million gift from San Antonio philanthropist Harvey E. Najim to establish the Harvey E. Najim Pediatric Health Scholars Program to support future pediatric-focused professionals in dentistry, medicine and nursing in San Antonio and the surrounding […]
How the youngest female CEO in the Fortune 500 navigates political turmoil
Sarah London is leading Centene through political challenges like Medicaid cuts.
UT Health San Antonio announces $6.5 million gift to strengthen pediatric health workforce - UT Health San Antonio
A $6.5 million gift from San Antonio philanthropist Harvey E. Najim to UT Health San Antonio will establish the Harvey E. Najim Pediatric Health Scholars Program to support future pediatric-focused professionals in dentistry, medicine and nursing in San Antonio and the surrounding region.
Data show people racing to chatbots for health advice
In this edition of STAT Health Tech: More people use chatbots for health advice, a health AI startup raises $125 million, and all about deepfaked medical images.
Duraisamy: Supercomputing in service of science and society
Across every frontier of science, engineering and medicine, the convergence of computational science, high-performance computing and artificial intelligence is not merely accelerating research; it is transforming what questions we can ask, what problems we can solve and how quickly solutions can reach the people who need it most. This transformation rests on a foundation that…
Letter | Abused Ridglan dogs are not good for science
Dear Editor: I am a professor and data scientist with over 25 years of experience in biomedical data collection and analysis, including studies that employ animal models for research. The
Around the MHS
The latest news from around the Military Health System for the week of March 23-27, 2026, includes submitting research and awards for the Department of War’s primary scientific gathering, teamwork and tools assisting field medic training, and new research on preventing dangerous diseases.
Three Stanford faculty named AAAS Fellows
Faculty in medicine, computer science, and biology are among the new fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Group floats ‘Medicare by Choice’ as a Democratic health care alternative
A coalition of former congressional staffers and federal health leaders is putting forward a health care policy proposal around which it hopes Democrats will coalesce ahead of the 2028 campaign, a …
Cuban Patients Are Dying Because of U.S. Blockade, Doctors Say
Cuban health care was once the pride of the island. Now the U.S. oil blockade is upending even basic medical care.
In Rural Ukraine, Basic Health Care Is a Casualty of War
Elderly people in isolated villages are going without medicine. One woman said she hadn’t seen a doctor in four years.
Democrats hope GOP health care cuts will put Alaska, and the Senate, in play
Republican Dan Sullivan lost a bid to stave off Medicaid cuts last year and is now facing a barrage of critical ads.
Resistance movement: how a play about penicillin brought the arts, science and politics together
Championed by a former chief medical officer, Lifeline is both a musical following Alexander Fleming’s discovery of the first antibiotic and a warning about the threat of superbugs in the present day
Menopause hormone therapy treatments would be covered by health insurance under Ohio bill
Ohio Democratic lawmakers want menopause hormone therapy treatments covered by health insurance and Medicaid.
'No good choice' for GPs as child mental health demand 'skyrockets'
GP says long waits for support mean some doctors feel forced to prescribe medication outside of guidelines.
Ipswich paramedic died after struggling with her mental health
A coroner says Rebecca McLellan, from Ipswich, struggled after her bipolar disorder diagnosis.
Indian Health Service is digging out of decades-old construction backlog for medical buildings
The U.S. agency that provides healthcare to Native Americans has a facilities problem.
Contract dispute could push White River Medical Center out-of-network with UnitedHealthcare
The city of Batesville is facing a looming healthcare crisis.A contract dispute between the White River Medical Center and the private insurance giant UnitedHe
PhysioNet as a global platform for biomedical research
Nature Health - Twenty-five years after its first public repository was established, the PhysioNet resource for biomedical and clinical data has enabled tens of thousands of research papers....
Tulsa students advance to state science fair with research on health and technology
Three Tulsa students are heading to the Oklahoma State Science and Engineering Fair after earning top honors at regionals, presenting research on medication safety and hearing loss among young people.
