Celiac drug reduces gluten damage, symptoms in early trial; noise-canceling headphones curb nausea after surgery; anxiety, depression tied to 'pregnancy brain' — Morning Medical Update

Celiac drug reduces gluten damage, symptoms in early trial

Six percent of treated patients needed medication for symptoms during a gluten challenge, compared with 47% on placebo.

Adults with celiac disease who received the experimental drug ANB033 had statistically significant protection against gluten-induced intestinal damage on biopsy compared with placebo in a 32-patient early-stage trial, according to top-line results released by First Tracks Biotherapeutics.

After three subcutaneous injections over four weeks, participants ate 6 grams of gluten daily, about the equivalent of two slices of bread, for two weeks. Six percent of patients on the drug needed medication to manage gastrointestinal symptoms, compared with 47% of those on placebo.

"It is remarkable to see, for the first time, both statistically significant prevention of symptoms and [intestinal] benefit in the same study," said study leader Benjamin Lebwohl, M.D., M.S., of NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

The company-reported data have not been peer-reviewed, and full results are expected next month at the International Celiac Disease Symposium in Melbourne, Australia. Reuters has more.

Noise-canceling headphones curb nausea after surgery

Patients who wore them during gynecologic surgery had a 32% lower risk in a randomized trial.

Patients who wore noise-canceling headphones during minimally invasive gynecologic surgery were less likely to have postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) within 48 hours, according to a randomized trial presented at the Anesthesiology 2026 annual meeting in San Diego.

All 192 adults in the study were under general anesthesia and received standard PONV prevention medication. PONV occurred in 35.4% of those who wore headphones, compared with 52.1% of those who did not, or about 17 fewer cases per 100 patients. Operating room noise averaged about 66 decibels.

"Our findings suggest that simply reducing intraoperative noise could give anesthesiologists another tool to help prevent PONV after surgery, without adding another medication," lead author Huayue Liu, M.D., an anesthesiologist at the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University in China, said in a news release from the American Society of Anesthesiologists.

The results were presented at a conference and have not been published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Anxiety, depression tied to 'pregnancy brain'

Exercise helped women with depressive symptoms but may have added to brain fog for anxious new mothers.

Pregnant women and new mothers with more symptoms of anxiety or depression reported more memory lapses, broken concentration and forgetfulness, often called "pregnancy brain," according to a study published in Psychology & Health.

Penn State researchers surveyed 56 women in central Pennsylvania at about 30 weeks of pregnancy and 46 of them again six weeks after delivery. Meeting the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists guideline of 150 minutes of moderate activity a week was not significantly tied to less brain fog overall.

Exercise was associated with less brain fog among women with high levels of depressive symptoms, but it may have increased brain fog among new mothers with high anxiety.

"It is possible that new mothers who are more anxious and who meet activity guidelines may be stretching themselves too thin," first author Victoria Suhy, a doctoral candidate in kinesiology, said in a news release.