Health Journal Online

Category: Diseases & Conditions

  • FTC Alleges a Telehealth Company Sent Users’ Health Conditions to Ad Platforms After Promising Discretion

    FTC Alleges a Telehealth Company Sent Users’ Health Conditions to Ad Platforms After Promising Discretion

    Federal regulators have accused one of the largest direct-to-consumer telehealth companies of routing customers’ health conditions to advertising platforms while marketing itself on privacy.

    The Federal Trade Commission, joined by Utah and by California through Los Angeles County Counsel, sued Hims and Hers Health on July 29 in federal court in San Francisco. The complaint alleges the company shared sensitive health information about medical conditions with third-party advertising platforms despite promising privacy, and separately alleges deceptive billing and cancellation practices.

    None of this has been proven. The company disputes the allegations and says it will defend itself. A complaint is an accusation, and the court has made no findings.

    The reason it matters to readers who have never used the platform is the category. The conditions named are the ones people specifically seek online care for because they do not want to discuss them in person.

    What the Complaint Says Moved, and Where

    The alleged mechanism is a tracking pixel, a small piece of code embedded in a web page that reports visitor activity back to a third party. Pixels are ordinary infrastructure across commercial websites. They become a health privacy question when the page being tracked reveals a medical condition.

    According to the complaint as reported by TechCrunch, the company placed trackers supplied by Meta and Snap as well as Microsoft, Pinterest, Reddit, and X. The FTC also alleges the company uploaded lists of certain customers to advertising platforms, a separate practice from pixel tracking that matches known customer identities against platform user accounts.

    The service lines named in reporting on the complaint include erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation, hair loss, weight management, and mental health. The FTC’s contention is that the company advertised privacy and discretion for exactly these categories while the data pipeline ran the other direction.

    Christopher Mufarrige, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in the agency’s announcement that the complaint describes “consumers unknowingly locked into recurring subscriptions” alongside disclosure of private health information without consent.

    The Billing Allegations Sit Alongside the Privacy Ones

    The complaint pairs the data claims with allegations about money, which is unusual and is part of why the case is being watched.

    Regulators allege the company advertised free consultations and displayed language indicating no payment was due at intake, then charged consumers and enrolled them in recurring subscriptions once a provider wrote a prescription, in some cases before any consultation had occurred. The complaint further alleges that cancellation was made difficult, leaving some customers paying for refills they did not want.

    The cited legal authorities are the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act, a 2010 statute governing online negative-option billing, which requires clear disclosure of terms, informed consent before charging, and a simple cancellation mechanism.

    The company has responded firmly. In statements reported by BioPharma Dive and others, Hims and Hers called the claims baseless, said its privacy policy makes clear that users may choose how their data is used, and said it is confident in its position. It did not explicitly deny the specific factual allegations in the statements reported.

    A Pattern the Agency Has Pursued Before

    This is not a novel theory of enforcement. The FTC brought similar actions against GoodRx and BetterHelp in 2023, and against the telehealth startup Cerebral and the alcohol recovery provider Monument, in each case alleging that consumer health data reached advertising platforms through website technology.

    The industry has responded to that pressure. Pixel deployment on hospital websites fell from about 98 percent in 2021 to roughly 30 percent in 2025, according to tracking data compiled by health marketing analytics firm Hedy and Hopp and reported by Bloomberg Law. That figure describes hospitals rather than direct-to-consumer telehealth, and should not be read as a measure of the latter.

    One legal point is worth understanding because it surprises people. Most direct-to-consumer telehealth platforms operate in a space where HIPAA’s application is contested or limited, which is part of why the FTC rather than the HHS Office for Civil Rights is the agency bringing this case. Consumers frequently assume that anything involving a prescription is covered by federal medical privacy law. That assumption does not reliably hold for app-based commercial health services.

    Steps for Anyone Who Has Used a Telehealth Platform

    Nobody should stop needed treatment over a privacy dispute, and nothing here suggests any medication is unsafe. The relevant actions are about accounts and settings.

    Check advertising controls on the platforms named. Meta, Google, and other services allow users to review and delete off-site activity that businesses have shared, and to limit how that data informs ad targeting. Those controls are typically found under account settings labeled activity, ad preferences, or data sharing.

    Review recurring charges. Anyone enrolled in a telehealth subscription can check the current billing terms, the renewal date, and the cancellation process, and should document the date and method of any cancellation request. Consumers who believe they were charged without consent can dispute the charge with their card issuer and file a complaint with the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

    For future care, consider that browsing a condition-specific page on a commercial health site is not equivalent to a conversation in an exam room. Care delivered through a health system patient portal generally does sit under HIPAA. That is a meaningful difference for anyone who considers the condition itself sensitive.

    Several things remain unresolved. The company has not filed its formal response. No court has ruled on any allegation. How many consumers were affected, what specific data elements moved, and what remedy regulators will seek are all matters for the litigation. MedicalDaily will report the company’s answer and any rulings.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    What did the FTC allege? That Hims and Hers shared consumers’ sensitive health information with third-party advertising platforms despite promising privacy, and separately deceived users about billing and cancellation.

    Have the allegations been proven? No. The complaint was filed July 29, 2026, and no court has made findings. The company calls the claims baseless and says it will defend itself.

    What is a tracking pixel? A small piece of code embedded in a web page that reports visitor activity to a third party. It becomes a health privacy issue when the page reveals a medical condition.

    Which platforms are named? Reporting on the complaint identifies Meta and Snap along with Microsoft, Pinterest, Reddit, and X.

    Does HIPAA cover telehealth apps? Not always. Many direct-to-consumer platforms operate outside or at the edges of HIPAA, which is why the FTC rather than HHS is bringing this action.

    What can users do now? Review ad and data-sharing settings on the named platforms, check subscription billing terms and cancellation processes, and document any cancellation request.

    Has the FTC done this before? Yes. It brought similar cases against GoodRx and BetterHelp in 2023, and against Cerebral and Monument.

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  • Three Medical Device Categories Established in 2023 Are Now Officially Codified by the FDA

    Three Medical Device Categories Established in 2023 Are Now Officially Codified by the FDA

    The FDA published three final orders on July 24 creating permanent regulatory categories for a test that estimates how fast chronic kidney disease will progress, a prescription app that delivers behavioral therapy for diabetes, and at-home COVID tests.

    Each one reads like news. None of it happened this month.

    All three orders codify classifications the agency already granted in mid 2023. The kidney test category became applicable on June 29, 2023, the COVID test category on June 6, 2023, and the diabetes app category on July 7, 2023. What changed last week is that the classifications now appear in the Code of Federal Regulations, at sections 862.1223, 866.3984, and 880.5735.

    That distinction matters because nothing became newly available, newly covered by insurance, or newly recommended. The value in these documents is in the limitations FDA wrote into each category, which are more restrictive than the product names suggest.

    What Each Category Actually Covers

    The kidney category came from Renalytix AI’s KidneyIntelX.dkd, submitted in August 2020. FDA defines the generic type as an in vitro diagnostic that measures one or more analytes from human samples as an aid in assessing the risk of chronic kidney disease progression.

    Then it draws hard boundaries. The regulation states the device is “not intended for diagnosis of any disease,” and separately that it is not intended for serial monitoring of kidney disease progression or for monitoring the effect of any therapeutic product. Labeling must carry those limits.

    That is a narrower tool than most patients would assume. Standard kidney measures, estimated glomerular filtration rate and urine albumin, are used both to stage disease and to track it over time. A prognostic test in this category answers a different question once: how likely is this to get worse? It cannot tell a patient whether they are improving or whether a medication is working, and FDA explicitly forbids marketing it for that.

    The diabetes category came from Better Therapeutics’ BT-001, submitted in September 2022. FDA defines it as a prescription software device providing digital behavioral therapy to aid diabetes management, and the agency’s own language is strikingly modest: the device is “intended to provide limited secondary benefit” to patients, and is “not intended to replace any primary treatment, such as diet/lifestyle changes or medication.“

    Required labeling goes further. It must state the device is not for standalone therapy, not a substitute for prescribed therapy or medication, should not be used by people with unstable psychiatric disorders, and is not intended to treat any psychiatric disorder or symptoms.