Aspen Medical Care joins Aspen Valley Health Primary Care
Aspen Valley Health has announced that Aspen Medical Care, a long-standing independent primary care practice serving the Roaring Fork Valley since 1997, will become part of its Primary Care network.
Kootenai Health Breaks Ground on Prairie Medical Campus
Kootenai Health Breaks Ground on Prairie Medical Campus, Expanding Access to Care for a Growing Region Post Falls, Idaho — Kootenai Health, in partnership with MultiCare Health System, marked a major milestone in regional health care with the ceremonial groundbreaking of the Prairie Medical Campus, a transformative, multiphase medical development designed to expand access to […]
Essentia Health-Duluth Clinic welcomes Mariah O’Connell to practice family medicine
Mariah O’Connell, an advanced practice registered nurse and certified nurse practitioner specializing in family medicine, is thrilled to join the Essentia Health-Duluth Clinic.
Vandalia Health restructuring, eliminating north/south regions; Goldberg out
Changes come with President and CEO David Ramsey set to retire and anticipated impact from Medicaid changes.
Consumer Sleep Technology Can Support Better Sleep, With Limits
A commentary Miller School of Medicine researchers underscores that pairing sleep and exercise may produce greater health benefits.
PHOTO RELEASE: Gottheimer Tours Atlantic Health’s Newton Medical Center
Above: Congressman Gottheimer Tours Newton Medical Center NEWTON, NJ — U.S. Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) toured Atlantic Health System’s Newton Medical Center and met with hospital leadership to discuss improving access to health care, supporting our health care workers, and ensuring New Jersey families continue to receive the high-quality care they deserve. During the visit, Gottheimer […]
Thousands could lose their Medicaid in Kansas City, health leaders are calling for action
They fear people will be kicked off coverage next year when a federal law requiring work requirements and more frequent eligibility checks kicks in.
U.S. Medicine, Science Facing An Online Misinformation Siege, Poll Concludes
By Dennis Thompson HealthDay ReporterWEDNESDAY, March 25, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Americans are trapped in a ruthless social media spin cycle of viral misinformation regarding science and medicine, with many actively contributing to the problem, a new Harris Poll has found. People have come to ...
Charles County Science Fair Winners Announced Following Annual Expo
WALDORF, Md. – Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) held the 10th annual History, Industry, Technology and Science Expo, also known as HITS, on March 21 at St. Charles High School. Each year the Expo features student history and science fair projects on display for judging. Science fair project categories included behavioral/medicine and health science, chemistry, […]
Going into the community to bring down high BP
Rush University Medical Center, the AMA and others combine efforts to address hypertension. Find out how.
Newcastle-under-Lyme paramedic with an ice cream business
James Shemmeld is selling ice cream as a contrast to his day job.
FDA clears portable photon-counting CT scanner
The system is designed for point-of-care settings such as outpatient offices, sports medicine practices and urgent care clinics.
@memgrizz today announced the following medical …
@memgrizz today announced the following medical …
Bioresorbable microneedles track organ health
Nature Reviews Bioengineering - An article in Nature Biomedical Engineering reports a bioresorbable flexible microneedle sensor array for continuous monitoring of organ function for at least 7...
'The Pitt' Star Noah Wyle Talks Universal Health Coverage, Season 3
The hit drama took the London spotlight ahead of the U.K. launch of HBO Max, as Wyle shared how his years of TV doc experience helped when the producer of 'KPop Demon Hunters' needed a medical hand this awards season.
Florida company suspended over ‘threat’ to public health and welfare
The company handled claims for Medicare Advantage patients, many of whom have chronic or special needs.
Accelerating Innovative and Effective Pediatric Health Care Delivery Systems: Interventions and Value-Based Care Models for Children with Chronic Health Conditions and Complex Social Needs
Children, youth, and families have unique health needs, which set the foundation for health across the life course; chronic conditions now affect nearly one in three U.S. children, with disproportionate prevalence in those enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP.
The politics of public health from Obamacare to COVID
The last three presidents — Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Donald Trump — have all had to deal with health care in America. And along the way, they've clashed with how politics works in Washington D.C. This created today’s environment where the understanding of science is scorned, medical disinformation thrives and creating a nation unprepared for the next health crisis.
