Talk about a gut-brain connection.
Scientists have long known about the link between our stomachs and our brains, warning that our diets and gut health have a large impact on mood and mental health.
And a study published Monday may have found a way to flush the brain fog and attention issues that accompany depression down the toilet.
Cognition issues are common with depression and mental disorders, including trouble with thinking, planning tasks, and both short- and long-term memory.
A team of researchers from the University of Birmingham and the University of Oxford conducted a study looking at the effects of prucalopride, a prescription drug for constipation, on cognitive issues.
Those who took the laxative performed better and faster on cognitive tests to measure focus, attention span, planning, balancing multiple tasks, short- and long-term memory and emotional cognition tasks.
Fifty patients between 18 and 40 with a history of depressive episodes were recruited to take either a two-milligram dose of the laxative — the amount used for chronic constipation — or a placebo for seven to 10 days.
Both before and after taking the drug, participants took a variety of tests that included a working memory task, an auditory verbal learning and memory task and a task on attention and processing speed.
Prucalopride works by gently stimulating bowel movements, but it also activates a serotonin receptor in the gut and brain known as the fourth serotonin receptor, or 5HT4.
These receptors work both to increase gut motility and how fast the bowels empty, and are heavily involved with learning, memory, mood and anxiety.
According to researchers, the medication could help an often overlooked effect of depression.
“For many people, recovery from depression is incomplete because difficulties with memory and concentration persist,” senior author professor Susannah Murphy said in a press release.
“This study provides early evidence that 5HT4 receptor agonists could help restore aspects of cognitive function, opening an exciting new direction for treatment development,” she added.
This study follows previous research from 2024 that also showed 5HT4 receptor agonists used for constipation may also reduce the risk of depression in those with no history of the illness.
Another study found that experiencing depressive symptoms could lead to worsened memory and thinking skills when hitting middle age.
And what we eat can play a role in brain health, especially as we age.

June 16 (Reuters) – U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has ordered an American passenger exposed to hantavirus on a cruise ship to remain in quarantine despite medical ‌advice and against her will, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.
The passenger, Angela Perryman, ‌47, was one of 18 Americans quarantined in the U.S. after Andes hantavirus cases were found aboard a cruise ship ​earlier this year. The group had initially been placed at a Nebraska quarantine unit.
A Department of Health and Human Services official told Reuters that midnight June 21 would mark the completion of the 42-day monitoring period.
Reuters was unable to reach Perryman at the facility by phone.
According to the official, the remaining passengers at ‌the quarantine unit will leave Nebraska ⁠on June 22. The 42-day period began following their return to the United States on May 10, the official added.
Eight U.S. residents who were on the ⁠hantavirus-hit MV Hondius returned to their home states following three weeks of monitoring at the National Quarantine Unit, the University of Nebraska Medical Center said earlier this month. Ten others remained under observation.
The Centers for Disease ​Control ​and Prevention (CDC) had requested that the individuals from the ​cruise ship remain at the quarantine unit ‌through May 31.
QUARANTINE TERMS AT ISSUE
The New York Times recently reported that some passengers were allowed to quarantine at home until June 22 — 42 days after arriving at the Nebraska facility — provided local health officials committed to having a law enforcement or community health worker monitor them.
The WHO recommends monitoring and quarantining high-risk contacts for 42 days after exposure.
Perryman wished to go to her home in Florida, ‌but the state refused to provide the monitoring, the ​Wall Street Journal and the Times reported.
The Times added that ​the CDC, in a quarantine hearing, said ​she should be able to return home for the remainder of the quarantine. ‌The Journal reported that a CDC medical review ​said the chances of ​her developing symptoms were decreasing with time.
Perryman told the Journal and the Times that a copy of an order from Kennedy was slipped under the door to her room informing her ​that she could not return ‌home.
Kennedy’s order said despite the doctor’s report, Perryman was reasonably believed to be infected with ​or exposed to the disease, according to the Journal.
(Reporting by Sneha S K in ​Bengaluru; editing by Caroline Humer and Joyjeet Das)

Women All Over The Internet Are Worried This 1 Part Of Their Anatomy Can Disappear With Age, But Doctors Are Explaining What’s Actually Happening
A viral tweet claims that this part of the female anatomy can “go away,” so we consulted experts and put that statement to the test.
As someone who writes about sex and relationships, people usually assume that I have the most consistent, orgasmic sex life of all time.
And while my sex life has definitely had its highs, right now it’s reached a low. Worse than low. It’s non-existent, and it’s been that way for several months. Normally, I don’t mind having a dry spell for a while. That’s something that comes with the territory of being single.
However, I recently noticed a viral tweet currently circulating that almost made me rethink my somewhat involuntary period of abstinence. It said, “Did you know your clitoris is ‘use it or lose it’? Like deadass it can go away?!” The tweet has 6.5 million views, with over four hundred people in the comments expressing confusion and concern about whether the clit can actually “go away.”
@maskedhottiee / Via x.com
Channeling my inner Carrie Bradshaw, I couldn’t help but wonder… will my clit eventually disappear from my lack of use?