    Notably, among the risks FDA identified for this category is that treatment could result in anxiety, depressed mood, depression, stress, or suicidal ideation. That is an unusual hazard list for a diabetes product, and it explains the psychiatric exclusions.

    The COVID category came from Cue Health’s Cue COVID-19 Molecular Test, submitted in May 2022, and covers at-home tests used by lay users without a health care provider.

    The COVID Rule Is Where the Consumer Detail Sits

    The at-home test regulation reads like a list of everything that goes wrong when people test themselves, converted into mandatory labeling.

    Manufacturers must state that “positive results do not rule out co-infection with other respiratory pathogens,” and that a negative result does not exclude infection with something else. They must warn that the test is not a substitute for consulting a clinician and should not be used to determine treatment without provider supervision.

    Two requirements deserve attention from anyone who keeps tests in a drawer. Labels must state that expired tests can produce incorrect results, and that accuracy depends on proper storage, which is a real issue for kits stored in hot cars or unheated garages. Labels must also state that false positives become more likely when community prevalence is low.

    The variant requirement is the most interesting. Labeling must name the strain or variant that was dominant when performance was established, warn that accuracy may change as new viruses emerge, and advise that lab-based PCR testing should be considered when a new variant is suspected. Manufacturers must continuously monitor for genetic mutations and, if FDA asks, submit evaluations within 48 hours.

    The rule also builds in emergency machinery. If a public health emergency involving SARS-CoV-2 is declared, manufacturers have 30 days from FDA notification to test their device against characterized samples and 60 days to publish results, continuing for three years.

    Performance has a floor: clinical studies must show the lower bound of the two-sided 95% confidence interval for positive percent agreement exceeding 70%. That is a meaningful number for readers to hold, because it means a test in this category can legitimately miss a substantial share of infections.

    What This Changes for Patients

    Almost nothing, immediately, and that is the honest answer.

    Class II with special controls means a device type avoids the automatic class III designation that would otherwise require premarket approval. The practical effect is on manufacturers rather than patients: once FDA classifies a device type this way, later companies can use the less burdensome 510(k) pathway instead of filing their own De Novo request. FDA said each action would “enhance patients’ access to beneficial innovation, in part by reducing regulatory burdens.“

    Over time, that can mean more competitors and lower prices in a category. It is not a promise, and FDA has not exempted any of these three types from 510(k) review, so individual products still need their own authorization.

    For patients, the useful takeaways are about expectations. Anyone offered a kidney progression test should understand it estimates risk once and is not a monitoring tool, and should ask what the result would change about their care. Anyone prescribed a diabetes therapy app should know FDA classified it as providing limited secondary benefit alongside, not instead of, medication and lifestyle change. Anyone using at-home COVID tests should check expiration dates, consider how the kit was stored, and treat a negative result during a new variant wave as less reliable than a PCR.

    Nobody should start, stop, or change a medication, or skip a monitoring test, based on any of this.

    One thing readers may notice: two of the three companies whose submissions created these categories have had well-publicized business difficulties since 2023, which is worth verifying before publication and which illustrates that a regulatory category outlasts the product that established it.

    What Happens Next

    Comments are closed on all three orders, which took effect on publication. The categories now function as predicates, so the next observable developments would be 510(k) clearances of similar devices, and any future FDA decision to exempt a type from premarket notification.

    The bottom line: FDA codified three device categories on July 24, all of which were actually classified in 2023, covering a kidney progression test, a prescription diabetes therapy app, and at-home COVID tests. Patients considering any of the three should note the limits FDA wrote into each. The reasonable action is to ask what a given test or app would change about care. The central uncertainty is whether these categories attract competing products.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    What did FDA actually do? It published final orders adding three device categories to the Code of Federal Regulations. The underlying classifications were granted in June and July 2023.

    Does this mean new tests are available? No. The devices that created these categories have been legally marketable since 2023. No new product launched.

    What does the kidney test do? It estimates the risk that chronic kidney disease will progress. FDA states it is not for diagnosis, not for serial monitoring, and not for tracking whether a treatment is working.

    Can a diabetes app replace my medication? No. FDA classified this device type as providing limited secondary benefit and requires labeling stating it is not a substitute for prescribed therapy or medication.

    Who should not use a diabetes therapy app? FDA requires labeling stating it should not be used by people with unstable psychiatric disorders and is not intended to treat psychiatric conditions.

    What changed for at-home COVID tests? Nothing you buy changed. The codified rule requires labeling about expiration, storage, variant limitations, co-infection, and when to seek PCR testing.

    How accurate must an at-home COVID test be? Clinical studies must show the lower bound of the two-sided 95% confidence interval for positive percent agreement above 70%, meaning some infections will be missed.

    Does class II mean FDA approved it? Class II devices generally require premarket notification, a 510(k), rather than premarket approval. FDA has not exempted any of these three types from that requirement.

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  • Following Hailuo, Can Hyper-Realistic AI Videos Change How We Think, Feel, or Even What We Trust?

    Following Hailuo, Can Hyper-Realistic AI Videos Change How We Think, Feel, or Even What We Trust?

    Chinese artificial intelligence company MiniMax has expanded its push into AI-assisted filmmaking with the launch of MiniMax Hub, an all-in-one creative platform powered by its Hailuo AI models. Introduced during the 2026 Shanghai International Film Festival, the platform brings together AI-generated images, video, audio, and editing tools within a single workspace, allowing users to move through much of the production process without switching between multiple applications. Users can describe a project using natural language or upload reference materials, while Hub’s AI agent helps coordinate different stages of production.

    The launch comes as MiniMax continues to promote Hailuo as a platform for filmmakers and other creative professionals seeking to streamline content creation. At the same time, the company remains involved in an ongoing copyright lawsuit brought by Disney, Universal, and Warner Bros. Discovery, which allege that MiniMax used copyrighted works to train its AI system without authorization. MiniMax disputes those allegations, and the litigation remains ongoing.

    Artificial or Real? MiniMax’s Hailuo Renews Questions About AI Videos and Mental Health

    MiniMax has highlighted Hailuo and MiniMax Hub at film industry events, presenting the platform as a way to assist creators throughout the filmmaking process. According to the company, Hub integrates multiple AI capabilities into a single environment so users can generate visual assets, create videos from text prompts or reference images, produce audio, and edit projects without relying on several separate AI applications.

    The platform is designed to generate a wide variety of creative content, including cinematic video clips, animated sequences, stylized visuals, and other multimedia assets for film and digital media production. MiniMax says the goal is to simplify production workflows by allowing an AI agent to coordinate multiple creative tasks within one interface.

    The launch has also arrived amid broader debate surrounding generative AI. Supporters argue that integrated AI tools could help reduce production time and lower technical barriers for creators, while critics have raised concerns about copyright, artistic ownership, misinformation, and the growing realism of AI-generated media. Those discussions have intensified alongside legal challenges involving several AI companies, including MiniMax.

    The Continued Studies on the Psychological Effects of Increasingly Realistic AI-Generated Media

    As generative AI systems become capable of producing increasingly realistic images and videos, psychologists and digital media researchers are examining how synthetic content may influence mental well-being and public trust. While research is still emerging, existing evidence suggests that prolonged exposure to highly convincing AI-generated media may contribute to information overload and make it more difficult for people to distinguish authentic material from synthetic content.

    Research has suggested that this growing uncertainty could contribute to cognitive overload and reduce confidence in digital information, particularly as AI-generated content becomes more common online. However, scientists have not established that AI-generated media alone directly causes these outcomes, and they continue to emphasize the need for long-term research to better understand its psychological effects.

    Mental health experts have also raised concerns that highly convincing synthetic media, particularly when used to spread misinformation or create deceptive content, could contribute to anxiety, stress, or emotional manipulation in some situations. Current research suggests these are plausible concerns, but the evidence remains limited, and researchers continue to investigate how AI-generated media may affect emotional well-being over time. Many experts have also called for greater transparency and clear disclosure when AI-generated content is presented to the public.