Nine Brody School of Medicine students match to ECU Health for residency training
Fourth-year medical students from the Brody School of Medicine learned where they will take on residency during Match Day.
Lowndes County leaders cut ribbon on medical, mental health jail expansion
The new facility includes 60 cells with a total of 90 beds, according to the county.
Inside the DOCS Community Health Leadership Conference at the Miller School of Medicine
Medical students at the Miller School lead the DOCS Community Health Leadership Conference, showcasing student‑run projects.
Buzzy AI doctor startup raises funds, will meet FDA
In this edition of STAT Health Tech: AI doctor startup raises fresh capital, and what Medicare chief Chris Klomp said at STAT Summit.
High on Life 2's Switch 2 release delayed "to better meet not only our high standards for gaming, but yours as well"
High on Life 2, the sequel to the crude and comedic FPS from Squanch Games, has had its Switch 2 release delayed by a couple of months.
Louisiana mourns loss of health care pioneer Ruth Kennedy
Ruth Kennedy, former Medicaid Director for the Louisiana Department of Health, passed away on March 20 after dedicating over 40 years to expanding health care access in the state.
ENvue Medical Expands Presence within a Major Michigan Health System and Grows U.S. Hospital Footprint to 39
Premier 714-bed teaching hospital and Level I Trauma Center purchases ENvue™ Navigation Platform system and feeding tubesTYLER, Texas, March 24, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ENvue Medical, Inc. (NASDAQ: FEED) (“ENvue,” “ENvue Medical” or the “Company”), a medical technology company specializing in the advancement of intelligent, non-invasive solutions for enteral care across clinical and home care settings, today announced a purchase of the ENvue™ Navigation Platform and feeding tubes by a premier t
It’s not just vaccines: Parents are refusing other routine preventive care for newborns
Doctors across the nation are alarmed that skepticism fueled by rising anti-science sentiment and medical mistrust is increasingly reaching beyond vaccines to other proven, routine, preventive care for babies.
UCLA Health podcast shines a light on colorectal cancer prevention, early detection and rising risks
UCLA Health's podcast episode on colorectal cancer, featuring Dr. Eve Glazier, Katie Couric and Dr. Fola May, highlights the critical need for prevention and early detection amid rising risks, particularly among younger adults. The discussion focuses on cancer screening, lifestyle modifications and advocacy to reduce the incidence of this disease.
On 16th anniversary of Affordable Care Act, Va.'s federal lawmakers and health leaders weigh risks
Virginia's Democratic federal lawmakers and health care providers met in Hampton Roads to discuss lapsed parts of the ACA program and steep cuts to Medicaid funding.
MDMA Therapy in Australia Shows Results for PTSD Patients, but the Cost Is Limiting Access
The country’s experiment with psychedelic medicine has led to positive outcomes, psychiatrists say, but also highlights the limitations of the nascent field.
Stopping GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic erodes heart health benefits quickly, new study finds
Stopping GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic quickly erodes heart protection, with two years off the medication raising cardiovascular risk by 22%, a new study finds.
Insulin pills may soon replace daily injections
For over a century, scientists have chased the dream of insulin pills, but the digestive system kept destroying the drug before it could work—forcing millions of patients to rely on daily injections. Now, researchers at Kumamoto University have developed a clever workaround using a tiny peptide that helps insulin slip through the intestinal wall.
Demand for GLP-1 pills and shots surges, and not just for weight loss
Use of blockbuster anti-obesity drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound is growing, with about 1 in 8 adults in the U.S. saying they currently take the medications.
After patient deaths, Idaho budget committee approves restoring cut Medicaid mental health programs
The Idaho Legislature will consider restoring mental health programs the state cut to comply with the governor’s order for budget cuts.
Expanded NICU offers families privacy, innovation
The NICU at Temple Health's new Women and Families Hospital offers twice the space and many more services than its predecessor.
How Health Care Workers Use Medical Manikins
Medical manikns help health care workers learn how to handle fast-changing and complex scenarios.
