Read AMA Morning Rounds®’ most popular stories in medicine and public health from the week of May 18, 2026–May 22, 2026.
WHO declares Ebola outbreak in Congo a global health emergency
NPR (5/17, Lupkin) reports, “The World Health Organization declared a new Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda to be a ‘public health emergency of international concern’ on Sunday.” In a statement, however, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stressed that “it ‘does not meet the criteria of pandemic emergency’ and advised countries against closing their borders.” The outbreak was first reported “on Friday and there are already hundreds of suspected cases, including one that crossed the border into Uganda.” The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is supporting the local response, has said “that the risks to the American public are low.” The CDC also “said it is working with partners to coordinate ‘the safe withdrawal of a small number of Americans who are directly affected by this outbreak.’”
New-onset atrial fibrillation may accelerate kidney function decline
HealthDay (5/18, Gotkine) reports a study suggests that “new-onset atrial fibrillation (AF) may accelerate kidney function decline.” For the study, “a total of 23,510 adults who developed new-onset AF during the annual screening interval were matched in a 1:5 ratio to 117,550 individuals who did not develop new-onset AF.” Researchers observed that “the annual rate of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) decline was greater in association with new-onset AF versus no AF (−1.23 versus −0.94 mL/min/1.73 m2). An increased incidence of a 30% or greater eGFR decline was also seen in association with new-onset AF (hazard ratio, 2.91).” The study was published in JAMA Network Open.
You may also be interested in: Despite growing prevalence, AFib is often underdiagnosed and misunderstood.
Nearly half of teens are losing sleep by using phones after midnight
The Washington Post (5/19, Gibson) reports a study found that “teens averaged over 50 minutes of smartphone use between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. on school nights...and nearly half of the teens used their phones between midnight and 4 a.m.” The researchers “followed the screen use of 657 adolescents, a cohort with an average age of 15. All are participants in the national Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study, which includes a racially and economically diverse sample of children and is the largest long-term study of brain development and child health in the United States.” The findings “build on prior research showing that bedtime screen use can degrade sleep quality—and that even short intervals of extra sleep can make a significant impact for adolescents.” The study was discussed in a JAMA Pediatrics research letter.
You may also be interested in: 5 health tips sleep medicine physicians want you to know.
Creatine use has surged among U.S. teenagers in recent years
HealthDay (5/19, Thompson) reports a study found that “creatine use rose by 90% among boys and a whopping 168% among girls between 2019-2020 and 2023-2024,” while “steroid use fell by more than half.” The researchers “analyzed data for nearly 875,000 teenagers participating in a regular survey of U.S. eighth-, 10th-, and 12th-grade students.” They observed that overall, “past-year creatine use increased from just under 9% to nearly 17% among boys between 2019-2020 and 2023-2024.” Likewise, creatine use “rose from roughly 1% to more than 3% among girls during the same period. At the same time, the study found that past year steroid use declined from around 2% to less than 1% among all survey respondents.” According to researchers, “creatine use is likely rising due to ‘looksmaxxing’ and other social media trends that focus on maximizing physical attractiveness.” The study was published in Annals of Epidemiology.
You may also be interested in: 9 things patients should know about taking creatine.
High-dose vitamin D intake in pregnancy may offer cognitive benefits in children
CNN (5/21, Hetter) reports a study found that “children whose mothers received higher-dose vitamin D supplements during pregnancy performed better on certain memory tests at age 10.” The study “included hundreds of women who were randomly assigned during pregnancy to receive either a higher dose of vitamin D3 or a standard-dose supplement.” Their children at age 10 “underwent a series of neurocognitive tests. The researchers found that children in the higher-dose group performed modestly better on certain measures of verbal memory, visual memory and cognitive flexibility. ... However, there were no significant differences in overall intelligence scores.” The study was published in JAMA Network Open.
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