    Creativity In the Age of Generative AI

    MiniMax Hub reflects the rapid evolution of generative AI from standalone image and video generators into integrated creative platforms capable of supporting larger portions of the production process. For filmmakers and other creative professionals, these tools may offer new ways to speed up production and experiment with visual storytelling.

    At the same time, the technology has renewed discussion about copyright, authenticity, transparency, and public trust in digital media. As AI-generated content becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish from real footage, ongoing research and thoughtful safeguards will be important to understanding both the opportunities and the potential risks associated with this technology.

    Many questions remain unanswered; however, MiniMax’s latest announcement shows how advances in generative AI are reshaping creative work while underscoring the importance of continued scientific research, responsible development, and informed public discussion as these tools become more widely adopted.

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  • Repeated Weight Loss and Regain Was Tied to Four Times More Thigh Muscle Loss in a Four-Year MRI Study

    Repeated Weight Loss and Regain Was Tied to Four Times More Thigh Muscle Loss in a Four-Year MRI Study

    People whose weight repeatedly went down and back up over four years lost nearly four times as much thigh muscle as people whose weight stayed steady, and they ended the period weighing about the same as when they started.

    That is the central finding of an imaging study of 1,433 middle-aged adults, published in Radiology by a team from the University of California, San Francisco, and described in a UCSF release.

    The number that matters: weight cyclers lost about 3.7% of thigh muscle volume over 48 months, compared with about 1% among people whose weight remained relatively stable.

    Two clarifications belong immediately. This is an observational study, not a trial, so it shows an association rather than proof that weight cycling caused the muscle loss. And nobody in it was taking a GLP-1 medication, which matters given how the finding is being framed elsewhere.

    What the MRI Study Measured

    The researchers drew on the Osteoarthritis Initiative, a long-running, NIH-funded cohort of adults at elevated risk for knee osteoarthritis. That is a specific population, not a general sample of American adults.

    Participants received MRI scans over four years. Using artificial intelligence to analyze the images, the team measured thigh muscle volume, fat located within the muscle, and fat surrounding the knee. Direct imaging is the methodological advance here, since most weight-cycling research has relied on scales, body-composition estimates, or self-reported dieting history.

    The 3.7% versus 1% gap held after the researchers accounted for age, sex, baseline body mass index, physical activity, diet, and other health factors. The published conclusion states that among participants who maintained stable weight over 48 months, “weight cycling was associated with an increased loss of MRI-based thigh muscle volume.”

    Notably, the team found no evidence of a difference between groups in the change in intermuscular fat proportion. The signal was in muscle volume, not fat infiltration.

    Why the Muscle Did Not Come Back

    The detail driving the coverage is directional. Weight came back. Muscle did not.

    “When people’s weight cycled, they lost tremendous amounts of muscle along with the fat,” said Thomas Link, MD, PhD, professor of radiology, who led the study with co-first authors Adrian A. Marth, MD, and Gabby Joseph, PhD. He noted the muscle was not regained.

    The mechanism is plausible and long suspected. Weight lost through calorie restriction includes lean tissue as well as fat, and regain is more efficiently deposited as fat than as muscle unless resistance training and adequate protein intake are part of the process. Repeat that cycle several times and the composition of a stable-looking body weight shifts.

    The illustrative case UCSF released is striking but is a single participant, not a study result: one 62-year-old man’s thigh muscle volume fell 16% over 48 months while his BMI dropped only 1.6%. It shows how invisible this can be on a bathroom scale.

    Worth stating carefully: the study followed people for four years. It did not establish that the loss is permanent, only that it had not reversed within that window.

    The GLP-1 Question the Study Did Not Answer

    This study is being widely presented as a warning about weight-loss drugs. It is not one, and the distinction matters for anyone currently taking these medications.

    No participant was on a GLP-1 medication. Link’s own framing was that the insight addresses a question likely to grow in importance as more people start and stop weight-loss therapies, which is a hypothesis about relevance, not a finding about the drugs.

    That said, the question is legitimate. People do stop and restart GLP-1s because of cost, coverage changes and side effects, and that pattern resembles weight cycling. MedicalDaily has previously reported on concerns about muscle loss and malnutrition in adults over 65 taking GLP-1 drugs and on the absence of muscle, bone and nutrition screening requirements in the Medicare GLP-1 Bridge program.

    What this study adds to that conversation is imaging evidence that repeated cycles compound muscle loss in people not on medication at all. What it does not do is quantify anything about GLP-1 users, and no professional society has issued new guidance in response.

    What the Study Cannot Tell You

    The limitations are worth holding onto.

    It is observational. People who cycle weight may differ from people who do not in ways the adjustments did not capture, including illness, medication use, and eating patterns.

    The cohort was middle-aged adults at risk for knee osteoarthritis, a group that may be less mobile and more prone to muscle loss than the general population. The findings may not transfer cleanly to younger or healthier people.

    Thigh muscle volume is a reasonable proxy for overall skeletal muscle but is not the same as measured strength, physical function, or fall risk. The study did not report those outcomes.

    And four years is the observation window. Longer follow-up would be needed to say anything about permanence.

    What to Do With This If You Are Losing Weight

    Nobody should stop a prescribed medication because of this study. That includes GLP-1 drugs taken for diabetes or cardiovascular risk, where the consequences of stopping are concrete and immediate.

    The reasonable response is to make muscle preservation part of any weight-loss plan rather than an afterthought. That generally means resistance training at least twice weekly and adequate protein intake, and it is worth asking a clinician or a registered dietitian what those targets should be for your age, kidney function and medical history rather than adopting numbers from an article.

    People who anticipate a coverage or cost interruption in a weight-loss medication can raise it with a prescriber before it happens, since an unplanned stop and restart is the pattern this research suggests is worth avoiding.

    Simple in-office measures of muscle function, including grip strength and a chair-stand test, are available and inexpensive if you want a baseline.

    Researchers will need studies that follow people through medication-driven weight loss and regain, with imaging, to answer the question this one raised. That work has not been done.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    What did the study find? Adults whose weight repeatedly fluctuated over four years lost about 3.7% of thigh muscle volume, compared with about 1% among adults whose weight stayed relatively stable.

    Does this prove weight cycling causes muscle loss? No. This was an observational imaging study. It found an association after adjusting for several factors, but it cannot establish cause.

    Was the muscle loss permanent? The study found the muscle had not returned within its four-year window. It did not follow participants long enough to establish permanence.

    Did the study include people on GLP-1 drugs? No. No participant was taking a weight-loss medication. The connection to GLP-1 use is a question the lead author raised, not something the study measured.

    Who was studied? 1,433 middle-aged adults enrolled in the Osteoarthritis Initiative, a cohort of people at elevated risk for knee osteoarthritis. Results may not apply equally to younger or healthier populations.

    Should someone stop a weight-loss medication because of this? No. Do not stop or change a prescribed medication based on a news report. Discuss any concerns with the prescribing clinician.

    How can someone protect muscle during weight loss? Resistance training and adequate protein intake are the established approaches. Specific targets should come from a clinician or registered dietitian, not from an article.

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  • New Research Finds Semaglutide Users Held Lower Calorie Intake For More Than A Year

    New Research Finds Semaglutide Users Held Lower Calorie Intake For More Than A Year

    What the Study Measured

    A question that comes up constantly in weight management clinics now has a direct measurement behind it: if the hunger comes back, has the drug stopped working?

    Penn Medicine researchers ran a 60-week trial in 120 adults who were overweight or had obesity, assigning them to once-weekly semaglutide at 2.4 mg or placebo, with regular lifestyle counseling in both groups. The design’s strength is that it did not rely on what people said about their appetite. It measured what they ate.

    At baseline and again at weeks 20, 40, and 60, participants completed a five-hour laboratory assessment. After a standardized breakfast, they were offered lunch and told to eat until they felt comfortably full. Researchers weighed and counted the calories consumed.

    Across those follow-up assessments through week 60, participants taking semaglutide ate about 24 to 30 percent fewer calories than those on placebo, according to Penn Medicine. Weight followed. The semaglutide group lost an average of 15.1 percent of initial body weight at week 60, against 3.4 percent for placebo.

