Sam's News — health — 2026-09-21¶
Health¶
7 Large review finds calcium and vitamin D supplements provide little fracture prevention benefit in most older adults¶
A comprehensive review of 69 trials involving nearly 154,000 older adults found that calcium and vitamin D supplements—alone or combined—provide little to no meaningful fracture or fall prevention benefit. The findings challenge routine supplementation recommendations and suggest exercise-based strategies may be more effective.
- 153,902 adults analyzed across 69 randomized controlled trials
- High certainty evidence for vitamin D alone (36 trials, 92,045 participants)
- High certainty evidence for combination therapy (15 trials, 51,126 participants)
- Published in The BMJ
- Balance and resistance exercise may be more effective alternatives
Sources: ScienceDaily AI Web Searched, ScienceDaily — Health RSS, ScienceDaily — Nutrition RSS
6.5 Alkermes' orexin agonist shows promise for ADHD treatment in early-stage trial¶
Alkermes reported that an orexin agonist demonstrated potential efficacy for treating ADHD in preliminary clinical testing.
Sources: STAT News RSS
6 Addiction clinics report surge in kratom and 7-OH withdrawal cases¶
Addiction treatment clinics are seeing rising numbers of patients dependent on potent kratom and 7-hydroxymitragynine products.
Sources: STAT News RSS
4.5 Opinion: ClinicalTrials.gov needs pregnancy and lactation filter¶
Experts propose adding a checkbox to ClinicalTrials.gov to help pregnant and lactating patients identify eligible clinical trials.
Sources: STAT News RSS
Pharma¶
6 Novo Nordisk unveils strategy to expand obesity franchise and diversify pipeline¶
Under investor pressure, Novo Nordisk outlined plans to grow its obesity drug business while diversifying into direct-to-consumer offerings.
Sources: STAT News RSS
Healthcare M&A¶
6 ITM Isotopes and Telix Pharmaceuticals merge following FDA rejection¶
Two leading radiopharmaceutical companies are merging after one received an unexpected FDA rejection.
Sources: STAT News RSS
Policy¶
5.5 Opinion: NIH budget should reach $100 billion annually¶
Reed Jobs writes that the National Institutes of Health budget should be increased to $100 billion per year rather than dismantled.
Sources: STAT News RSS
Politics¶
5 Iowa governor's race tests MAHA movement's political viability ahead of midterms¶
An Iowa gubernatorial race is being examined as a test of whether Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) movement has enduring political appeal for Republicans.
Sources: STAT News RSS
Science¶
3.5 STAT explores importance of trust in science with new reporter¶
STAT's new trust-in-science reporter Nicholas Florko discusses why confidence in science matters in a podcast episode.
Sources: STAT News RSS
3.5 STAT's new reporter addresses skepticism toward modern medicine¶
STAT's new trust-in-science reporter Nicholas Florko discusses his approach to covering skepticism about modern medicine.
Sources: STAT News RSS