National Center for Health Research

National Center for Health Research The National Center for Health Research NCHR is a voice you can trust, providing health information you can use.

The National Center for Health Research is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that is dedicated to improving the lives of adults and children.

A coalition of 25 states and Washington DC is suing the over new restrictions on federal graduate student loans that w...
05/19/2026

A coalition of 25 states and Washington DC is suing the over new restrictions on federal graduate student loans that would worsen the shortage.

We are glad states are challenging these harmful limits, which would make it harder for students to become , , social workers, therapists, and other urgently needed health professionals. Many rural communities are already facing serious physician shortages.

Limiting loans so drastically could force students to rely on expensive private loans, delay graduation, or abandon healthcare careers altogether — worsening shortages that already affect communities across the country.

We can’t improve the health of adults and children without these professionals.


The lawsuit comes after the Education Department finalized rules that reduce the amount of money graduate students can borrow from the federal government.

Men over 50 want to know: Should we get PSA screenings for prostate cancer? And if so, how often?Prostate cancer is co...
05/16/2026

Men over 50 want to know: Should we get PSA screenings for prostate cancer? And if so, how often?

Prostate cancer is common in men over 50, but is not usually deadly. PSA screenings can help diagnose cancer earlier, but can also result in treating small, slow-growing cancers that will never be deadly. Unfortunately, the treatment has numerous side effects that can be distressing.

This recently updated article can help you decide what's best for you, and if you have questions you can ask your doctor with a better idea of the risks and benefits of PSA screening.

PSA screening detects prostate cancer early but often causes false alarms & unneeded treatment with harmful complications. Learn if it is a good idea for you.

The is in turmoil, both before and after the FDA Commissioner was forced to resign. We told The Hill (Capitol Hill new...
05/15/2026

The is in turmoil, both before and after the FDA Commissioner was forced to resign. We told The Hill (Capitol Hill newspaper) that “Our concern is that although Marty really did offend just about everybody, the reason why he lost his job seems to have been focused on a few decisions” that annoyed political appointees and donors and friends of the White House.

Patients and leaders deserve “a more scientific-based, evidence-based FDA" that we can trust to make the right decisions. Scientific evidence can be mixed, and we all deserve to know how clear the evidence is and what is known and not known about risks and benefits. In recent months, public scientific discussions were too often replaced with one-sided "expert panels" and simplistic podcasts.

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5877025-fda-resignation-trump-pressure/

Marty Makary’s resignation from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) may help release some pressure by removing one of the Trump administration’s more embattled health leaders. But t…

Do you need "smart underwear"? In a new study, scientists used “smart underwear” with a wearable gas sensor to detect hy...
05/15/2026

Do you need "smart underwear"?

In a new study, scientists used “smart underwear” with a wearable gas sensor to detect hydrogen gas produced during digestion. They found that many people with produced much more gas after than they realized. People’s perceptions of digestive symptoms don’t always match what’s happening biologically.

The smart underwear could help scientists better understand gastrointestinal conditions like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and other digestive disorders.

Think dairy doesn’t affect you that much? Your underwear might disagree.



https://www.the-scientist.com/smart-underwear-tracks-farts-in-real-time-74430?

Some people with lactose intolerance think they don’t fart much after eating dairy. A new device that measures hydrogen metabolized by gut microbes says that’s not the case.

Why is it so hard for some patients to stop taking and other — and why weren’t they warned about the risks before st...
05/14/2026

Why is it so hard for some patients to stop taking and other — and why weren’t they warned about the risks before starting these drugs?

Millions of Americans, including children, take antidepressants. It doesn't help all patients, and it can stop helping patients after taking them for a while, and stopping the drugs can be difficult. Doctors suggest tapering off gradually, but there are differences of opinion about how to do that. A growing number of patients report severe withdrawal symptoms when tapering off the drugs too quickly, including insomnia, dizziness, anxiety, nausea, irritability, and “brain zaps” — a sudden electric shock sensation. Researchers now report that patients may benefit from much slower and more individualized tapering plans.

SSRIs affect the brain, so we need more research on their long-term effects — especially on children’s developing brains. should support that kind of research by the nation’s best researchers, and should require companies to provide better evidence about the effects of taking these drugs for many years.