Bridging science and music - College of Arts and Sciences
Graduate student Briana Nave studies music's use and interactions with modern scientific medicine in the early 20th century.
Inaugural Health Care by Food research award honors excellence in food is medicine science
DALLAS, March 23, 2026 — At a time when American dietary patterns are facing renewed attention, the American Heart Association has announced its inaugural Health Care by Food™ Most Impactful Food Is Medicine Research Award, honoring the year’s most...
Inaugural Health Care by Food research award honors excellence in food is medicine science
DALLAS, March 23, 2026 — At a time when American dietary patterns are facing renewed attention, the American Heart Association has announced its inaugural Health Care by Food™ Most Impactful Food Is Medicine Research Award, honoring the year’s most...
Across Tanzania, Medical Refrigerators Preserve Life and Health for Kids with Diabetes
The technology Tanzania’s children with diabetes needed most urgently wasn’t a cutting-edge treatment. It was refrigeration. Local public health clinics across Tanzania provide monthly checkups for…
New York approves cannabis for anxiety. Science says it may not help
A Lancet Psychiatry study found no evidence cannabinoids treat anxiety, PTSD. In NY, any practitioner can certify a patient for medical cannabis for any condition they deem appropriate.
Women’s health innovation is a huge opportunity Philadelphia is in danger of missing
A booming medical market is creating jobs, research and startup funding, and the region has the talent and institutions to become a national leader, a local entrepreneur writes.
Rising Health Costs Push Some Middle-Aged Adults To Skip the Doc Until Medicare
Adults ages 50 through 64 faced some of the steepest increases in out-of-pocket costs for Obamacare plans after a set of federal subsidies expired at the end of December. Some say they are putting off care or considering dropping health insurance coverage until Medicare picks up the bill.
The AI push in health care is deepening medicine’s trust crisis
Health care’s adoption of AI should move at the speed of trust, not investment, writes Oni Blackstock.
Turning coal to medicines: Chinese scientists bring a 160-year-old dream to life
Study cracks a puzzle that has baffled scientists and will reshape modern medicine production as the world reels from a global oil shortage.
Man Born with ‘Butterfly Syndrome’ Is Fighting for Change for ‘the Worst Disease You’ve Never Heard of’ (Exclusive)
Ohio resident Shane DiGiovanna, who has the rare disorder epidermolysis bullosa (EB), is advocating for legislation to help cover costly medical bandages for patients with the disease, which is also known as ‘butterfly syndrome.’
Phillies pitcher Daniel Robert stable after second medical emergency in six months
Daniel Robert suffered a cardiac event Sunday — the second in six months — but was stable after his defibrillator activated
Your Thymus and Your Healthspan
Our thymus gland plays a central role in the development or our immune system, specifically for supporting T cell development (how these cells got their name, maturation and differentiation in the thymus) and discriminating between self and foreign, non-self antigen proteins with production of dendritic cells. As we age, our thymus gland shrinks—the process known as involution—with progressive change from spongy to fatty tissue, with loss of functionality. But this process, with respect to timeline and extent, markedly varies from one person to the next. And to make things even more complicated, our thymus gland anatomy and precise location in the chest also is highly variable. So the famous Frank Netter diagrams from the 1960s (such as at left below) don’t capture the remarkable heterogeneity that a random set of 12 chest CT scans (below at right). What I consider as 2 landmark papers in Nature this week (here and here) used AI to quantify health of the thymus in 2 large cohorts, and then correlate the metric to a broad array of health outcomes. In this edition of Ground Truths, I’m going to cover three questions: (1) How was thymus health determined by AI?; (2) How is thymus health linked to key clinical outcomes? and (3) Are there ways we can promote a healthy (aka rejuvenate) thymus gland in our later years? Subscribe 1. How was thymus health determined by AI? This was accomplished by extensive work developing and validating an AI pipeline for 2 stages, the first for localization and segmentation of the thymus bed, and the second to quantify a digital marker, termed the thymic health score. There’s a lot to this algorithmic development, so I won’t go into all the details, but just provide a rudimentary outline