    The Gap Between Feeling Hungry and Eating More

    The finding that makes this study useful is the mismatch between what people reported and what they did.

    During the first 20 weeks, participants on semaglutide reported less hunger, greater appetite control and fewer thoughts about food, the sensation many patients call food noise. By weeks 40 and 60, the differences between the semaglutide and placebo groups on many of those subjective measures were no longer statistically significant.

    The calorie difference persisted anyway.

    “This study highlights an important distinction between people’s perceptions of their appetite and how they actually eat,” said Thomas A. Wadden, PhD, a professor of psychology in psychiatry and former director of Penn’s Center for Weight and Eating Disorders. “People taking semaglutide for weight loss often notice dramatic reductions in hunger and food noise when they begin this treatment. If those sensations gradually become less noticeable, some may incorrectly assume the medication is no longer effective.“

    Lead author Jena S. Tronieri, PhD, a senior research investigator at the center, framed the practical consequence directly. “Many patients worry that their medication has stopped working if they notice some return of hunger after the first several months,” she said. “Our findings show that even when people feel some of those sensations returning, semaglutide continues to help them eat less. That sustained reduction in calorie intake appears to be a key reason why weight loss is maintained over time.“

    There is a plausible explanation for the divergence that the study does not settle. Subjective hunger ratings are relative to a person’s own recent experience, and a body 15 percent lighter has different baseline sensations than it did a year earlier. Feeling hungrier than you did at week four is not the same as eating as you did before treatment.

    What This Does Not Tell You

    Several limits deserve to sit here rather than at the end, because they bound what the result can be used for.

    The single largest one is that this study says nothing about stopping. Every participant analyzed was on treatment. It does not measure what happens to calorie intake after discontinuation, which is the question behind most of the current anxiety about these drugs. Separate research has consistently found weight regain after stopping.

    The sample was 120 people. That is adequate for a controlled laboratory feeding study and small for drawing conclusions about population-level behavior. The trial also ran 60 weeks, so it does not describe year three or year five.

    The laboratory meal is a proxy, not real life. Participants ate a standardized breakfast in a research setting and then a single test lunch under observation. That design controls variables well and does not capture evening eating, weekend eating, restaurant portions, stress eating or the social context in which most calories are actually consumed.

    Both groups received lifestyle counseling throughout, so the comparison is semaglutide plus counseling against placebo plus counseling, not against no intervention.

    The study was supported in part by a Novo Nordisk research grant through the company’s Investigator Sponsored Studies Program. Penn states that Novo Nordisk played no part in the conception, conduct, analysis, or reporting of the study.

    Why It Matters for People Considering Stopping

    The clinical relevance here is a decision, not a data point.

    Patients who conclude their medication has quit working sometimes stop taking it, sometimes stop refilling because they no longer see the point of the cost, and sometimes ask for a dose increase they may not need. This study suggests at least one of those inferences may rest on a misreading of the evidence available to the patient, which is their own sense of hunger.

    “Our results suggest that patients may experience a partial return of appetite sensations over time, without losing the medication’s benefit of continuing to reduce calorie intake, which is needed to maintain their new, lower body weight,” Tronieri said. “Understanding that can help set realistic expectations and may encourage people to stay on treatment long term, as approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and recommended by the treatment guidelines of numerous professional societies.”

    That framing comes from researchers whose work is partly industry-funded, and readers should weigh it accordingly. It is also consistent with how obesity is defined in current clinical guidance, as a chronic condition managed rather than cured.

    What Patients Should Take From It

    Nobody should start, stop or change a dose based on this study, and the most useful action it supports is a conversation rather than a decision.

    If your hunger has returned somewhat after several months on semaglutide, that is a documented pattern and not automatically a sign of treatment failure. Weight trajectory, waist measurement, blood pressure, lipids and glucose are more reliable indicators of whether the medication is doing its job than the subjective sense of appetite.

    If weight has plateaued or is climbing, that is worth raising with a prescriber, who can look at dose, adherence, other medications, sleep, alcohol and activity before concluding anything about the drug.

    Anyone considering stopping because of cost, side effects, or coverage changes should have that conversation before stopping rather than after, since abrupt discontinuation carries a well-documented pattern of regain.

    The next questions researchers will need to answer are what calorie intake looks like beyond 60 weeks, what it looks like after discontinuation, and whether the same pattern holds for tirzepatide and the newer oral agents. MedicalDaily will report follow-up analyses as they publish.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    What did the study find? Adults taking semaglutide ate 24 to 30 percent fewer calories than those on placebo at laboratory assessments through week 60, and lost 15.1 percent of body weight versus 3.4 percent.

    Does hunger really come back? Reported hunger, appetite control and food noise differed clearly from placebo at 20 weeks, but many of those differences were no longer statistically significant by weeks 40 and 60.

    So has the drug stopped working if I feel hungrier? Not necessarily. In this trial, calorie intake stayed lower even as subjective appetite differences faded. Weight trend is a better indicator than hunger.

    How big was the study? 120 adults with overweight or obesity, over 60 weeks.

    Does this tell me what happens if I stop? No. Everyone analyzed was on treatment. The study does not address discontinuation.

    Who funded it? It was supported in part by a Novo Nordisk research grant. Penn states the company had no role in the study’s conception, conduct, analysis or reporting.

    Should I change my dose? Not on your own. Discuss weight trajectory and any concerns with your prescriber.

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  • FDA Panel Ends Peptide Review Backing Six of Seven, with Emideltide Rejected in a 6 to 7 Vote

    FDA Panel Ends Peptide Review Backing Six of Seven, with Emideltide Rejected in a 6 to 7 Vote

    The meeting is over, and the final tally is not what the first day suggested. By the close of Friday afternoon, the FDA’s Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee had recommended adding six of the seven peptides it reviewed to the 503A Bulks List, and had voted against one.

    Emideltide, also known as delta sleep-inducing peptide or DSIP, failed on a 6 to 7 vote with one abstention. It had been proposed for insomnia, narcotic dependence, and opioid withdrawal. Epitalon cleared 7 to 5 with one abstention for insomnia. Semax cleared 8 to 5 for cerebral ischemia, migraine, and trigeminal neuralgia.

    That single rejection is the genuinely new fact, and it is the most informative one, because it shows where a narrowly divided panel found the evidence too thin even in a week when it overrode FDA staff on everything else.

    Why This Update Matters

    For a household deciding whether to spend money on a compounded peptide, the practical question is not which way a committee voted. It is what a favorable vote actually buys you, and the honest answer is: nothing yet, and less than the marketing will claim.

    The votes are recommendations. The FDA makes the final determination through notice-and-comment rulemaking, a process that commonly takes months. Nothing about a patient’s legal access changed this week.

    There is also a cost consequence worth stating plainly. Compounded drugs are generally not covered by insurance, so anyone who eventually obtains these peptides through a pharmacy would pay out of pocket.

    What Changed Since MedicalDaily’s Previous Report

    MedicalDaily previously reported on the first day of voting, when the panel backed BPC-157, KPV, TB-500 and MOTS-C over the objections of FDA’s own scientists. At that point, three peptides remained undecided, and the panel’s overall posture was unknown.

    What is different now is that the full slate is settled and the pattern is visible. FDA career staff had recommended against all seven. The committee agreed with the agency exactly once.

    What We Know So Far

    On the first day, BPC-157, KPV and TB-500 each passed 8 to 6 with one abstention. MOTS-C passed 7 to 5 with two abstentions. The committee held 15 voting seats for the meeting.

    None of the seven peptides is part of a United States Pharmacopeia monograph or a component of an FDA-approved drug product. Most were restricted from compounding under a 2023 reclassification in which the agency said they may present significant safety risks.

    FDA’s briefing materials flagged specific problems by substance, including adverse event reports following BPC-157 injection, uncertainty about carcinogenicity connected to epitalon’s mechanism, and anticoagulant and stimulant-potentiation signals for semax. On emideltide, the agency cited inadequate characterization and the potential for peptide-related impurities.

