A non-surgical procedure that temporarily blocks extra blood vessels in the knee is offering lasting pain relief for people with knee osteoarthritis.

In a clinical study of 194 patients, 80% of them reported significant reductions in knee pain that lasted for at least a full year after receiving the treatment.

The findings highlight a potential alternative for millions of adults with chronic joint pain who have outgrown pain medications or steroid injections — but who want to avoid total knee replacement.

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Osteoarthritis wears down joint cartilage and causes the body to grow unnecessary new blood vessels around the knee, according to Mayo Clinic. 

These extra vessels increase inflammation and irritate surrounding nerves, making daily movement painful.

The procedure, known as genicular artery embolization (GAE), addresses this directly. 

By temporarily clogging excess blood vessels, doctors can reduce inflammation and quiet pain-sensing nerves without major surgery or permanent implants.

Because the treatment uses microscopic gelatin particles that dissolve over time, it leaves no foreign material behind. If widely adopted, GAE could provide a repeatable, low-risk way for patients to stay active and preserve joint function longer, researchers say.

"For many patients with knee osteoarthritis, there is a real treatment gap today," said Florian Nima Fleckenstein, M.D., deputy head of Interventional Radiology Campus Mitte, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, in a press release.

"Our study demonstrates that GAE using rapidly resorbable gelatin-based microspheres is a safe, minimally invasive therapy that provides meaningful pain relief and functional improvement in participants with osteoarthritis-related knee symptoms for at least 12 months."

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During GAE, doctors use real-time X-ray guidance to steer a thin, flexible tube into the blood vessels surrounding the knee joint. 

Then they release tiny, dissolvable gelatin particles into specific vessels to slow excess blood flow to the inflamed areas.

Across 239 total procedures performed on 194 study participants, none experienced severe complications. 

Only 6.7% reported mild side effects, such as brief skin discoloration or minor bruising, issues that resolved on their own.

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"In our cohort, we saw a significant drop in pain and a significant increase in function, including sports and recreation and daily activity," Fleckenstein said.

"Most importantly, their quality of life significantly increased."

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In addition to feeling less pain, participants experienced gains in daily mobility. Patients reported easier walking, climbing stairs and bending, while overall quality-of-life scores more than doubled over the 12-month follow-up period.

Limitations of study

While the results are promising, researchers note several important limitations.

First, the study did not include a control group receiving a mock or placebo procedure. 

Without a comparison group, it is difficult to isolate the physical benefits of the dissolvable particles from potential placebo effects, the researchers said. 

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Second, the study tracked patients for only one year. 

Further research is needed to determine how long the pain relief typically lasts and how often repeat treatments might be required.

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Finally, while GAE effectively reduces inflammation and pain, the researchers said it is not a cure.

The procedure does not rebuild lost cartilage or reverse structural joint damage. Larger, randomized trials are currently underway to confirm these early findings.

Fox News Digital reached out to the study authors for further comment. 

Taking melatonin or Ambien (zolpidem) before surgery may be associated with less pain and a smoother recovery afterward, according to new research.

Research presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY 2026 annual meeting in San Diego on Oct. 18 found that improving sleep before surgery with one of these two sleep aids could ease anxiety while reducing postsurgical pain and opioid use.

The researchers analyzed 16 studies of patients who underwent abdominal, gynecologic, orthopedic, urologic, dental and other surgical procedures between 2000 and 2025.

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This amounted to more than 1,100 patients, according to a press release from the American Society of Anesthesiologists.

Melatonin was typically taken the night before surgery and/or 20 to 90 minutes before anesthesia, with dosages ranging from 1 mg to 20 mg.

Ambien, consistently dosed at 10 mg, was taken at bedtime either the night before surgery or for multiple nights up to two days before the procedure.

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Although both are used as sleep aids, melatonin and Ambien work differently.

Melatonin is a naturally occurring hormone that helps regulate the sleep-wake cycle, according to the National Institutes of Health. Ambien, or zolpidem, acts on GABA-A receptors in the central nervous system to produce a sedative effect, states FDA prescribing information.

Sleep aids and surgery

Across all studies, melatonin was associated with less anxiety, pain and inflammation, in addition to a more than 30% reduction in opioid use among some abdominal surgery patients.

The analysis suggested melatonin could offer advantages over traditional sedatives for older adults, who may be more susceptible to confusion after surgery. Studies that used activity monitors also found that patients who took melatonin showed improvements in recovery and sleep patterns.

Ambien reportedly helped patients with pre-existing sleep problems sleep better before surgery and was also associated with less pain afterward.

Patients who underwent colorectal surgery and took Ambien required less opioid medication during and in the first 24 hours after the procedure. They also had lower inflammation levels.

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Those who had hip replacement reportedly experienced less anxiety and depression and were more satisfied with the recovery process.

Because this was a scoping review, which summarizes existing research rather than testing a treatment directly, the researchers could not make clinical recommendations or fully assess the risk of bias. They noted that more research is needed.

Why sleep could affect pain

Dr. Sebastian Amaya, senior study author and senior anesthesiology resident at Yale School of Medicine, said he was not surprised that improving sleep was associated with positive outcomes.

He noted that sleep is "extremely important" for maintaining overall health and controlling the immune system, cognitive function and emotional well-being.

In the studies reviewed, use of melatonin and Ambien was associated with less pain and lower opioid use, the doctor reiterated.

ONE TYPE OF SLEEP LINKED TO DRAMATICALLY LOWER RISK OF DEMENTIA, PARKINSON'S AND 81 OTHER DISEASES

"Pain is ultimately an experience," Amaya said, noting that a person’s environment and other individual factors can influence pain levels.

