Health

THANKS, DARPA!:

COVID-19 mRNA vaccines could unlock the next revolution in cancer treatment – new research (Adam Grippin & Christiano Marconi, 10/22/25, The Conversation)

[W]e looked at clinical outcomes for more than 1,000 late-stage melanoma and lung cancer patients treated with a type of immunotherapy called immune checkpoint inhibitors. This treatment is a common approach doctors use to train the immune system to kill cancer. It does this by blocking a protein that tumor cells make to turn off immune cells, enabling the immune system to continue killing cancer.

Remarkably, patients who received either the Pfizer or Moderna mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine within 100 days of starting immunotherapy were more than twice as likely to be alive after three years compared with those who didn’t receive either vaccine. Surprisingly, patients with tumors that don’t typically respond well to immunotherapy also saw very strong benefits, with nearly fivefold improvement in three-year overall survival. This link between improved survival and receiving a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine remained strong even after we controlled for factors like disease severity and co-occurring conditions.

To understand the underlying mechanism, we turned to animal models. We found that COVID-19 mRNA vaccines act like an alarm, triggering the body’s immune system to recognize and kill tumor cells and overcome the cancer’s ability to turn off immune cells. When combined, vaccines and immune checkpoint inhibitors coordinate to unleash the full power of the immune system to kill cancer cells.

ALL IN YOUR HEAD:

Lifetime of Friendships Slows Aging (Tyler Santora October 10, 2025, Nautilus)

For the new study, researchers compared social experiences across the lifespan of more than 2,100 middle-aged adults in the United States to the biological clock embedded in their DNA. The hands of these biological clocks consist of epigenetic changes to DNA—specifically, patterns in the addition of a chemical called a methyl group to certain genes. Such methylation doesn’t cause mutation; rather, the process turns the gene on or off in different cells of the body at different times. Over time, methylation patterns on certain genes change and can be used as markers of biological aging, a measure of how rapidly cells wear down that can be faster or slower than aging by the calendar. An older biological age is a strong predictor of chronic disease and early death.

The researchers measured social connection in a variety of settings over time to show that people with more social activity and sincere, long-lasting relationships aged more slowly. “We found that the depth and consistency of social connection, built across decades and different areas of life, matters profoundly,” says Anthony Ong, a psychologist at Cornell University. “Strong and sustained social networks appear to actually set back a person’s biological clock.”

HOW MUCH TO STOP WHINGEING?:

Pain gets a price tag: New method outshines standard pain assessments (Paul McClure, September 29, 2025, New Atlas)

Alongside these pain assessments using traditional methods, the researchers tested their “monetary equivalence” (ME) method. Participants were repeatedly asked whether they would accept a certain amount of money to experience the same painful stimulus again, or choose a smaller amount to avoid it. Example: “Would you rather get 15 Swiss francs and feel the pain again, or 10 Swiss francs and no pain?” The point where a participant switched from “no pain” to “pain” revealed how much the pain was “worth” to them in monetary terms. Two versions of the ME method were tested: ME1, where questions were listed in increasing order of money (enforcing consistency); and ME2, where the same questions were asked randomly (allowing for some inconsistency).

Across all three experiments, the monetary methods (ME1 and ME2) outperformed the traditional scales at distinguishing between high- and low-pain conditions. Effect sizes – that is, how strongly the measure distinguished between groups – were dramatically larger for ME1 and ME2 (“very large”) compared to standard pain scales (“small to medium”). Even in the analgesic study, where traditional scales often failed or even showed misleading results (for example, participants reporting more pain after receiving an analgesic), the monetary measures correctly and significantly detected differences. This likely happened because participants expected the anesthetic to eliminate the pain completely, and when it didn’t, they rated their pain higher. It’s a psychological effect the monetary method avoids.

THE LEAST EFFICIENT SOCIALISTS:

U.S. Health Care: The Free-market Myth (Michael F. Cannon, Fall 2025, National Affairs)

Many critiques of U.S. health care begin with the assumption that, as The Economist put it, the United States is “one of the only developed countries where health care is mostly left to the free market.” Dr. David Blumenthal, a former advisor to President Barack Obama, told the New York Times in 2013 that in the United States, “we like to consider health care a free market.” That assumption gets the situation backward: In truth, among wealthy nations, the United States may have one of the least-free health-care markets.

In a free market, government would control 0% of health spending. Yet the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) reports that in the United States, government controls 84% of health spending. In fact, government controls a larger share of health spending in the United States than in 27 out of 38 OECD-member nations, including the United Kingdom (83%) and Canada (73%), each of which has an explicitly socialized health-care system. When it comes to government control of health spending, the United States is closer to communist Cuba (89%) than the average OECD nation (75%).

Either a nationalized scheme or universal HSAs would yield a less expensive system with better outcomes.

ALL IN YOUR HEAD:

Chronic pain worsened by harsh self-criticism, study finds (Bronwyn Thompson, September 10, 2025, New Atlas)
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A new study has found that people living with chronic pain tend to be more perfectionistic, less self-compassionate and – depending on the measure – less confident in their ability to cope.

because they aren’t coping?

TO PARAPHRASE YOGI: 90% OF HEALTH IS HALF MENTAL

The Mere Sight of Someone Sick Triggers an Immune Response, Study Suggests: Researchers equipped study participants with virtual reality headsets and observed how their brains and immune systems reacted to avatars with signs of illness (Sara Hashemi, July 31, 2025, Smithsonian)

The study is “unique in demonstrating that people’s immune system can be primed just by the visual recognition that someone looks sick,” Irwin adds to Simon Makin at Science News. “That’s really remarkable.”

Or un.

ALL IN YOUR HEAD:

Gluten Could Be Wrongly Blamed for Americans’ Stomach Trouble (Ed Cara, July 22, 2025, Gizmodo)

“These findings suggest that expectations played a major role in symptom generation and that only some of these patients could benefit from gluten or wheat restriction,” they wrote in their paper, published Monday in The Lancet Gastroenetrology and Hepatology.

We so devoutly wish to be special.

A RANGE OF PLACEBOES:

64 widely available “mood-boosting” supplements are put to the test (Bronwyn Thompson, July 14, 2025, New Atlas)

The most comprehensively studied products were omega-3s (39 trials), St John’s wort (38), prebiotics (18) and vitamin D (14) – as well as saffron (18), which is popular in the Middle East and Asia.

As far as relieving depression symptoms, there was little conclusive evidence that omega-3 supplements had any impact; the scientists found more studies produced no effects than those that showed some, compared to a placebo. In 2021, we covered one such study that failed to show omega-3 supplements played any role in treating depression.

St John’s wort and saffron had the strongest positive outcomes, with studies showing these two distinct supplements worked, compared to a placebo, and were on par with existing prescription antidepressants. And gut-health probiotics, as well as vitamin D, reduced depressive symptoms to some degree in their respective controlled trials.

But overall, the researchers found a distinct lack of multiple trials for many emerging OTC products, which shows how far the science is lagging behind as the wellbeing supplements market continues to grow. More than 40 of the 64 products had only a single clinical study completed on them to date.

Do whatever you believe will work.

GET YOUR HEAD STRAIGHT:

Negative thinking associated with worse asthma outcomes (Paul McClure, July 11, 2025, New Atlas)

New research suggests that expectations are associated with asthma outcomes. People who thought more negatively about their condition reported worse symptoms, adding to growing evidence about the mind-body connection and its influence on health.