    What the Committee Members Said

    Speaking on the emideltide vote, FDA’s Katie Park said there is “a lack of safety and efficacy data to support using emideltide” for the proposed uses.

    John Hertig, board chair of the Collaborative for Evidence-Based Medicines, told the panel during the public hearing that “there is a significant lack of evidence,” noting the most recent study he could identify was decades old.

    Committee member Kevin Zacharoff, an anesthesiologist and clinical assistant professor at Stony Brook University’s Renaissance School of Medicine, explained his no vote by saying it was “impossible for me not to take FDA’s recommendations to heart” on safety and efficacy. William Zamboni, a pharmacologist at the University of North Carolina, cited a significant lack of safety data in voting against epitalon.

    Members voting yes framed it differently. Pharmacist David Pope of XiFin Pharmacy Solutions said prescriber and pharmacist judgment is central to deciding whether a peptide fits a given patient. Former Puerto Rico governor Ricardo Rosselló told the panel during the open hearing that “there is a cost of doing nothing,” arguing the 2023 restrictions abandoned standards rather than raising them.

    What a Compounded Preparation Is, and Is Not

    This is the distinction most likely to be lost in the coming weeks.

    An FDA-approved drug has cleared adequate and well-controlled trials showing it works and is acceptably safe for a defined use, and it is made in facilities the FDA inspects against manufacturing standards. A compounded preparation made under Section 503A is produced by a state-licensed pharmacy for an individual patient with a prescription, and the FDA does not review it for safety or effectiveness at all.

    Adding a substance to the 503A Bulks List makes it legal to compound. It does not make it proven. And once a substance is on the list, a clinician may prescribe it outside the narrow indication the committee reviewed, so a peptide evaluated only for ulcerative colitis could be prescribed for other purposes.

    Who Faces the Greatest Risk

    The people most exposed are those already buying peptides from online sellers labeling them as research chemicals, where purity, sterility, and dose are unverified. Advocates for the change argue that regulated pharmacy access is safer than that market, which is a reasonable argument about relative risk rather than a claim of proven benefit.

    Athletes face a distinct problem. TB-500 and MOTS-C appear on World Anti-Doping Agency prohibited lists, and a legal prescription would not prevent an anti-doping violation.

    People with cancer histories, clotting disorders, or those taking anticoagulants have specific reasons to raise the FDA’s flagged concerns with a physician before considering any of these compounds.

    What Remains Unknown

    For every one of these seven peptides, the fundamental gap is the same: none has completed the large randomized human trials that support a standard FDA approval. Effectiveness for the proposed uses is not established. Long-term safety is not established. FDA staff also raised basic characterization questions, meaning the identity and consistency of the raw substance itself is not fully settled.

    The agency has not said when it will respond to the recommendations, or whether it will accept them.

    What You Can Do Now

    Anyone considering these compounds should treat marketing that uses the words FDA approved as a red flag, because none of these peptides is approved and none became approved this week. Discuss any peptide use with a physician who knows your full medication list.

    Do not start, stop, or change a prescribed medication based on an advisory vote. Patients currently obtaining peptides from gray-market sellers should raise that with a clinician, since product contents may not match the label.

    What Happens Next

    The FDA will decide whether to act on the recommendations. Any change requires proposed rulemaking with a public comment period, and observers of the process commonly estimate eight to twelve months before legality is unambiguous. The public docket for this meeting remains the place where written comments were filed. MedicalDaily will track the agency’s formal response.

    The Bottom Line

    The newest confirmed fact is that the panel finished by rejecting emideltide 6 to 7 while backing six other peptides, all against FDA staff recommendations. The people most affected are patients already using or considering these compounds, and the most reasonable step is a conversation with a physician rather than a purchase. The central uncertainty is whether the FDA follows a committee it has occasionally overruled before, and the next development is the agency’s formal response.

    Developing Story Timeline

    July 24, 2026: The committee rejects emideltide 6 to 7 with one abstention, recommends epitalon 7 to 5 and semax 8 to 5, closing the meeting with six of seven peptides endorsed.

    July 23, 2026: The committee recommends BPC-157, KPV, and TB-500 at 8 to 6 with one abstention, and MOTS-C at 7 to 5 with two abstentions.

    April 15, 2026: FDA publishes the Federal Register notice announcing the two-day meeting and opening the public docket.

    2023: FDA reclassification restricts compounding of these peptides, citing potential significant safety risks.

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  • Oregon Air Quality Advisory Extended Through Today as Wildfires Blanket Multiple Counties in Hazardous Smoke

    Oregon Air Quality Advisory Extended Through Today as Wildfires Blanket Multiple Counties in Hazardous Smoke

    The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality extended its air quality advisory on Wednesday, July 22, 2026, for a broad stretch of eastern and central Oregon, keeping health warnings active through at least Friday afternoon, July 24 — today. The advisory, which has now been extended three times since its original Monday end date, covers Baker, Crook, Deschutes, northern Harney, Grant, Jefferson, northern Malheur, Morrow, Union, southern Umatilla, and Wheeler counties due to smoke from multiple wildfires burning across southern, central, and eastern Oregon.

    The DEQ also identified intermittent smoke conditions in adjacent areas including Clackamas, eastern Douglas, northern Jackson, Klamath, Lake, and Wallowa counties through Friday afternoon. Separately, the DEQ issued an ozone smog advisory earlier this week for the Portland metro area, Salem, Hermiston, and Ontario, running through Wednesday evening.

    Why This Matters

    Wildfire smoke is not the same as the kind of air pollution most people think of from traffic or industry. Its most dangerous component is fine particulate matter, known as PM2.5 — particles less than 2.5 microns in diameter, small enough to bypass the body’s upper respiratory defenses and penetrate deeply into the lungs. Once inhaled, PM2.5 can enter the bloodstream and reach the heart, brain, and other organs.

    For people with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart disease, or other cardiovascular or respiratory conditions, even moderate smoke exposure can trigger exacerbations that require emergency care. Children and pregnant people face distinct risks: children’s lungs are still developing, and PM2.5 exposure in pregnancy has been associated with preterm birth and low birth weight in multiple studies. Older adults face heightened cardiovascular risk from PM2.5 exposure even without pre-existing lung disease.

    As the DEQ’s advisory states, air quality may reach unhealthy levels in affected areas, with conditions capable of changing rapidly depending on wind and fire behavior.

    What We Know So Far

    Air quality was measured as “unhealthy” in Prineville, Pendleton, La Grande, and Baker City as of the afternoon of July 20, 2026, according to Central Oregon Daily. Under DEQ’s six-tier classification system, “unhealthy” means the general public may begin to experience health effects, while sensitive groups face serious health risks.

    The advisory was first issued for a subset of counties and was originally scheduled to end Monday, July 20. It was extended to Wednesday, then to at least Friday afternoon, July 24, reflecting the persistence of the wildfire smoke and the failure of weather conditions to clear affected areas.

    The smoke sources are multiple wildfires across southern, central, and eastern Oregon. Earlier in July, the East Evans Creek Fire in southern Oregon contributed to initial advisories before the smoke pattern expanded. The current advisory reflects a broader regional fire environment rather than a single named fire.

    Where the Risk Is Highest

    The counties under the active advisory — Baker, Crook, Deschutes, northern Harney, Grant, Jefferson, northern Malheur, Morrow, Union, southern Umatilla, and Wheeler — cover a wide stretch of eastern and central Oregon, including Bend (Deschutes County), La Grande (Union County), Pendleton (Umatilla County), and John Day (Grant County).

    Residents in these communities who live or work outdoors, those who depend on cooling by opening windows, and those with limited access to air conditioning or air filtration face the highest cumulative exposure. Agricultural workers, construction workers, and others in outdoor occupations in affected counties face occupational exposure that cannot be avoided by staying indoors.

    The DEQ and partner agencies are continuing to monitor smoke conditions, and the advisory may be extended or expanded further depending on fire behavior and wind patterns.

    What Doctors and Experts Say

    DEQ spokesperson Jennifer Horton told KATU that residents most at risk should stay indoors during the hottest parts of the day when pollutant levels are typically highest. “If you’re able to stay indoors during the hottest parts of the day when ozone levels are going to be the highest, that will help alleviate some of those health conditions,” Horton said.

