Medicine & Treatment

The 2026 medicine Nobel honored Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel for discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics.

Acupuncture is a needle-based therapeutic practice originating in Chinese medicine, studied chiefly for pain and symptom relief.

Alexander Fleming was a Scottish physician and bacteriologist who discovered penicillin and lysozyme and shared the 1945 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Anesthesia is the medical use of drugs or other methods to produce reversible loss of sensation, pain relief, or unconsciousness so that surgery and other procedures can be performed safely.

Antinuclear antibodies recognize nuclear cellular components and serve as laboratory markers in the evaluation of autoimmune diseases.

A biomarker is a measurable biological characteristic used to indicate normal processes, disease, or responses to an exposure or intervention.

A biopsy is the removal of cells or tissue from a living person for laboratory examination to diagnose or characterize disease.

Examination of a blood sample, in a laboratory or at the bedside, to screen for, diagnose or monitor disease and to assess general health.

Blood transfusion replaces blood or its components to support oxygen delivery, control bleeding, and treat selected medical conditions.

Brain death is the permanent loss of brain function, established through formal neurological criteria for determining death.

Cancer immunotherapy uses or modifies immune responses to recognize and attack cancer, through approaches including checkpoint inhibitors, cellular therapies, antibodies, and treatment vaccines.

CAR T-cell therapy uses genetically engineered immune cells to recognize and destroy cells bearing a selected target, principally in certain blood cancers.

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation is an emergency intervention that uses chest compressions, with or without assisted ventilation, to support circulation during cardiac arrest.

Chemotherapy uses anticancer drugs to kill malignant cells or inhibit their growth, with treatment schedules and effects varying by drug and cancer type.

A prospective study assigning people to health interventions to evaluate their effects on health outcomes.

A family of structured psychotherapies that addresses relationships among thoughts, emotions, and behavior to reduce distress and improve functioning.

Color blindness encompasses inherited and acquired conditions that reduce or eliminate the ability to distinguish colors.

A standard laboratory blood test that counts and measures the cellular components of blood, used to screen for, diagnose and monitor many medical conditions.

A wearable method that measures interstitial glucose at short intervals, mainly for diabetes care.

Cystic fibrosis is an inherited disorder of CFTR ion transport that principally affects the lungs, digestive system, and sweat glands.

Diagnosis is the process of identifying a disease, condition, or injury by interpreting clinical information and, when appropriate, diagnostic tests.

Dialysis separates dissolved substances across a semipermeable membrane and is chiefly used to replace part of kidney function.

Electroencephalography records the brain’s electrical activity for clinical assessment, physiological monitoring, and neuroscience research.

An approach to clinical decision-making that integrates research evidence, clinical expertise, and patients’ values and circumstances.

Gene therapy treats disease by delivering genetic material, modifying gene expression, or editing genes in a patient’s cells.

Glucose-modified hemoglobin, especially HbA1c, used to assess long-term glycemia and diagnose diabetes.

Hematocrit is the proportion of blood volume occupied by red blood cells, used to assess blood composition alongside other laboratory measurements.

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation restores blood-cell production using a patient’s own or donated blood-forming stem cells.

Interdisciplinary care focused on comfort, quality of life, and family support for people approaching the end of life.

A foundational Chinese medical classic linking theories of the body, illness, and treatment with cosmology and the natural world.

The tenth revision of WHO’s international classification for coding diseases, related health problems, and causes of death.

ICD-11 is the World Health Organization’s eleventh revision of its international classification of diseases and related health problems.

A programmable medical device that delivers insulin through an infusion system, either independently or as part of automated diabetes management.

Karolinska Institute is a Swedish medical university founded in 1810, specializing in health sciences and associated with the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

A minimally invasive approach to examining and operating on abdominal and pelvic organs through small incisions.

Magnetic resonance imaging uses magnetic fields and radiofrequency signals to produce detailed images of internal anatomy and measure selected physiological processes without ionizing radiation.

Mean corpuscular volume is the average volume of red blood cells, routinely reported in a complete blood count and used to classify anemia.

Medicine is the science and practice of preventing, diagnosing, treating, and managing illness and injury, while maintaining health and relieving suffering.

Surgical approaches that limit operative access trauma through small incisions, natural openings, or image-guided routes.

Moxibustion is an East Asian medical practice that uses burning mugwort to apply heat to selected areas of the body.

Neurosurgery is the medical specialty concerned with surgical and related care of disorders of the nervous system.

An independent body of 50 Karolinska Institutet professors that selects the Nobel Prize laureates in Physiology or Medicine.

An international award established by Alfred Nobel’s will to recognize discoveries in physiology, medicine, and related biological sciences.

A health profession that supports participation in meaningful everyday activities through individualized assessment, intervention, and environmental adaptation.

The authorized provision of organs from living or deceased donors for transplantation, involving medical assessment, consent, allocation, and donor protection.

Organ transplantation replaces a failing organ with a donor organ and combines surgery, compatibility testing, immune suppression, and long-term monitoring.

Orthopedic surgery is the branch of surgery that treats injuries and disorders of the bones, joints, ligaments, tendons, and muscles.

Palliative care addresses suffering and supports quality of life for people with serious illness and their families, alongside or independently of disease-directed treatment.

Pathology is the study of disease, including its causes, mechanisms, structural changes, and laboratory diagnosis.

Physical examination assesses bodily signs through observation, touch, listening, and measurement to support clinical diagnosis and care.

A healthcare profession concerned with movement, physical function, rehabilitation, and participation across the lifespan.

An intervention without the specific therapeutic action under study, used as a research control and to investigate contextual effects on health.

The surgical specialty concerned with reconstructing, restoring, or altering bodily tissues to address function and appearance.

Psychotherapy uses psychological methods and therapeutic relationships to address emotional distress, mental disorders, and difficulties in functioning.

Radiation therapy uses ionizing radiation to destroy cancer cells, control tumor growth, or relieve symptoms, with delivery methods designed to limit injury to healthy tissues.

Radiology is the medical specialty that uses imaging to diagnose disease, monitor treatment, and guide diagnostic and therapeutic procedures.

A randomized controlled trial compares interventions by assigning participants or groups by chance, helping researchers estimate effects while reducing bias.

Rehabilitation comprises person-centred interventions that improve or maintain functioning, reduce disability, and support participation in everyday life.

Surgery using computer-controlled robotic devices to assist surgeons with instrument manipulation, guidance, or tissue preparation.

Speech-language therapy assesses and treats communication and swallowing difficulties across the lifespan.