of what was done. The 1st stage used supervised learning with 2 radiologists reviewing 2,461 chest CT scans. That work trained a 3D U-Net model to automatically identify the thymic bed’s 3D cropped region using center of mass coordinates, which reached 99.8% accuracy. The 2nd stage used a foundation model that was pre-trained with SwAV (which stands for Swapping Assignment between multiple Views), a self-supervised model, that generated a high-dimensional thymus representation of 4,096 features. That compares to the radiology reductionist and subjective scoring of 0 to 3 where 0 means the thymus is fully degenerated and fatty, and 3 is considered dense, intact glandular soft tissue. Notably, the self-supervised learning (SSL) performance was superior to supervised (AUC ~0.75 vs 0.55, respectively) reflecting the shallowness of the 0-3 classifier vs SSL’s holistic, self-taught AI. The thymic health score ranged from 0 to 100, with the highest number indexed to fully preserved thymic health. The algorithmic work extended to explainability with both Shapely value distribution, meaning the model was holistic not relying on any “magic” pixel, and occlusion sensitivity, demonstrating the model’s performance was not affected by ribs, sternum, lung tissue, but rather focused on the thymic bed directly. Below are a few saliency maps from the occlusion sensitivity that indicate the thymic bed focus, not affected by neighboring structures, using the jet color scale. Now the AI was ready for processing ~25,000 CT scans, each over 30 MB files, from the 2 large participant cohorts to provide a thymic health score, it did so in less than 14 hours, which is less than 2 seconds per scan! Share 2. How is thymus health linked to key clinical outcomes? The two cohorts were the National Lung Screening Trial, NLST (N=25,031) and the Framingham Heart Study, FHS (N=2,581) each with baseline demographics and long term follow up of >12 years for health outcomes. From the NSLT, you can see below that increased age and body-mass index were correlated to reduced thymic health. And, overall, men had reduced thymic health scores compared with women. There are a lot of graphs in the paper for outcomes, for both the NLST and FHS cohorts. To simplify the major outcomes, below is a composite Figure with striking reduction of all-cause mortality and for the different causes of death. The results were consistent between the 2 cohorts. For example, the cardiovascular mortality hazard ratio average was 0.57 in NLST and 0.38 in FHS (weighted to be 0.53 for the aggregate). The reduction of mortality also extended to digestive diseases and pulmonary disease (data not shown below). Lung cancer incidence was reduced by 36% for high vs low thymic health (Figure below, with a panel -incidence and b panel-mortality, adjusted for age, sex, BMI, smoking status). Notably, there was a smoker’s paradox: lower incidence and improved survival for lung cancer in smokers who had a high thymus health score. Smoking was associated with lower thymic scores whereas alcohol was not. Higher thymic health was linked to higher HDL cholesterol, lower triglycerides, lower fasting blood glucose, and lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Inflammation biomarkers, such as C-reactive protein and interleukin-6, were elevated in the people with lower thymic health scores. In their second paper, the same team looked at the relationship between thymic score and outcomes for 3,476 patients receiving cancer immunotherapy. The non-small cell lung cancer progression-free survival was reduced in patients with low thymic health score. A parallel relationship for survival was seen for other types of cancer including melanoma, breast, and kidney with a 44% lower risk among high thymic scores (Figure). A similar pattern was seen with different immune checkpoint inhibitors. The thymus health score outperformed programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1)and tumor mutation burden (TMB) assay of the tumor and was an independent prognostic marker of progression-free survival. In this dataset, a direct connect with thymus score and adaptive immune function was noted with a correlation before cancer treatment for both T-cell diversity and thymus T-cell production (a metric known as T cell receptor excision circles). Thymus Removal Study There is a highly relevant citation about thymus function before moving onto ways to rejuvenate it. In 2023, a very important study of thymus removal during cardiothoracic surgery was published, with 1146 patients undergoing thymus removal vs 1146 matched controls (mean age 55 years). The adverse outcomes for thymus removal were striking, with a 2.9 higher risk of all-cause mortality and doubling