From advancements in male birth control to the science of supplements, Scientific American highlights some of the most fascinating health and medicine stories of 2025

By Lauren J. Young edited by Andrea Thompson

Medicine

Despite setbacks to science and public health in 2025—from drastic funding cuts to federal governmental departures from rigorous, evidence-based studies—medicine progressed in some exciting areas this year. Here are 10 fascinating discoveries Scientific American reported on in 2025 that changed our understanding of health and the human body and led to treatments of age-old diseases—underscoring how important this research is.

A Vaccine May Prevent Alzheimer’s

A landmark real-world experiment gave the strongest evidence yet that the shingles vaccine could lower the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia, finally giving concrete data to support a longtime hunch that viruses may somewhat increase dementia risk. People in Wales who received the shingles shot were 20 percent less likely to develop dementia over the next seven years compared with those who did not get it.

10 Transformational Health Discoveries of 2025 | Scientific American