    For people with heart or lung conditions, the DEQ recommends consulting a health-care provider before wearing a respirator, as the exertion required to breathe through a properly sealed N95 can itself place demands on the cardiovascular system. People who use inhalers, bronchodilators, or other respiratory medications should ensure they have an adequate supply and access to those medications during extended smoke events.

    What the Evidence Shows — and What It Does Not

    PM2.5 from wildfire smoke is a well-established health hazard supported by decades of peer-reviewed research. Short-term spikes in PM2.5 are consistently associated with increases in emergency department visits for asthma, respiratory distress, and cardiac events. The health consequences scale with concentration and duration of exposure, meaning a multi-day advisory affecting a broad area carries more cumulative health risk than a brief spike.

    What is harder to quantify in real time is the specific PM2.5 concentration in any individual location, since wildfire smoke levels can change within hours depending on fire behavior, terrain, and wind. The DEQ’s official AQI data provides the most reliable real-time measurement available.

    Cloth masks, surgical masks, and dust masks do not protect against PM2.5. Only properly fitted NIOSH-approved N95 or P100 respirators can reduce inhalation of fine smoke particles, according to DEQ’s advisory guidance. Standard respirators do not come in sizes appropriate for children, meaning young children cannot be effectively protected by masking outdoors.

    Who Faces the Greatest Risk?

    People with asthma, COPD, emphysema, or other chronic obstructive or restrictive lung disease face the highest respiratory risk from wildfire PM2.5 exposure. People with heart disease or prior heart attack face elevated cardiovascular risk from smoke, including increased risk of arrhythmia and acute coronary events during high-exposure periods.

    Pregnant people face a distinct concern: PM2.5 exposure during pregnancy has been associated in published research with preterm birth, low birth weight, and adverse fetal lung development. Pregnant residents in affected counties should treat the advisory as applying to them even if they feel well.

    Children under the age of 14 and adults over 65 are classified as sensitive groups by the EPA, meaning they may experience effects at lower concentrations than healthy adults. Infants and toddlers face the highest vulnerability because their lung development is most active and they spend the most time in care settings that may rely on natural ventilation.

    Outdoor workers in affected counties face occupational exposure that indoor workers do not. Construction crews, farm workers, utility workers, and others who cannot work indoors should follow employer guidance on break frequency, access to clean air spaces, and symptom monitoring.

    Symptoms and Warning Signs to Watch For

    Wildfire smoke exposure can cause burning or irritated eyes, runny nose, sore throat, coughing, and shortness of breath in otherwise healthy people. These symptoms are generally mild and resolve when a person moves to cleaner air.

    For people with asthma or COPD, smoke can trigger wheezing, chest tightness, increased breathlessness, and reduced peak flow that may require additional use of rescue inhalers or other medications. Symptoms that do not respond to usual rescue medications, worsening shortness of breath at rest, chest pain, rapid heart rate, confusion, or loss of consciousness warrant urgent or emergency evaluation.

    People who experience new or worsening chest pain, pressure, or tightness during a smoke event — even without prior heart disease — should seek emergency care. Wildfire smoke has been associated in research with triggering acute cardiac events in people who did not know they had underlying heart disease.

    What You Can Do Now

    The most effective action for residents in affected counties is to stay indoors with windows and doors closed as much as possible. If your home has a central air system, set it to recirculate indoor air rather than drawing in outside air. A portable HEPA air purifier run in the room where you spend the most time can significantly reduce indoor PM2.5 concentrations.

    If you must go outdoors for essential activities, a properly fitted NIOSH-approved N95 respirator provides meaningful protection. Select a respirator with an N, R, or P designation alongside the number 95, 99, or 100. Surgical and cloth masks do not provide effective filtration for wildfire PM2.5. Respirators must form a tight seal against the face to work, which means they do not fit children.

    Check current air quality conditions before going outdoors at Oregon DEQ’s Air Quality Index, the Oregon Smoke Information Blog, or by downloading the free OregonAIR app. AQI updates are in near real-time and are the most reliable tool for assessing current local conditions.

    If you are experiencing worsening symptoms and do not have access to cleaner air at home, 211info.org maintains a directory of clean air shelter locations in Oregon. Search for “Wildfire Related Clean Air Shelters” or call 211 during business hours, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

    People with asthma or COPD should ensure their rescue inhaler and any controller medications are filled and accessible before an extended smoke event. If you have a written asthma or COPD action plan, review it with your health-care provider at your next appointment to include guidance on smoke days.

    Cost and Access: What Patients Should Know

    N95 respirators are available at most hardware stores, home improvement retailers, and online retailers at a cost of roughly $1 to $4 per mask when purchased in multipacks. For residents who cannot access or afford respirators, free clean air shelter locations are available through 211info.org. OHA-certified community health workers in some counties can also connect residents to local resources during declared air quality events.

    People who use prescription inhalers or respiratory medications and are running low should contact their pharmacy or prescriber as early as possible, as demand for rescue medications typically increases during extended smoke events. Many pharmacies can provide emergency supplies of maintenance inhalers for patients with active prescriptions.

    What Happens Next

    The DEQ advisory is scheduled through at least Friday afternoon, July 24, 2026 — today — but may be extended further depending on wildfire activity and weather patterns. DEQ and partner agencies are monitoring conditions continuously.

    Residents in affected counties should check oregonsmoke.org and the DEQ AQI tool periodically throughout the day, as smoke levels can shift within hours. MedicalDaily will note any further advisory extensions if conditions worsen or additional counties are added.

    The Bottom Line

    Oregon’s air quality advisory for wildfire smoke is active today and covers more than a dozen counties across eastern, central, and parts of western Oregon. For healthy adults, staying indoors with windows closed is the most effective response. For people with asthma, COPD, heart disease, children, pregnant people, and older adults, this advisory should be treated as a direct health warning: limit outdoor time, use HEPA filtration indoors, wear a properly fitted N95 if outdoor activity cannot be avoided, and monitor symptoms closely. Emergency care should be sought if respiratory or cardiovascular symptoms worsen despite precautions.

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  • Male Nurses Now Make Up 1 in 8 of the U.S. Nursing Workforce, with Growth Concentrated in Shortage Areas

    Male Nurses Now Make Up 1 in 8 of the U.S. Nursing Workforce, with Growth Concentrated in Shortage Areas

    Why This Matters

    Nursing is among the fastest-growing and most in-demand professions in the United States. The Labor Department projects 189,000 registered nurse job openings annually for the next decade. Emergency departments are understaffed. Rural hospitals are closing labor and delivery units. The healthcare system is looking everywhere for qualified nurses.

    Men make up approximately half the U.S. workforce, but only about 1 in 8 nurses. That gap represents not just an untapped workforce pipeline but a longstanding cultural assumption about nursing as women’s work that has depressed enrollment, discouraged qualified candidates, and narrowed the hiring pool for exactly the kind of work that is most urgently needed.

    According to NPR labor and workplace correspondent Andrea Hsu, that ratio is shifting. The male nursing share is growing, driven by a combination of strong job market conditions and deliberate recruitment efforts at nursing schools, particularly in the South.

    What We Know So Far

    NPR’s July 21, 2026 report focused on the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing, which has been among the institutions actively recruiting men into nursing. The UAB program has deployed direct outreach, male peer mentorship, and reframing of nursing as a high-skill, well-compensated healthcare leadership career rather than a gendered support role.

    Male nursing students interviewed for the NPR report described finding the work through pathways including athletic training, pharmacy interest, and military healthcare service, routes that have historically channeled men away from nursing rather than toward it.

    The data point at the center of the report, approximately 1 in 8 registered nurses is now male, reflects a long-term upward trend from roughly 1 in 40 male nurses in 1970. The increase has been gradual over decades, but recent years have shown an acceleration, particularly in states where nursing employment growth has been fastest.