of cancer incidence, 1.5 fold increase in cancer mortality, and 1.5-fold increase in autoimmune diseases. The immune function showed marked compromise after thymus removal, as reflected by CD4+ and CD8+ T cells (Figure below) Share Ground Truths 3. Are there ways we can promote a healthy (aka rejuvenate) thymus gland in our later years? In recent months we’ve learned a lot about the process of thymus involution and the pathways by which this may be modulated. Thymus involution is primarily due to loss to thymus epithelial cells (TECs) and there are 2 subtypes with different functions: the cortical, responsible for positive selection of T cells, and the medullary, for negative selection. When adipose tissue infiltrates the thymus, thymic adipocytes are pro-inflammatory, knocking out T-cell output. Likewise, systemic inflammation, or “inflammaging,” from smoking, obesity, and chronic stress promote thymic adipocytes. Now, from preclinical studies, we know about key pathways that account for these processes. Historically, back in 2014, FOXN1 was recognized as a single master transcription factor essential for TEC function, with studies in mice with forced FOXN1 upregulation leading to thymus regeneration. That laid the foundation for potential regrowth of quiescent thymus cells. It took awhile to find pathways to accomplish this goal and to even refute its role as the master regulator. The Liver-Thymus Axis Feng Zhang and his team recently showed that injection of an mRNA vaccine to the liver encoding DLL1, IL-7 and FLT3-L in combination, factors known to support thymopoiesis (Figure), successfully enhanced immune function in aged mice. However, the effect was transient. The FGF21 Story Two reports in 2025 addressed the thymus gland’s production of FGF21, a growth factor (fibroblast growth factor 21) and its control of thymus involution. This growth factor is also produced by the liver, but it doesn’t have impact on the thymus in aged rodent models. In contrast, The liver’s hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) has been shown to reverse senescent TEC structural changes. Growth hormone stimulates production of insulin growth factor-1 (IGF-1) in the liver and the thymus. Two small studies in human participants (TRIIM, for Thymus Regeneration, Immunorestoration, and Insulin Mitigation) of 6 and 50 people, respectively, treated with combined human growth hormone, metformin and DHEA, suggested the potential of slowing epigenetic aging and improving thymus mass and function. But the combination of drugs, small sample, and lack of controls make conclusions murky. Increased thymus FGF21 led to increased CD8 T cells in old mice and extended healthspan and improved physical performance. Building on the previous FOXN1 data, ablation of β-klotho, the obligatory co-receptor for FOXN1, accelerated thymic aging. The benefit to FGF21 was confirmed in a companion paper using an FGF21 knock-in mouse model showing thymus enlargement and increased TECs throughout the lifespan. (schematic Figure below). The accompanying editorial for these 2 papers speculated: “The proposed link between age-associated thymus involution and organismal aging is intriguing, and suggests we might seek to achieve systemic rejuvenation by counteracting thymic involution.” Other Factors Lessons from the Axolotl (Mexican Salamander) In an elegant set of experiments of the axolotl (Figure), known for its complete thymus regeneration after total surgical removal, mediators were identified. Surprisingly FOXN1 was dispensable. But midkine, a growth factor, appeared to be the driver, the initiator of thymus cell growth, survival, and repair. Other components that contributed were Postn+ (periostin-expressing mesenchymal niches) and Ccl19, a chemokine protein from the bloodstream. RANK and RANKL RANK (receptor activator of nuclear factor κB its ligand (RANKL) have been considered key regulators of medullary TECs. In a study of both aged mice and human thymus cell cultures, their key role was confirmed, with multiple benefits of resorting TEC function, recruitment of progenitor cells, and T cell development. Subscribe Summing Up This body of work strongly supports the health of the thymus gland as a critical regulator of human healthspan, not just a correlate or link. The new landmark studies are reinforced by the regenerative biology experimental models that have shown, via an array of mediators, that healthspan of aged mice is at least in part dependent on thymus gland function and its critical role for maintaining adaptive immunity. It sure seems that we’d be better off having an immune reservoir of naive T cells instead of a profile in older adults of exhausted, low quality, memory T cells, with a