Drinking raw unpasteurized milk can be dangerous because of the presence of pathogenic bacteria and viruses, write Drs. Norbert Herzog and David Niesel in their weekly Medical Discovery News column.

“Given that the concerns of pregnant women and the concerns of women with body dysmorphic disorder are similar in their nature, it is likely that pregnant women with body dysmorphic disorder symptoms may experience more difficulty adjusting to their rapidly changing bodies,” writes UTMB’s A. Hope Gibson and colleagues about their recent paper on pregnancy and body image.

“This is a significant move towards the assessment that these H5N1 viruses are a greater risk than the CDC estimated before,” UTMB’s Dr. Gregory Gray tells the AP as health officials call for more testing of farm workers.

Studies show that being kind to one another has numerous health benefits, writes Dr. Samuel Mathis in this week’s column.

There is now abundant scientific evidence that hair straighteners and other hair products marketed to Black women and girls contain endocrine-disrupting substances that can lead to early onset of menstruation and the development of many issues later in life, write Drs. Norbert Herzog and David Niesel in their weekly Medical Discovery News column.

The University of Texas Medical Branch is among 50 institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of State as a 2024 Fulbright Hispanic-Serving Institution Leader.

UTMB received a transformative $25 million gift from the Moody Foundation and its affiliated organization, the Moody Medical Research Institute, which will significantly advance the work of its Brain Health Institute. In recognition of this generous contribution, the Institute will be renamed the Moody Brain Health Institute at UTMB.

The possibility that one human could infect another with bird flu would be “pretty huge,” Dr. Gregory Gray tells the New York Times. “Some limited human-to human transmission is in the pathway to full-on high human-to-human transmission, and so it is concerning,” he said.

New research has found a microbial species that could help break down the large plastic garbage patches floating in the Pacific Ocean, write Drs. Norbert Herzog and David Niesel in their weekly Medical Discovery News column. “The researchers are going to try to optimize the fungus to eat as much plastic as possible,” they write.

Patients who had cataract surgery had a significantly lower risk of multiple types of traumatic injuries. Those were part of the findings UTMB medical student Caitlin Hackl presented at the recent American Academy of Ophthalmology annual meeting. "Cataract surgery may be a way to control a modifiable risk factor for these injuries," Hackl said. This news also reported in HealthDay, U.S. News & World Report and Medical Xpress.