So, I put my inquiry to the test by interviewing doctors, healthcare providers, and educators who specialize in human sexuality. The consensus? The clitoris doesn’t necessarily disappear, but many factors may change its size and sensitivity. Let’s get into it.
Suzette E. Johnson, MD, a Board-Certified OB-GYN and Menopause Certified Practitioner (MCP), explains that the clitoris doesn’t simply “go away,” but if someone experiences prolonged low estrogen, that may cause physical changes in the clitoris.
The clitoris is just one piece of the puzzle, though. Johnson says that low estrogen can trigger changes throughout the vulva, vagina, and urinary tract as well.
Here’s where things get a little tricky: Desire, arousal, and sensitivity are often lumped together, but they’re actually different parts of the sexual experience.
According to Soum Rakshit, PhD, CEO and Co-Founder of MV.Health, desire is your interest in having sex, arousal is your body’s physical response to sexual stimulation, and sensitivity refers to how your nerves respond to touch.
So, if you’re noticing changes in your clitoral sensitivity or sex life in general, here’s what you can do moving forward to reconnect with sensation and pleasure.
“Some strategies here can include expanding what counts as arousal (for example, not just lubrication or orgasm, but any positive sensation or even lack of pain),” says Pavita Singh, EdD, MPH, an Adjunct Professor of Human Sexuality Education at Teachers College, Columbia University.
Dr. Singh also recommends slowing down, experimenting with different types of stimulation, and incorporating tools such as lubricants or vibrators if they enhance pleasure.
For some people, that may mean testing different styles of vibrators, adjusting pressure levels, or exploring areas of the body beyond the clitoris that may feel pleasurable.
“It is important to recognize that a lack of response doesn’t necessarily mean a lack of desire or pleasure,” Dr. Singh adds. “Relationships go through phases, and it is important to embrace those changes and invite exploration. Pleasure doesn’t disappear, but rather changes.”
Of course, the fact that experts can now offer this kind of guidance speaks to a larger shift in how we think about women’s sexual health.
“In my experience, discussions about sexual activity, arousal, and pleasure in cisgender women have become more common among health care professionals and patients,” says Elizabeth Abad, MD, a family medicine doctor. “Previously, these topics were rarely addressed, and it was widely accepted that cisgender women naturally lost interest in pleasure and arousal with age, particularly during and after menopause.”
Today, more people are questioning long-held assumptions about what is and isn’t a normal part of aging. Instead of quietly accepting changes in desire, arousal, or sensitivity, many are seeking answers on their own and finding a growing number of healthcare professionals willing to have those conversations.
Maybe that’s why questions like “Can my clit shrink or disappear?” have become so common in the first place. It’s less about fear and more about how people are paying closer attention to their bodies and feeling empowered to ask questions that previous generations were often discouraged from asking.
So, as Dr. Johnson previously confirmed, “This isn’t a ‘use it or lose it’ situation. It is about understanding what is changing in the body and knowing there are ways to support it.”
What do you think? Any other questions? Let us know in the comments below.

The use of GLP-1 medications such as Ozempic and Wegovy for weight loss has been increasing.
Researchers continue to examine how GLP-1s might affect a person’s health beyond type 2 diabetes management and weight loss.
A new study found a potential link between taking GLP-1 medications and a decrease in the overall risk of developing obesity-related cancers in people without diabetes.
The use of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist medications continues to rise, with a 155% increase in the percentage of people with type 2 diabetes taking these drugs from 2018 to 2022.
The use of GLP-1s for weight loss is also increasing. The latest polls report that of the one in eight Americans who have taken a GLP-1 medication, about 38% have only taken them to help lose weight.
As interest in GLP-1s continues to grow, researchers are beginning to examine how these medications might affect a person’s health beyond diabetes management and weight loss.
“Hundreds of millions of people are taking or will soon take GLP-1 medications for the treatment of obesity and diabetes,” Aparna Kamat, MD, director of the Division of Gynecologic Oncology at Houston Methodist Hospital, told Medical News Today.
“That scale means even an unexpected benefit, or an unexpected harm, becomes a public health event. We have an obligation to understand the full biology of these drugs, not just the intended effect. Identifying additional benefits could help us understand the biological pathways influenced by these drugs and uncover new opportunities for disease prevention and treatment, including cancer prevention.” — Aparna Kamat, MD
Kamat is the senior author of a new study published in the journal Annals of Oncology that found a potential link between taking GLP-1 medications, such as Ozempic, Wegovy, Zepbound, and Mounjaro, and a decrease in the overall risk of developing obesity-related cancers in people without diabetes.
GLP-1 users: Those with diabetes vs. those with obesity
For this study, researchers analyzed the health data from a national database of more than 229,000 obese, non-diabetic people.
“Most previous studies examining GLP-1 medications and cancer risk were conducted in patients with type 2 diabetes,” Kamat explained.
“However, the majority of individuals now receiving GLP-1 medications are using them for obesity management and do not have diabetes. This is the population that has been invisible in the literature, and it is now the largest group using these drugs. They are younger, they don’t have diabetes, and they are experiencing some of the sharpest increases in obesity-associated cancers we’ve seen in decades,” she said.