senescent phenotype. It is striking that we ignored the importance of the thymus gland for many decades. A wake-up call was the results of the thymectomy matched control study reviewed here, with the opposite of high thymic health score improved health outcomes. The convergence of AI and healthspan here is notable. The exceptional and laborious work for developing and validating (no less explaining) the AI to quantify thymus health set the foundation for probing the connect the major health outcomes in two cohorts with extensive follow-up. We’ve never had a way to meaningfully quantify the thymus gland before, so this represents important leverage of supervised, self-supervised, and transformer models. The study wouldn’t have been possible without AI. And it begs the question as to whether there are ways we can maintain our thymus at a high health score. But it’s not so simple to rejuvenate our thymus. There are multiple risks including the induction of autoimmunity, increasing the risk of cancer, and inducing a pro-inflammatory state. For example, factors that increase TEC proliferation could compromise the medulllary negative selection process and leak out auto-reactive (self-attacking) T cells. Thymic cells could be induced to proliferate, but we know, for example, that growth hormone and IGF-1 are associated with an increase risk of cancer. If thymus rejuvenation doesn’t clear out the accumulated senescent cells in older adults, then inflammation within the gland could block the production of TECs. Keeping these risks in mind, we now have identified many ways to keep our thymus healthy as we age that undoubtedly will be tested in clinical trials going forward. Ultimately, the benefit-to-risk tradeoffs will be defined. In the meantime, we have desperately needed an immunome. As I’ve stressed in multiple prior Ground Truths, we have no test in the clinic to assess a patient’s immune status! It was very encouraging for me to get an email from Hugo Aerts, the senior author of the landmark papers in the days after they were published: “I also wanted to say that your Substack on “Why We Need an Immunome” was inspiring for this work. We found it a very compelling perspective and greatly enjoyed reading it.” Just having an assessment of a person’s immune status via a chest CT scan, with millions of these performed per year, might help in guiding the right immunotherapy for cancer (e.g. more intensive, combinations for those with low thymic health scores) and help define people who are increased risk for age-related diseases of cancer, cardiovascular, and neurodegenerative. The main theme of Super Agers is that we now have many layers of data (genetics, proteins, biomarkers, organ clocks that can be integrated via multimodal AI) for us to define a person’s specific risk decades before one of these age-related diseases leads to symptoms, enabling prevention. From the new studies this week, we can add thymus health score as yet another way to understand a person’s risk, a window into their adaptive immune system and healthspan. And perhaps someday we will be able to safely rejuvenate the thymus, or maintain its health through one’s life, and use the thymus health score to monitor. NB: I wrote this post (No A.I.) A Quick Poll Loading... ********************************************************************* Thanks to Ground Truths subscribers (now > 200,000) from every US state and 212 countries. Your subscription to these free essays and podcasts makes my work in putting them together worthwhile. Please join! If you found this interesting PLEASE share it! Share Ground Truths Paid subscriptions are voluntary and all proceeds from them go to support Scripps Research. They do allow for posting comments and questions, which I do my best to respond to. Please don’t hesitate to post comments and give me feedback. Let me know topics that you would like to see covered. Leave a comment Many thanks to those who have contributed—they have greatly helped fund our summer internship programs for the past two years. It enabled us to accept and support 47 summer interns in 2025! We aim to accept even more of the several thousand who will apply for summer 2026.
NFL draft injury analysis: Caleb Downs, S
Caleb Downs medical report
Rising health costs push some middle-aged adults to skip the doc until Medicare
Adults ages 50 through 64 saw health care costs skyrocket after Obamacare subsidies faded. Now some are delaying care until Medicare kicks in.
Prior authorization can delay needed health care. A new 'Gold Card' targets that bottleneck.
Getting approval for a medical procedure scan or medicine has become a frustrating hurdle in health care as insurers try to ensure that every test is appropriate...