    Where the Growth Is Most Significant

    The NPR report notes that the male nursing share is growing fastest in the South, a region that simultaneously has:

    • Some of the nation’s most severe nursing shortage conditions, particularly in rural areas
    • The highest rates of rural hospital closure and labor and delivery unit closures, as documented by the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform
    • Large unmet demand for primary care and emergency nursing staff, particularly in states including Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and the Carolinas
    • Among the highest rates of uninsured and underinsured populations, whose primary care needs fall disproportionately on nursing staff at federally qualified health centers and community clinics

    The UAB School of Nursing’s enrollment pattern mirrors a broader demographic shift: as healthcare jobs have become among the most stable, well-paying, and benefits-rich employment in the post-pandemic labor market, more men are reconsidering career paths that historically carried a gender stigma in their social and professional communities.

    What Doctors and Experts Say

    The nursing profession’s gender composition affects more than workforce numbers. Research on patient experience and care outcomes has found that patients benefit from a nursing workforce that reflects the demographic diversity of the population they serve, including gender diversity. Male patients in particular may be more comfortable discussing certain health concerns with male nurses. Men navigating chronic disease management, mental health issues, and preventive care are among the populations where male nurse-patient concordance may reduce barriers to disclosure.

    Nursing faculty and administrators quoted in the NPR report emphasized that the core skills of nursing, including clinical judgment, interpersonal communication, attention to detail, and ability to act effectively under pressure, have no gender component. The barriers have been cultural and representational, not competency-based.

    The Labor Department’s projection of 189,000 annual nursing job openings over the next decade reflects both retirements from an aging nursing workforce and growth in demand driven by an aging patient population. Those openings cannot be filled by any single demographic pipeline. Expanding the male nursing workforce is one necessary component of closing the gap.

    What the Evidence Shows and What It Does Not

    The 1-in-8 male nurse figure comes from workforce data reflecting the current registered nursing population. The NPR report does not provide a specific source for the exact figure beyond the framing in the headline and story; it is consistent with Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational workforce data showing male nurses at approximately 12-14% of the total registered nurse workforce in recent years.

    The claim that male nursing growth is happening “fastest in the South” is supported by the NPR reporting’s geographic focus on UAB and Southern nursing programs, but the NPR piece does not present state-by-state enrollment data. This is a directional claim supported by reported patterns, not a formally quantified regional ranking.

    MedicalDaily Evidence Check

    • Source: NPR, published July 21, 2026 (Andrea Hsu, labor and workplace correspondent); Labor Department occupational projections
    • What it shows: Approximately 1 in 8 registered nurses is male; the share is growing, with notable growth at Southern nursing programs; 189,000 annual RN job openings projected for next decade
    • What it does not prove: Specific state-by-state male enrollment rankings; whether the gender shift is driven by recruitment programs specifically vs. labor market forces generally
    • What readers should know: The nursing profession is actively seeking male applicants; the South’s nursing shortage means this growth is happening in the region where it is most needed

    Who Benefits Most?

    The workforce development implications of growing male nursing representation include:

    • Rural Southern communities, which have the highest unmet nursing demand and are seeing the fastest male nursing enrollment growth
    • Patients who prefer concordance-based care in specific clinical contexts, including men with mental health concerns, chronic disease, or situations requiring physical privacy during examination
    • The nursing profession itself, which benefits from a broader and more diverse recruitment pool as it faces sustained demographic attrition from retirement of the baby-boom nursing generation

    What You Can Do Now

    For people considering nursing as a career:

    For healthcare employers and policymakers:

    • Hospitals and health systems seeking to address nursing shortages can partner with regional nursing schools on recruitment pipeline programs that actively reach men in high school and early college years.
    • State-level workforce development funding through Title VIII nursing programs can support expanded nursing school capacity, particularly in shortage areas.

    Cost and Access: What Patients Should Know

    The nursing workforce shortage has direct effects on patient care: longer emergency department wait times, reduced availability of home health nursing, and reduced capacity for preventive and chronic disease management in underserved communities. Expanding the diversity and size of the nursing pipeline is a patient safety issue, not just a labor market issue.

    What Happens Next

    UAB and other Southern nursing programs with active male recruitment initiatives are expected to report enrollment trends annually. The Labor Department will update its occupational projections with 2025 and 2026 data in the coming years. Whether the male nursing share reaches 1 in 5 or higher within a decade will depend on whether the cultural shift documented in the NPR report extends beyond leading institutions and translates into broad enrollment patterns at community colleges and ADN programs that produce the largest total volume of nurses.

    The Bottom Line

    Approximately 1 in 8 U.S. registered nurses is now male, a share that is growing and growing fastest in the South, where nursing shortages are most acute. A strong job market, deliberate recruitment by nursing schools, and a gradual cultural shift in how nursing is understood as a profession are driving the change. With 189,000 RN job openings projected annually for the next decade, and with rural hospitals and clinics in the South facing the deepest shortfalls, the growth of male nursing in the region that needs nurses most is a workforce development trend worth watching.

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  • Male Nurses Now Make Up 1 in 8 of the U.S. Nursing Workforce, with Growth Concentrated in Shortage Areas

    Male Nurses Now Make Up 1 in 8 of the U.S. Nursing Workforce, with Growth Concentrated in Shortage Areas

    Why This Matters

    Nursing is among the fastest-growing and most in-demand professions in the United States. The Labor Department projects 189,000 registered nurse job openings annually for the next decade. Emergency departments are understaffed. Rural hospitals are closing labor and delivery units. The healthcare system is looking everywhere for qualified nurses.

    Men make up approximately half the U.S. workforce, but only about 1 in 8 nurses. That gap represents not just an untapped workforce pipeline but a longstanding cultural assumption about nursing as women’s work that has depressed enrollment, discouraged qualified candidates, and narrowed the hiring pool for exactly the kind of work that is most urgently needed.

    According to NPR labor and workplace correspondent Andrea Hsu, that ratio is shifting. The male nursing share is growing, driven by a combination of strong job market conditions and deliberate recruitment efforts at nursing schools, particularly in the South.

    What We Know So Far

    NPR’s July 21, 2026 report focused on the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing, which has been among the institutions actively recruiting men into nursing. The UAB program has deployed direct outreach, male peer mentorship, and reframing of nursing as a high-skill, well-compensated healthcare leadership career rather than a gendered support role.

    Male nursing students interviewed for the NPR report described finding the work through pathways including athletic training, pharmacy interest, and military healthcare service, routes that have historically channeled men away from nursing rather than toward it.

    The data point at the center of the report, approximately 1 in 8 registered nurses is now male, reflects a long-term upward trend from roughly 1 in 40 male nurses in 1970. The increase has been gradual over decades, but recent years have shown an acceleration, particularly in states where nursing employment growth has been fastest.

    Where the Growth Is Most Significant

    The NPR report notes that the male nursing share is growing fastest in the South, a region that simultaneously has:

    • Some of the nation’s most severe nursing shortage conditions, particularly in rural areas
    • The highest rates of rural hospital closure and labor and delivery unit closures, as documented by the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform
    • Large unmet demand for primary care and emergency nursing staff, particularly in states including Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and the Carolinas
    • Among the highest rates of uninsured and underinsured populations, whose primary care needs fall disproportionately on nursing staff at federally qualified health centers and community clinics

    The UAB School of Nursing’s enrollment pattern mirrors a broader demographic shift: as healthcare jobs have become among the most stable, well-paying, and benefits-rich employment in the post-pandemic labor market, more men are reconsidering career paths that historically carried a gender stigma in their social and professional communities.

    What Doctors and Experts Say

    The nursing profession’s gender composition affects more than workforce numbers. Research on patient experience and care outcomes has found that patients benefit from a nursing workforce that reflects the demographic diversity of the population they serve, including gender diversity. Male patients in particular may be more comfortable discussing certain health concerns with male nurses. Men navigating chronic disease management, mental health issues, and preventive care are among the populations where male nurse-patient concordance may reduce barriers to disclosure.

    Nursing faculty and administrators quoted in the NPR report emphasized that the core skills of nursing, including clinical judgment, interpersonal communication, attention to detail, and ability to act effectively under pressure, have no gender component. The barriers have been cultural and representational, not competency-based.