Researchers have linked 13 cancers to obesity, including:
Meningioma (a type of brain tumor)
Multiple myeloma (a type of bone marrow cancer)
Stomach (gastric)
GLP-1 use linked to 41% lower overall obesity-related cancer risk
Between December 2014 and June 2025, 38% of study participants received a GLP-1 prescription, and the remaining 62% received diet and exercise counseling.
At the study’s conclusion, researchers found that participants who took GLP-1 medications containing semaglutide or tirzepatide had a 41% decrease in their overall risk of developing an obesity-related cancer.
“A 41% reduction across more than 229,000 patients is not a small signal,” Kamat said. “That is the kind of number that, in any other context, would already be driving clinical guidelines.”
Kamat and her team found even higher cancer risk reductions in specific cancers, including a 58% lower risk of endometrial cancer.
“Endometrial cancer is rising fastest in younger women, it is tightly linked to obesity, and we have almost nothing to offer for prevention,” Kamat explained. “A 58% reduction is extraordinary. If that holds up in prospective studies, it changes how we think about this disease entirely, and this finding provides a strong rationale for further mechanistic and clinical studies focused on endometrial cancer prevention and treatment.”
The most dramatic drops in risk, where this reduction was by 50% or more, also occurred in multiple myeloma, pancreatic cancer, and colorectal cancer, in addition to endometrial cancer.
“We are not ready to say these drugs prevent cancer — our study cannot prove causation. But we are ready to say this finding demands a serious answer. Given the rapidly increasing use of these medications, even a modest reduction in cancer incidence could have important public health implications.” — Aparna Kamat, MD
How might GLP-1s help lower risk of obesity-related cancers?
When asked how GLP-1s might help lower obesity-related cancer risk, Kamat said it’s probably a combination of weight loss and other factors.
“Separating them is one of the most important questions in the field right now. We know GLP-1 receptors are expressed directly on certain cancer cells. That means the drug could be acting on the tumor itself, not just shrinking the patient,” she said.
“If that’s true, weight loss is not the whole story but weight loss is likely an important contributor because excess adiposity promotes chronic inflammation, hormonal dysregulation, insulin resistance, and other processes linked to cancer development. Determining the relative contribution of these mechanisms remains an important area of ongoing investigation,” she explained.
David Greenberg, MD, FACP, section chief of Hematology/Oncology at Hackensack Meridian Jersey Shore University Medical Center in New Jersey, who was not involved in this study, commented that he was not surprised by this study’s results, as we’ve known for decades that lifestyle, obesity, and toxic exposures play a critical role in the development of cell mutation and cancer.
“My cardiology colleagues have promoted GLP-1 drugs for several years to potentially improve a patient’s overall health,” Greenberg told Medical News Today.
“We know these [GLP-1] drugs not only diminish appetite and aid weight loss, but they also likely affect cardiovascular health, improve insulin sensitivity, and thus decrease overall inflammation in the body. Anything that decreases inflammation likely also decreases a person’s overall cancer risk. So I believe other factors are at play besides losing weight.” — David Greenberg, MD, FACP
Why more long-term research on GLP-1s is needed
MNT spoke with Lauren Carcas, MD, a medical oncologist with Miami Cancer Institute, part of Baptist Health South Florida, about this study’s findings, who commented that while they’re exciting, the data must be interpreted in context.
“The observational design of the study allows for potential confounding of results as it does not take into account socioeconomic status, physical activity levels, dietary quality, and health-seeking behavior from the persons evaluated,” Carcas, who was not involved in this study, explained.
“Additionally, the results have only a median two-year follow-up. Most obesity associated cancers have a longer latency, meaning that the recurrence of their disease may not occur within the time frame evaluated,” she added.
Anton Bilchik, MD, PhD, surgical oncologist, chief of medicine, and director of the Gastrointestinal and Hepatobiliary Program at Providence Saint John’s Cancer Institute in Santa Monica, CA, who was also not involved in this study, agreed.
“Obesity is a well-established risk factor for numerous cancers, including colorectal, pancreatic, liver, uterine, ovarian, and breast cancers,” Bilchik detailed.
“It is therefore reasonable to hypothesize that sustained weight loss could reduce cancer risk. While findings from this new study are encouraging, more robust and long-term research is needed before physicians can confidently prescribe GLP-1 medications to non-diabetic patients with obesity specifically for cancer risk reduction,” he said.

The head of Africa’s Centres for Disease ​Control and Prevention warned on ‌Tuesday that the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) could be the ​worst ever, saying that ​currently tens of thousands of ⁠contacts of those ill ​with the disease had not ​been traced.
“If we don’t stop the outbreak very soon it will ​be worse than what ​we had in West Africa and eastern ‌DRC,” ⁠Africa CDC Director-General Jean Kaseya told a virtual meeting of African heads of ​state in ​Burundi.
He ⁠was referring to the outbreak that affected ​Guinea, Liberia and Sierra ​Leone ⁠in 2014-2016 that killed over 11,000 people and a ⁠less ​deadly 2018 outbreak ​in Congo.