Bridging medical realities in the study of technology and health
Anthropologist and MIT Associate Professor Amy Moran-Thomas studies medical technologies and how they fail to reach some communities. “What anthropology has to offer the world, and other knowledge systems, is the insights of people that might be missing from many accounts,” she says.
Nurses rally in Alameda to protest federal health care cuts
A large group of nurses rallied outside Alameda Hospital as part of a nationwide “Red Alert" tour, protesting proposed federal cuts to Medicare and Medicaid.
IDF strikes on over 100 medical facilities in Lebanon kill 40 medical workers, Health Ministry says
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The reality of death and the Trinitarian “science” of salvation
Readings: • Ez. 37:12-14 • Psa. 130:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8 • Rom. 8:8-11 • Jn. 11:1-45 We live in a time of astounding scientific breakthroughs and unprecedented medical marvels. In my lifetime alone, we’ve witnessed men landing and […]
Doulas can improve health outcomes for women and babies. Insurers are taking notice.
While more Medicaid patients and even some on private plans have gained doula coverage in recent years, United is the first major insurer to begin rolling out the benefit nationwide.
Combating youth suicide tilts increasingly toward early intervention
A suicidal child or teenager may never talk of taking their life. Parents, peers and teachers might not even know they’re living with mental illness. Despite younger generations showing greater openness to discussing mental health struggles, fears of punishment or social exclusion remain, experts say. Even at medical appointments, minors
Israel deliberately targeting medical facilities in south Lebanon, say health workers
Medics and officials say there is systematic use of double-tap strikes in campaign to make the south uninhabitable
Israel strikes Hezbollah's civilian as well as military wings in an attempt to crush the group
An Israeli strike has hit a Hezbollah-run health center in southern Lebanon and killed 12 medical workers, as Israel widens its campaign beyond fighters
California Health Sciences University medical student celebrates full-circle moment on Match Day
Friday was a big day for medical students across the country. It's Match Day.
LVRJ Business 7@7 | Developer breaks ground on new apartment complex in Las Vegas Medical District
Developer breaks ground on new apartment complex in Las Vegas Medical District
RFK Jr. Touts Food as Medicine. He Often Overstates the Science, Experts Say.
The nation's health secretary recently claimed that diet can 'cure' schizophrenia and diabetes
New Generations Urgent Care opens in Redding to meet growing health care needs
A new urgent care clinic, Generations Urgent Care, has opened in Redding, aiming to expand access to medical services in the Northstate.Co-owners Dr. Eryn Simmo
What I’m seeing at Astros camp: Brice Matthews’ OF bid, Cam Smith’s mindset, more medical changes
Houston hired a new director of sports medicine and performance, and a new assistant athletic trainer.
Automatic enrollment in Medicare Advantage plans under consideration, top Trump health official says
The idea could be a major win for the health insurance industry, which has seen a crackdown on Medicare Advantage in recent years.
LA County CEO announces plan to resign, citing health concerns
Fesia Davenport has been on a monthslong medical leave, during which she’s faced scrutiny over a $2 million settlement she received. She plans to step…
New study links more immigrants with lower elderly mortality
Researchers say among newcomers are medical, long-term care workers who are arriving amid critical U.S. shortage.
Chuck Norris, 'Walker, Texas Ranger' star and martial artist, dies at 86
The "Walker, Texas Ranger" star reportedly had an undisclosed medical emergency on the island of Kauai.
Four Key Moments: Hearing on Improving Kidney Health Through Better Prevention and Innovative Treatment
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Medicare’s coverage and reimbursement policies for chronic kidney disease (CKD), and its most severe form, end-stage renal disease...
Jefferson Health hit with $108 million verdict in Einstein birth injury case
The verdict is the biggest medical malpractice verdict in the city since a record-setting $183 million award against Penn Medicine three yeas ago in another birth-injury case.
The R.I.-based pharmacy giant also owns health insurer Aetna and pharmacy benefit manager Caremark, allowing it to control how medications are priced, prescribed, and dispensed
CVS owns health insurer Aetna and pharmacy benefit manager Caremark, allowing it to control how medications are priced, prescribed, and dispensed.