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Crowdfunding has become a means for people with cancer to get help managing the financial impact of their disease. But while there’s relief in paying bills, a new study finds that it comes at a cost: a sense of shame and stigma from asking for help and revealing personal health details. The issue is particularly critical for young adults with cancer, a specific group that is understudied and yet faces distinct needs.

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Lymph node removal surgery for patients with high-risk melanoma has become less common over the past few years while the use of targeted and immune therapies developed through clinical trials to treat the dangerous skin cancer has risen rapidly at melanoma referral centers worldwide, an international group of researchers found.

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About one in six older Americans who’d undergone an operation to repair a hernia had repeat hernia surgery less than 10 years later. These rates have barely improved since the 1990s, when similar data revealed that about one in five patients underwent at least two surgeries to address the problem.

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A group of Michigan hospitals share data to better understand how COVID-19 risks affect diverse pregnant individuals, exploring both possible racial disparities and how COVID-19 may impact birth outcomes.

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COVID-19 patients from areas with higher social vulnerability index scores were sicker when hospitalized, suggesting social determinants of health play a major role in COVID care access and outcomes.

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National poll gets parent perspectives on using CBD in children.

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Scientists have discovered that “rogue” antibodies found circulating in the blood of COVID-19 patients have the potential to cause endothelial cells to lose their resistance to clotting. These antiphospholipid autoantibodies can trigger blood clots in the arteries and veins of patients with autoimmune disorders, including lupus and antiphospholipid syndrome. The findings provide an even stronger connection between autoantibody formation and clotting in COVID-19.

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Researchers at Michigan Medicine have developed a novel method of measuring growth in the aorta that may help clinicians to identify potentially fatal heart conditions earlier. The technique, called vascular deformation mapping, measures changes in the thoracic aorta by using high-resolution CT imaging to calculate three-dimensional changes in the aortic wall. In the study, VDM significantly outperformed the standard manual rating methods performed by experts.

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In 2021, the pandemic disrupted scheduled care for around 30% of older adults, according to a new poll of people age 50 and older. And many of them – especially those who aren’t vaccinated against COVID-19 – still haven’t gotten the preventive care or treatment that they had been scheduled to get last year.

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University of Michigan researcher Arul M. Chinnaiyan, M.D., Ph.D., was awarded the 2022 Sjöberg Prize by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which also awards Nobel Prizes. Chinnaiyan is being honored for the discovery of recurrent gene fusions in prostate cancer, a groundbreaking finding initially published in 2005 that has led to a better understanding of how prostate cancer develops and improved methods to detect the disease.

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Several recent studies measure the out-of-pocket costs that patients face for necessary follow-up tests after getting abnormal results on free screening for colon, cervical, lung or breast cancer.

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In 2010, Ryan Finneran suffered a TBI in a crash en route to a baseball tournament and was taken to University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital. It took years of intensive therapy for Finneran to feel like his old self. Seeing his brother struggle, Matthew Finneran, 13 at the time, discovered his new mission: finding treatments for traumatic brain injury. A decade later, Matthew is back at U-M. This time, he is a Ph.D. candidate in the neuroscience program, and Matthew recently re-connected with the doctor who treated his brother.

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Mobile apps make it possible to track everything from exercise and calories to blood pressure and blood sugar, and use the information to stay on target with health goals or managing a chronic condition. But a new poll shows that most people over age 50 aren’t using such apps – and that those who might get the most help out of them are less likely to actually use them.

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A new study found that adults living with spinal cord injuries have a near-80% increased risk of developing psychological conditions, such as depression or anxiety, compared to people without the traumatic injury. They also found chronic centralized and neuropathic pain was robustly associated with mental health conditions. In most cases, chronic pain was an even greater influence on these conditions than exposure to living with the injury itself.

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For 10 years, Medicare has offered doctors and their practices extra money if they joined groups called Accountable Care Organizations and improved the quality of care they provided to older patients covered by traditional Medicare, while also focusing on the cost of their care. But a new study finds that those quality gains erode quickly when physician groups leave ACOs – which many have done in the past two years.

