Read AMA Morning Rounds®’ most popular stories in medicine and public health from the week of Oct. 12, 2026–Oct. 16, 2026.
Late-night eating may be detrimental to liver health
HealthDay (10/9) reports that research suggests late-night eating may be detrimental to liver health. Investigators “analyzed diet and lifestyle data from nearly 200,000 healthy people who were monitored for about 16 years.” Participants “who reported eating after dinner or after bedtime had a 36% higher risk of developing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and a 28% higher risk of cirrhosis. The results were consistent even after adjusting for factors like age, diabetes status, physical activity and body mass index.” The findings were published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.
Weather variables could help clinicians diagnose viral gastroenteritis
MedPage Today (10/9, Rudd) reports, “Knowing the recent outdoor temperatures could help clinicians decide whether a virus is behind a pediatric case of infectious gastroenteritis, according to a secondary analysis of a prospective trial.” Investigators found that among more than “800 children and adolescents who arrived at emergency departments with acute gastroenteritis, a 1 standard-deviation increase in average daily temperature over the prior 14 days was linked to a 50% lower chance that the gastroenteritis was caused by a virus (OR 0.50, 95% CI 0.36-0.68, P<0.001).” MedPage Today adds, “That significant inverse relationship between temperature and viral gastroenteritis was even stronger in older children. Compared with kids younger than 2 years, those ages 12 years and older were 83% less likely to have viral infectious gastroenteritis when the prior 2-week temps rose by 1 standard deviation (OR 0.17, 95% CI 0.09-0.33, P<0.001).” The findings were published in Open Forum Infectious Diseases.
Women with PMOS may have elevated risk for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias
Healio (10/13, Monostra) reports, “Women with polycystic ovary syndrome, now known as polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome” (PMOS), “may have elevated risk for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, a review article stated.” But, “the higher risk may be mediated by metabolic disorder,” according to researchers. “Researchers conducted a review of studies in PubMed that address PCOS/PMOS and Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, cognitive function and neuroimaging. Both clinical and mechanistic studies were examined.” They concluded that “‘well-designed randomized controlled trials with standardized cognitive endpoints, adequate metabolic phenotyping and longer follow-up are required before recommending PCOS/PMOS-specific treatments for neuroprotection.’” The findings were published in the Journal of the Endocrine Society.
You also may be interested in: What doctors want patients to know about PMOS.
Dementia cases are set to double within next 25 years worldwide
HealthDay (10/14, Thompson) reports, “Dementia cases are set to double within the next 25 years worldwide, warns a new study.” According to researchers, “There are expected to be 24.7 million new cases of dementia by 2050, up from 11.4 million in 2023.” Meanwhile, “women and people living in poorer nations are expected to be at greater risk from dementia.” Investigators came to this conclusion after pooling “data from 22 previous studies spanning nearly 40,000 people across 18 countries and six continents.” The findings were published in JAMA Neurology.
Lithium in drinking water may be linked to risk of rare heart condition
HealthDay (10/15, Thompson) reports that children “could have a higher risk of a rare heart condition if their drinking water contains higher levels of lithium, a new study says.” Investigators found that “children living in California counties with the highest lithium water levels had 71% greater odds of being diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome, a heart defect that can cause a dangerously fast heartbeat.” According to researchers, “Most people with the syndrome don’t have a family history, suggesting that exposures to environmental factors like lithium during fetal development could play a role.” In the study, “researchers compared local water quality data to health records for more than 2.3 million children in California and nearly 2 million kids in New York. Results showed that the top quarter of California counties with the highest lithium levels had significantly greater odds of WPW. Similar results were found in New York.” The findings were published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
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