💚 HEALTH & MEDICINE
⚡ April 2026's top health stories: Long COVID linked to serious heart problems, modest weight loss cuts cancer risk, FDA withdraws autism drug, and record-low fertility rates.
The second week of April 2026 brought significant developments in medicine and public health. From new warnings about long COVID's cardiovascular impact to promising findings about weight loss and cancer prevention, here are the top health stories you need to know.
1. Long COVID Linked to Higher Risk of Serious Heart Problems
People with long COVID face a significantly higher risk for serious heart problems — even younger adults who were never sick enough to be hospitalized, new research published in eClinicalMedicine suggests [citation:1]. Among patients with long COVID, researchers found an increased risk for cardiovascular events including heart attack, arrhythmias, and heart failure. Among women, over 18% experienced heart issues, compared to just 8% of those who never had long COVID. For men, almost 21% had heart complications compared to 11% in the control group [citation:1]. These findings underscore the importance of cardiovascular monitoring for all long COVID patients, regardless of initial illness severity.
🫀 Key Takeaway: Even mild initial COVID-19 infections can lead to long-term cardiovascular consequences. The study suggests routine cardiac screening for anyone experiencing persistent post-COVID symptoms.
2. Modest Weight Loss Significantly Reduces Cancer Risk
Good news for those working on weight management: even modest, real-world weight loss may significantly reduce a person's risk for cancer, according to a study published in Obesity [citation:1]. Researchers found that each 1% reduction in BMI appeared associated with lower risk for obesity-related cancers at 3 years — equating to a 4.9% risk reduction with 5% weight loss. At 5 years, a 5% weight loss correlated with a 5.4% cancer risk reduction [citation:1]. Weight loss also appeared significantly associated with lower risk for any malignancy, with a 5% weight loss correlating with cancer risk reductions of 3.9% at 3 years, 3% at 5 years, and 4.4% at 10 years [citation:1]. This research demonstrates that meaningful health benefits don't require dramatic transformations — small, sustained changes matter.
3. FDA Withdraws Approval of GSK Drug Promoted for Autism
US regulators have withdrawn their approval of a GSK drug that the Trump administration had promoted as a treatment for autism, adding another twist to the unusual story of a decades-old medication [citation:2]. The Food and Drug Administration is pulling its approval of Wellcovorin, a branded version of leucovorin from GSK, according to a post Thursday in the Federal Register. GSK had requested that the approval be withdrawn, the post said [citation:2]. The withdrawal follows controversy over the drug's promotion for autism treatment despite limited evidence supporting its efficacy for this indication.
4. US Fertility Rate Falls to Record Low
The fertility rate in the United States has been trending down for decades, and new federal data shows that another drop in 2025 brought the rate down to the lowest on record [citation:1]. Roughly 3.6 million babies were born in the U.S. in 2025, according to provisional data published by the CDC — about 53 births for every 1,000 women of reproductive age [citation:1]. That rate is down about 1% from 2024 and nearly 20% lower than it was two decades ago [citation:1]. The general fertility rate has fallen nearly 23% since 2007, according to the agency's data [citation:1]. Fertility rates among teenagers declined sharply, with the rate for those aged 18 to 19 falling 7% and the rate for younger teens aged 15 to 17 dropping 11%, both reaching record lows [citation:1]. Meanwhile, the fertility rate among women aged 30 to 34 rose about 2.7% from 2024, reflecting the ongoing trend of delayed childbearing [citation:1].
5. Herbal Supplement Kava Poses Increasing Health Threat, CDC Warns
Poison center calls about the herbal drug kava have surged in the United States in recent years, a new study in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) warns [citation:5]. Calls rose 383% between 2011 and 2025 as kava became more widely known and available in the U.S. [citation:5]. Kava is known to cause liver damage, and also can affect the heart and brain. A third (32%) of kava-related calls in 2025 and 39% in 2024 involved severe health problems, and eight deaths have been linked to kava [citation:5]. Because kava is an herbal supplement, it is not regulated in the U.S., and commercial products can be anywhere from two to 10 times more potent than traditional kava beverages [citation:5]. About 30% of poison center calls related to kava also involve kratom, a psychoactive botanical with opioid-like effects, raising additional safety concerns [citation:5].
6. Plastic Chemical DEHP Linked to Nearly 2 Million Premature Births Annually
Exposure to di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), a common chemical that makes plastics more pliable, may come with a grim downside: nearly 2 million premature births per year globally, according to research published in eClinicalMedicine [citation:1]. The study estimates that 1.97 million premature births recorded globally in 2018 — about 8% of all preemie deliveries for that year — had links to maternal exposure to DEHP. About 74,000 of those newborns died, the researchers noted [citation:1]. Certain areas — notably, the Middle East and Southeast Asia — have particularly intense plastics industries and exposures and may comprise more than half of the global toll of preemie births linked to DEHP [citation:1]. Phthalates are ubiquitous in products ranging from cosmetics to detergents to bug repellents.
7. Eli Lilly Rolls Out Oral GLP-1 Pill Via Telehealth Providers
Eli Lilly has rolled out Foundayo, its oral GLP-1 pill, directly to consumers through its LillyDirect cash-pay channel, as well as to telehealth providers and pharmacies across the U.S. [citation:2]. The drug is a once-daily oral obesity treatment to be used alongside a reduced-calorie diet and increased exercise [citation:2]. The rollout comes as the weight-loss drug market faces increasing competition — a flood of cheap copies of Novo Nordisk's semaglutide in India is already reshaping that country's obesity medicine market, showing how quickly the patent cliff will affect GLP-1 makers [citation:2]. Within days of generics hitting the Indian market after Novo's patent expired locally, semaglutide's share in the country's GLP-1 segment jumped to 33% in March from 25% a month earlier [citation:2].
8. Maternity Care Deserts: More Pregnant Women Face Long Travel Times
More pregnant women have to drive long distances to get the maternity care they need, according to a study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine [citation:1]. In U.S. counties that lost all hospital-based obstetric services, the number of women of childbearing age who live within a half-hour drive of obstetric care fell from more than 90% in 2010 to about 60% in 2021 [citation:1]. Travel times stayed mostly stable in counties that kept obstetric services open, but access dropped sharply in places where the services closed. The decline was strongest in rural counties [citation:1]. Longer travel distances make it tougher for women to get prenatal care and respond to emergencies or high-risk deliveries, researchers noted [citation:1].
Stay tuned to Barcha.net for ongoing coverage of the latest developments in health and medicine. These stories represent just a snapshot of the week's most significant findings — each with important implications for patients, providers, and public health policy.
#LongCOVID #WomensHealth #WeightLoss #CancerPrevention #PublicHealth
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