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When the nearest psychiatrist’s office is dozens or even hundreds of miles away, a virtual connection may be enough to help people living with serious mental health conditions get effective care through their local primary care clinic, a new study shows.

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The United States care system is often failing to meet the needs of individuals, families and communities affected by traumatic brain injury, according to a report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The authors, including a Michigan Medicine emergency physician, make many recommendations for advancing progress in TBI care, including changes to classification methods, improving research funding and establishing continuity of care.

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Most teens and young adults know it’s possible to catch or spread a sexually transmitted infection by having unprotected oral sex, a new poll shows. But more than half underestimate the level of that risk, including many who focus on avoiding pregnancy risk, the data show.

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A strong majority of American adults over 50 -- including the 37% of older adults who own guns or live with someone who does -- supports specific steps that could reduce the risk of firearm injury and death, a new national study shows. The study also highlights opportunities to help older adults recognize and address the risks in their own homes.

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Hyaluronic acid, or HA, is a known presence in pancreatic tumors, but a new study from researchers at the University of Michigan Health Rogel Cancer Center shows that hyaluronic acid also acts as food to the cancer cells. These findings, recently published in eLife, provide insight into how pancreatic cancer cells grow and indicate new possibilities to treat them.

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A new study found over one-third of young adult U.S. men are involved in technology-facilitated abuse - with 25% reporting both delivering to and receiving from a partner. Researchers suggest healthcare providers identify technology-related abuse and intimate partner violence among male patients, and develop evidence-based interventions.

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Michigan Medicine announced it will rename its critical care research institute after Dr. Max Harry Weil, a father of critical care medicine who helped establish the modern-day ICU, to recognize his family’s $10 million donation for advancing research and innovation.

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Parents may overlook winter sport injury risks to children, a new national poll suggests.

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For people who are "doing everything right" or who face a high risk of severe illness if they get COVID-19 during the current surge, this is a stressful time. A psychiatrist offers tips for recognizing the emotional effects and offers steps to help get through this time.

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A new program to screen psychiatric emergency patients for firearms in their homes, and offer free gun locks to reduce the risk of injury including suicide, could provide a pattern for other health care settings to encourage safe storage

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Researchers discover how a gene mutation in gliomas leads to cell cycle dysregulation and heightened sensitivity to a class of inhibitors.

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A young woman with osteogenesis imperfecta, or brittle bone disease, had severe scoliosis that impacted her breathing. Some doctors told her a spinal fusion could not happen. After having the procedure done at University of Michigan Health, she is sharing her health journey with thousands of YouTube followers.

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A critical shortage of blood, which has stretched supplies thin nationwide, threatens hospitals' ability to provide many types of patient care. The Red Cross has just declared the first-ever national blood crisis. A blood bank director with nearly 40 years of experience urges every eligible person to step up and make an appointment to donate as soon as possible.

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Even though clinical trials haven’t shown it works against COVID-19, doctors continue to prescribe ivermectin – and a new study suggests health insurers are heavily subsidizing the cost of those prescriptions.

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A $7.6 million gift from Judith L. Tam and the Richard Tam Foundation has launched an accelerated research initiative at the University of Michigan Health Rogel Cancer Center to understand why alterations in the ALK gene causes lung cancer to become resistant to standard therapy over time. The goal is to identify biological pathways that can be targeted with new approaches to treatment.

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Combining two drugs, intrathecal morphine and oral gabapentin, reduces the amount of postoperative opioid use and side effects for adolescents undergoing a major spinal fusion surgery for scoliosis. Researchers say the method of reducing opioid intake by adding gabapentin has potential to be considered for other procedures beyond spinal fusion for scoliosis.