After years in the shadows, doctors and health officials are reckoning with the challenges of getting off antidepressants.

-generated fake citations are quietly spreading through — and the problem is getting worse fast.A new study of nearly...
05/13/2026

-generated fake citations are quietly spreading through — and the problem is getting worse fast.

A new study of nearly 2.5 million biomedical papers found more than 4,000 fabricated references across over 2,800 published studies. In 2023, about 1 in 2,800 papers contained at least one fake citation. By early 2026, that rose to about 1 in 277 papers.

Large language models (LLMs) can generate references that look real — complete with plausible titles, authors, and publication dates — even when the studies do not actually exist.

When medical journal articles make up studies to support the authors’ views on medical treatments, we can no longer trust their conclusions. That means articles are being published based on fraudulent evidence, resulting in medical decisions based on inaccurate information.

Now that we see how common this problem is becoming, how will doctors or patients know what information to trust?


Breaking Information Technology news, features, and health policy reporting from MedPage Today that impacts the medical community.

President has nominated Jim O’Neill — a Silicon Valley investor and former Trump administration official with no scien...
05/13/2026

President has nominated Jim O’Neill — a Silicon Valley investor and former Trump administration official with no scientific background — to lead the National Foundation ( ).

If confirmed, O’Neill would become the first NSF director who is not a scientist or engineer. The nomination has raised concerns among scientists and public health advocates, especially as the administration implemented devastating cuts to funding and purged its advisory board.

In an interview with Salon, NCHR President Dr. Diana Zuckerman explained why scientific expertise matters at NSF:
“You can be very smart and be very good in the financial world,” she said. “But science has a different level of evidence, and it has a different interest in long-term benefits and not the sort of short-term, ‘get the price of a stock up and then sell it.’”

NSF research has saved lives. It deserves a leader whose goals for NSF aren’t focused on business interests.


Jim O'Neill, a longevity enthusiast and vaccine skeptic, is Trump's pick to head the National Science Foundation

Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary resigned under pressure after months of controversy surrounding FDA decisions on flavore...
05/12/2026

Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary resigned under pressure after months of controversy surrounding FDA decisions on flavored e-cigarettes, vaccines, abortion drugs, biologics, and biased meetings and podcasts on numerous medical products.

NCHR President Diana Zuckerman told The New York Times:
“He has offended almost everyone involved in F.D.A. issues, which is not easy to do. But it would still be a disaster if he is replaced by someone who appeals primarily to ***co companies, anti-abortion activists, and pharmaceutical lobbyists.”

FDA should protect — not political or industry interests.


The agency’s top food official will step in to the role after Dr. Makary privately said he opposed the administration decision to approve flavored vapes.

Could eating eggs help reduce the risk of 's Disease?A new study found that older adults who ate eggs regularly had a l...
05/12/2026

Could eating eggs help reduce the risk of 's Disease?

A new study found that older adults who ate eggs regularly had a lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. Participants who ate at least 5 eggs per week had a 27% lower risk compared to those who ate none. Prefer just one or two eggs each week? Those adults were also somewhat less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease.

Nutrients found in eggs — especially choline, along with DHA, lutein, and tryptophan — may help support and .

More research is needed to confirm these results, but smaller studies have had similar findings.


A study from researchers at Loma Linda University in California suggests a specific nutrient-rich food — fairly frequently — could be linked to lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease among older adults.…

A 62-year-old man died in a after lying naked on the floor struggling to breathe for more than 30 minutes on the day h...
05/11/2026

A 62-year-old man died in a after lying naked on the floor struggling to breathe for more than 30 minutes on the day he was supposed to be released from jail.

An autopsy later found he had pneumonia and COVID-19 and should have been hospitalized.

The jail’s healthcare provider was affiliated with , a company that provides healthcare for many jails and detention facilities. Armor Health has faced hundreds of lawsuits alleging inadequate medical care and delayed hospitalization of . The company was also criminally convicted in Wisconsin after an inmate died of dehydration under its care.

People in jails are supposed to receive medical care during health crises. While many other states ended contracts with the company, Florida continued relying on it.


Most of Florida’s jails have stopped contracting with Armor Health companies, which have been sued repeatedly for subpar care. Only one jail, where Brian Tracey died, still uses a company affiliated with Armor.

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