Sleep also plays an important role in brain function, including the processes involved in how pain is experienced, he added.

"A lot of the hormones that are involved in pain are also involved in sleep," he said. "If you have insomnia, if you have other chronic sleep issues, all these different biological pathways can be disrupted, and that could lead to increased pain after surgery."

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"So, by having somebody with optimized sleep preoperatively, we decrease the risk of increased pain after surgery."

Opioids are commonly prescribed to manage pain after surgery, and research has linked greater postsurgical opioid exposure with an increased risk of persistent use. Although the possibility that better sleep could reduce opioid use after surgery is promising, Amaya cautioned that the findings are not conclusive.

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"A lot of these studies did show that the patients had decreased pain levels and decreased opioid consumption in the immediate postoperative period," he said. "Unfortunately, they didn't get followed up for the next couple of days. That would be another study that should be done."

Amaya said the goal is to get patients out of the hospital as soon as possible while keeping pain under control. Improving sleep before surgery may be "low-hanging fruit," particularly as modern lifestyle factors such as blue light and noise can interfere with sleep quality.

"There are probably a lot of people who actually have poor sleep quality, and that can play a role when they come to surgery and have postoperative problems, like a lot of pain," he said. "Maybe their sleep could have been optimized with better sleep hygiene, or maybe they could have talked to their primary care physician."

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Dr. Wendy Troxel, a Utah-based licensed clinical psychologist and senior behavioral scientist at RAND, who was not involved in the study, said the findings "make sense" from a sleep perspective.

"We know how important sleep is for healing and recovery, and it’s very normal to feel anxious and sleep poorly before a major medical procedure," she told Fox News Digital. "For some patients, a short-term sleep aid around the time of surgery may help."

Troxel suggested the concern would be that sleep medications generally are not recommended as a long-term solution for insomnia.

"I’m a little surprised that melatonin showed benefits, since the overall evidence suggests it has limited effects as a sleep aid for most people," she noted. "It may be that placebo, or expectancy effects, could also contribute, particularly in such a stressful context."

Despite the limitations, Troxel concluded that the findings are "interesting and could positively impact patient care for surgical procedures."

For patients who are anticipating an upcoming surgery, Troxel noted that pre-procedure anxiety and disjointed sleep are "normal," and there may be short-term solutions.

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"Anyone considering melatonin or a prescription sleep medication should check with their surgical and anesthesia team about what is appropriate for them," she advised.

Fox News Digital reached out to manufacturers of Ambien and melatonin requesting comment.

Frequent daytime napping among older adults has been linked to a higher risk of developing dementia, according to a study published in The Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences.

Researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health tracked nearly 1,000 adults age 65 and older who showed no signs of memory or thinking problems when the study began in 2013.

A decade later, the researchers found that daily rest habits — like how often people nap, how long they sleep and whether they fall asleep by accident — are linked to long-term brain health.

ONE TYPE OF SLEEP LINKED TO DRAMATICALLY LOWER RISK OF DEMENTIA, PARKINSON'S AND 81 OTHER DISEASES

The study found that participants who napped frequently, defined as most days or every day, had a 48% higher risk of developing dementia compared to those who rarely or never napped.

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Whether the naps were intentional also appeared to play a role. Seniors who fell asleep unintentionally had a 39% higher risk, while shorter naps were also linked to poorer outcomes.

Napping for 30 minutes or less was linked to a 40% increased risk of dementia, even after researchers adjusted for other health factors. For naps longer than 30 minutes, the association was less pronounced after researchers accounted for nighttime sleep patterns.

The research team stressed that looking at daytime napping habits gives a much clearer picture of overall health than looking at nighttime sleep alone.

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"Our study highlights the importance of looking beyond just how long people nap and considering other napping characteristics, such as how frequently they nap and whether their naps are intentional," study authors Adam Spira, Ph.D., a professor at the Bloomberg School, and postdoctoral fellow Kening Jiang, Ph.D., told Fox News Digital.

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"This study provides important longitudinal evidence that frequent and unintentional daytime napping were associated with a higher risk of developing dementia among older adults."

The findings held true even after accounting for nighttime sleep length, daytime drowsiness and indicators of sleep apnea.

"Nighttime sleep and daytime napping are closely related," Spira and Jiang went on. "Daytime napping may compensate for poor nighttime sleep, but it may also reduce the drive to sleep at night, potentially contributing to nighttime sleep disturbances, another important potential risk factor for dementia."

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Researchers pointed out that daytime resting does not necessarily cause brain changes. Rather, changing nap habits could be an early warning sign of underlying changes in the brain.

Brain regions that help regulate wakefulness can start to break down in the early stages of dementia, leading to more frequent daytime fatigue, they noted.

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To double-check this, the team re-analyzed the data after removing anyone who developed dementia during the first five years.

The link between frequent, accidental naps and dementia remained just as strong, suggesting that changes in napping habits can show up years before a formal diagnosis.

The researchers emphasized that this was an observational study with limitations.

"We did not directly intervene on participants’ napping behaviors to examine whether changing these behaviors would affect their dementia risk," Spira and Jiang told Fox News Digital.

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"Although we don’t know whether napping causes dementia, our study findings suggest that daytime napping patterns may be useful indicators of future dementia risk," they added.

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The findings suggest that daytime napping patterns in older adults may be worth monitoring, particularly when naps become frequent or happen unintentionally, according to the researchers.