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Preadolescents with severe neuromuscular scoliosis who are treated with growth-friendly surgery prior to spinal fusion have eight times more complications and nine times more unplanned subsequent surgeries than those who only have the spinal fusion, a study suggests. Researchers say the findings will allow parents of young children to make more informed decisions about treatment plans.

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Researchers demonstrated that the SWI/SNF complex facilitates access to enhancers that oncogenes can bind to and drive downstream gene expression in cancer. Degrading a subunit of this complex blocks the oncogenes. The finding reveals a novel approach to treating prostate cancers fueled by different genetic drivers, which altogether represent upwards of 90% of all prostate cancers.

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Children in a study cohort of young patients requiring ICU care for critical illness had an average of two weeks of school absences; half of primary caregivers missed work during the same period.

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Children suffering gunshot wound-related spinal cord injury early less money and receive less education in adulthood than kids with non-violent spinal cord injury, a new study suggests. Greater than two-thirds of the children with gunshot-related injuries earn less than $25,000 annually.

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1 in 6 parents rate their stress level as high during the holiday season – with nearly twice as many mothers experiencing high stress than fathers.

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A team of scientists led by the University of Michigan Health Rogel Cancer Center has found that a class of U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs can effectively stop a highly aggressive type of uterine cancer in its tracks, paving a quick path toward new treatment strategies for a deadly cancer with limited therapeutic options.

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The anti-cancer effect of the drug may help those with rare, hereditary cancer syndromes avoid surgeries by shrinking tumors via a daily oral dose.

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The Ronald Weiser Center for Prostate Cancer will aim to elevate and optimize the health care experience for patients with prostate cancer and their families by investing in staff, infrastructure, technologies and education as well as research into the disease and its treatment.

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A former Division I swimmer, now a physician at University of Michigan Health, will join USA Swimming for international competition in Abu Dhabi on Dec. 16. The competition will feature several Olympic medal-winners.

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As major holidays and the promise of a new year approach, a new poll of people over 50 shows that most of them are finding joy and staying resilient amid the pandemic. But a sizable minority are feeling a lot of stress, especially among those who said their overall physical or mental health is fair or poor and those with the lowest incomes.

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Nearly a fourth of pregnant and recently pregnant women in a new study say they’ve been unable to afford necessary health care, and three fifths report concern about paying medical bills.

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Two complementary studies show that defibrotide can successfully suppress the formation and progression of neutrophil extracellular traps, or NETs, which are web-like networks of toxic proteins that play a role in forming blood clots and promoting inflammation in several disease, including COVID-19. Researchers say findings may set the stage for defibrotide clinical trials in potentially several diseases.

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When it comes to learning how to prevent heart disease, including diverse populations isn’t just the right thing to do, it also makes the science better.

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Maternal morbidity risks may continue well into the late postpartum period, especially for individuals who are Black or have depression or anxiety, new research suggests.

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Racial and ethnic diversity in biobanks and genetic databases is crucial for the accuracy of artificial intelligence (AI) and biomarker research and products. But a new study shows how bias can creep in.

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As the need for youth violence prevention escalates, two studies show that "SafERteens," an evidence-based behavioral intervention designed to engage youth at this high-risk time and reduce violence involvement, can be successfully integrated as a part of routine medical care delivery in both emergency and primary care settings. Researchers say it has the potential for critical impact on long-term violence outcomes for youth.

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The University of Michigan Health Rogel Cancer Center has earned a three-year accreditation from the National Accreditation Program for Rectal Cancer, a quality program of the American College of Surgeons’ Commission on Cancer.

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Tips and resources for parents of children in the wake of the Michigan school shooting and amid the stress of the pandemic

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A Michigan Medicine study found that only 7.4% of patients treated for an opioid overdose at U.S. emergency departments are prescribed naloxone, an overdose rescue drug often available under the name Narcan, within 30 days. The prescription rate for buprenorphine, a medication to treat opioid addiction, was just 8.5%. Researchers say clinicians are missing critical opportunities to save lives in the ER and during follow-up visits.