    The Labor Department’s projection of 189,000 annual nursing job openings over the next decade reflects both retirements from an aging nursing workforce and growth in demand driven by an aging patient population. Those openings cannot be filled by any single demographic pipeline. Expanding the male nursing workforce is one necessary component of closing the gap.

    What the Evidence Shows and What It Does Not

    The 1-in-8 male nurse figure comes from workforce data reflecting the current registered nursing population. The NPR report does not provide a specific source for the exact figure beyond the framing in the headline and story; it is consistent with Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational workforce data showing male nurses at approximately 12-14% of the total registered nurse workforce in recent years.

    The claim that male nursing growth is happening “fastest in the South” is supported by the NPR reporting’s geographic focus on UAB and Southern nursing programs, but the NPR piece does not present state-by-state enrollment data. This is a directional claim supported by reported patterns, not a formally quantified regional ranking.

    MedicalDaily Evidence Check

    • Source: NPR, published July 21, 2026 (Andrea Hsu, labor and workplace correspondent); Labor Department occupational projections
    • What it shows: Approximately 1 in 8 registered nurses is male; the share is growing, with notable growth at Southern nursing programs; 189,000 annual RN job openings projected for next decade
    • What it does not prove: Specific state-by-state male enrollment rankings; whether the gender shift is driven by recruitment programs specifically vs. labor market forces generally
    • What readers should know: The nursing profession is actively seeking male applicants; the South’s nursing shortage means this growth is happening in the region where it is most needed

    Who Benefits Most?

    The workforce development implications of growing male nursing representation include:

    • Rural Southern communities, which have the highest unmet nursing demand and are seeing the fastest male nursing enrollment growth
    • Patients who prefer concordance-based care in specific clinical contexts, including men with mental health concerns, chronic disease, or situations requiring physical privacy during examination
    • The nursing profession itself, which benefits from a broader and more diverse recruitment pool as it faces sustained demographic attrition from retirement of the baby-boom nursing generation

    What You Can Do Now

    For people considering nursing as a career:

    For healthcare employers and policymakers:

    • Hospitals and health systems seeking to address nursing shortages can partner with regional nursing schools on recruitment pipeline programs that actively reach men in high school and early college years.
    • State-level workforce development funding through Title VIII nursing programs can support expanded nursing school capacity, particularly in shortage areas.

    Cost and Access: What Patients Should Know

    The nursing workforce shortage has direct effects on patient care: longer emergency department wait times, reduced availability of home health nursing, and reduced capacity for preventive and chronic disease management in underserved communities. Expanding the diversity and size of the nursing pipeline is a patient safety issue, not just a labor market issue.

    What Happens Next

    UAB and other Southern nursing programs with active male recruitment initiatives are expected to report enrollment trends annually. The Labor Department will update its occupational projections with 2025 and 2026 data in the coming years. Whether the male nursing share reaches 1 in 5 or higher within a decade will depend on whether the cultural shift documented in the NPR report extends beyond leading institutions and translates into broad enrollment patterns at community colleges and ADN programs that produce the largest total volume of nurses.

    The Bottom Line

    Approximately 1 in 8 U.S. registered nurses is now male, a share that is growing and growing fastest in the South, where nursing shortages are most acute. A strong job market, deliberate recruitment by nursing schools, and a gradual cultural shift in how nursing is understood as a profession are driving the change. With 189,000 RN job openings projected annually for the next decade, and with rural hospitals and clinics in the South facing the deepest shortfalls, the growth of male nursing in the region that needs nurses most is a workforce development trend worth watching.

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  • Kate Middleton Opens Up About ‘Chemo Fog’ During Cancer Recovery: Understanding the Cognitive Effects of Chemotherapy

    Kate Middleton Opens Up About ‘Chemo Fog’ During Cancer Recovery: Understanding the Cognitive Effects of Chemotherapy

    Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales, has shared new details about one of the most unexpected challenges she faced during her cancer treatment: the cognitive difficulties commonly known as “chemo fog” or “chemo brain.”

    Speaking candidly during a visit to a cancer treatment center, she described struggling to read and concentrate while undergoing chemotherapy, offering a glimpse into a side effect that many cancer patients experience but is often overlooked.

    Her remarks have resonated with patients, healthcare professionals and supporters alike, bringing renewed attention to the lasting mental and emotional effects that can accompany cancer treatment, even after therapy has ended.

    The Royal’s Reflection On Her ‘Chemo Fog’ Experience and an Unexpected Hobby She Gained

    While visiting patients at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester, Kate reflected on the cognitive changes she experienced during chemotherapy. She explained that one of the most difficult aspects of treatment was her inability to focus on activities she had previously enjoyed.

    “I don’t know about you, but I didn’t have the ability to read or really focus on anything,” she shared while speaking with fellow patients.

    Instead of reading, Kate said she found comfort in an unexpected hobby: coloring. She explained that coloring allowed her to remain creative without the pressure of producing a finished piece.

    “[Coloring] was my way of exploring interesting things and being able to do something that did not require an end product, or an end finished piece,” she said.

    Kate, who announced she was in remission following her cancer treatment, has increasingly spoken about the realities of recovery, emphasizing that the journey does not end when chemotherapy is completed. Her openness has been widely praised by patients and advocacy groups, many of whom say it helps normalize conversations about the less visible side effects of cancer treatment.

    Peering Through the Chemo Fog

    According to the Mayo Clinic and the Cleveland Clinic, chemo fog, also known as chemo brain or cancer-related cognitive impairment, describes a collection of thinking and memory problems that may occur during or after cancer treatment.

    Although chemotherapy is commonly associated with the condition, experts believe cognitive changes may also result from several overlapping factors, including the cancer itself, radiation therapy, hormonal treatments, medications, fatigue, poor sleep, stress, anxiety, and depression.

    Common Symptoms

    People experiencing chemo fog may notice:

    • Difficulty concentrating
    • Memory lapses
    • Trouble finding the right words
    • Slower thinking or information processing
    • Difficulty multitasking
    • Problems staying organized
    • Shortened attention span
    • Mental fatigue

    Symptoms vary considerably between individuals. Some experience mild, temporary changes, while others continue to notice cognitive difficulties for months or even years after treatment.

    How Is It Diagnosed?

    There is no single test that confirms chemo fog.

    Healthcare providers typically diagnose it by:

    • Reviewing symptoms and medical history
    • Performing neurological and physical examinations
    • Assessing memory, attention, and executive function
    • Ruling out other possible causes such as thyroid disorders, vitamin deficiencies, depression or medication side effects

    Treatment and Management

    There is currently no specific cure for chemo fog, but many patients improve over time.

    Doctors often recommend strategies such as:

    • Treating underlying conditions like anemia or sleep disorders
    • Regular physical activity
    • Maintaining consistent sleep habits
    • Keeping calendars, reminders, and written notes
    • Completing mentally demanding tasks when energy levels are highest
    • Brain-training exercises and cognitive rehabilitation
    • Stress reduction through mindfulness or relaxation techniques

    Creative hobbies, which include drawing, coloring, puzzles or music, may also help some patients stay mentally engaged while reducing frustration, much like Kate described during her own recovery.

    A Hopeful Way to Cope With ‘Chemo Fog’ and Treating Cancer

    The Princess’ experience shines a light on a side effect of cancer treatment that many patients quietly endure. While hair loss, nausea and fatigue are widely recognized, cognitive changes can be equally disruptive, affecting work, family life and everyday activities long after treatment ends.

    Her willingness to discuss struggling with concentration and finding comfort through coloring may help reassure patients that these experiences are both common and valid. It also reinforces the importance of comprehensive cancer care that addresses emotional and cognitive recovery in addition to physical health.

    For the general public, Kate’s story offers greater understanding of the long-term challenges cancer survivors may face. For people undergoing chemotherapy, it serves as a reminder that recovery is often gradual, and seeking support for cognitive symptoms is just as important as managing the physical effects of treatment. With appropriate coping strategies, medical guidance, and patience, many individuals are able to regain confidence and improve their cognitive function as they continue their recovery journey.

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