Read AMA Morning Rounds®’ most popular stories in medicine and public health from the week of July 20, 2026–July 24, 2026.
Metabolic syndrome may accelerate brain aging
MedPage Today (7/18, George) reports, “Middle-aged and older adults with metabolic syndrome had older-appearing brains, a large imaging study from the U.K. Biobank cohort suggested.” Investigators found that “participants with metabolic syndrome had a significantly higher brain age gap than those without metabolic syndrome (β=1.13).” MedPage Today explains, “Brain age gap is the difference between a person’s estimated brain age based on MRI and their chronological age. A positive brain age gap can be a predictive biomarker for cognitive decline.” The findings were published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia.
More than half of U.S. adults now eligible for statin therapy under new guidelines
Cardiovascular Business (7/20, Walter) reports that researchers have concluded that under new guidelines, “56.6% of nonpregnant U.S. adults between the ages of 30 and 79 years old are now eligible for statin therapy.” That “includes more than 93% of patients between the ages of 70 and 79 and 85% of patients between the ages of 60 and 69.” These “numbers are based on the new dyslipidemia guidelines published in March by the American College of Cardiology, American Heart Association and several other leading medical societies.” The findings were published in JAMA.
Confirmed cyclosporiasis cases at 4,173
Reuters (7/21, Ananthan) reports the CDC “has pegged the number of domestically acquired, lab-confirmed U.S. cyclosporiasis cases since May 1 at 4,173 after federal and state officials examined outbreaks including a multistate one linked to lettuce.” The agency “said on Tuesday it is also aware of more than 7,400 additional reported cases that have not yet been laboratory confirmed and require further investigation. Many of the additional cases have been reported by Michigan and Ohio.” The infections have resulted in 308 hospitalizations across “41 states, with no deaths.”
U.S. measles cases reach highest level in 35 years
USA Today (7/22, Powel, Walrath-Holdridge) reports measles cases in the U.S. “have reached their highest level in 35 years, marking a dramatic resurgence of a disease that was declared eliminated in the country a quarter-century ago.” New data released by Johns Hopkins University show “2,295 measles cases have been reported nationwide so far this year, surpassing the 2,286 infections recorded during all of 2025 and marking the highest annual total since 1991.” USA Today adds, “Health experts say the surge has been fueled by declining vaccination rates that have left more communities vulnerable to outbreaks.”
You may also be interested in: What doctors want patients to know about measles.
Exceptional memory at age 80 and beyond not due simply to good genes
MedPage Today (7/23, George) reports, “Exceptional memory at age 80 and beyond was not due simply to good genes, an analysis of prospective data suggested.” Investigators “assessed outcomes for superagers—people 80 or older with episodic memory at least as good as adults 20 or 30 years younger—and cognitively average controls.” The researchers found that “genotype distributions and APOE status did not differ between groups.” The data indicated that “neither APOE nor any of three polygenic risk scores predicted whether a person would be a superager.” The findings were published in Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy.
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