By BY SIMON ROMERO, RONI CARYN RABIN AND MARK WALKER from NYT Health https://ift.tt/ZMiON...
How the Pandemic Shortened Life Expectancy in Indigenous Communities
Wednesday, August 31, 2022
US life expectancy fell again in 2021, largely due to COVID-19
Life expectancy in the U.S. dropped for the second consecutive year in 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which blamed the COVID-19 pandemic for about half the decline in 2021.
Over the course of the first two years of the pandemic, the estimated U.S. life expectancy has shorted by nearly three years.
COMBO 'POLYPILL'...
New study suggests steroids may change the structure of the brain
Steroids are able to change the structure of the brain and affect a person's mood, according to a new study.
Dutch researchers conducted the study by examining the brains of nearly 25,000 steroid users and non-users. The team found that those who inhaled or orally took glucocorticoids, a steroid that is prescribed to decrease inflammation, experienced...
FDA authorizes updated COVID-19 booster shots targeting omicron variant
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced Wednesday that it has authorized updated coronavirus booster shots targeting the highly-contagious omicron variant.
"Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration amended the emergency use authorizations (EUAs) of the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine and the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine to authorize...
Tuesday, August 30, 2022
Marijuana with high THC levels linked to addiction, psychiatric illness, study finds
Ethan Andrew started smoking marijuana during his sophomore year of high school in Colorado to help with his anxiety.
Like many teens, he said he thought it was "just weed" and did not see the harm in smoking the popular drug containing THC, the active chemical found in cannabis that produces a "high."
His causal marijuana use turned to smoking...
Monday, August 29, 2022
US government can’t force Christian groups to perform abortions, gender reassignment surgery, court rules
The federal government cannot force Christian medical organizations to perform abortions or gender transition surgeries under the Affordable Care Act, a federal appeals court ruled Friday.
In a unanimous ruling, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s permanent order shielding the Christian groups from anti-discrimination...
Argentine cancer survivor offers affordable cooling chemo caps to help cancer patients keep their hair
After doctors diagnosed Paula Estrada with breast cancer in 2009, the then 41-year-old Argentine decided she would not only beat the disease, but would do so without losing her long blonde hair to the ravages of chemotherapy.
At her home in Buenos Aires, Estrada, a graphic designer by profession, set about creating a makeshift cooling cap out of ice...
Sunday, August 28, 2022
New York stores begin enforcing ban on sale of whipped cream canisters to those under 21
ID checks for whipped cream are rolling out at stores in New York as more retailers begin to enforce a year-old state law banning the sale of whipped cream canisters to anyone under 21.
The law passed last year amid concern that teenagers are increasingly getting high by inhaling the nitrous oxide used as a propellant in the canisters, according to...
Saturday, August 27, 2022
Friday, August 26, 2022
Combo 'polypill' cuts heart disease deaths, new study finds
One pill may be better than three.
A heart medication known as a "polypill" reduced the chance of a secondary adverse cardiovascular event in individuals who previously had a heart attack, according to the findings of a study announced on Friday, August 26, at the European Society of Cardiology Congress (ESC 2022) in Barcelona, Spain.
The cardiovascular...
Herbal supplements and their side effects: Here's how to stay safe
While herbal supplements are extremely popular today, they may not be right for everyone.
And there are caveats attached to them from doctors and nutritionists.
Attractively packaged and promising a world of health benefits, many of the herbal supplements available on the market are extremely potent, say doctors and nutritionists — and should be taken...
Fauci warns against monkeypox outbreak assumptions; compares situation to HIV/AIDS epidemic
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House chief medical adviser, warned against making assumptions regarding the global monkeypox outbreak, citing choices made during the early days of the HIV-AIDS epidemic.
In a piece written in the New England Journal of Medicine, Fauci and Dr. H. Clifford Lane wrote that the emerging epidemiologic pattern of the...
Narcan vending machines are the latest weapon against opioid overdoses
Vending machines that distribute lifesaving shots of Narcan represent the latest effort to combat the wave of opioid overdose deaths plaguing the country.
Across the U.S., cities including San Diego, Las Vegas and New York are installing vending machines and locker kiosks stocked with nasal sprays that contain naloxone, a medication that can be used...
Thursday, August 25, 2022
Wednesday, August 24, 2022
NIH study finds young Americans using more marijuana and hallucinogenic drugs than ever before
Young adults in America are using marijuana and hallucinogenic drugs at higher rates than ever before, but are taking fewer opioids, according to a National Institutes for Health study published this week.
The proportion of Americans between the ages of 19 and 30 who reported using marijuana in the past month rose to 29% in 2021, an increase...
Sleep deprivation may make you more selfish, new study suggests
You might be less willing to help another person if you are deprived of quality sleep, according to a new study.
Through three different experiments, Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, found that a lack of sleep may affect how humans treat each other. The study, which was published Tuesday in the journal PLOS Biology, noted...
Switzerland looks to secure 40,000 doses of the monkeypox vaccine
Switzerland plans to procure 40,000 doses of monkeypox vaccine as well as 500 units of an antiviral drug, the government said on Wednesday.
The army simultaneously aims to procure 60,000 vaccine doses and 500 drug doses as part of readiness measures, as the vaccine can also be used in the event of an outbreak of other smallpox viruses, it said.
The...
Tuesday, August 23, 2022
Lower your risk of catching Covid-19: Study suggests routine physical exercise may help
Regular daily fitness may curve risk of severe Covid-19 infections, hospitalization, and even death from the disease, according to a new study.
Approximately 20 minutes of daily exercise may protect against Covid-19 along with its severe symptoms, according to a new study published Monday in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. Researchers...
New study shows increase in stage 4 cervical cancer in white, black women in the US
Late-stage cervical cancer is on the rise among white and black women in the United States, according to a new study.
Researchers at the University of California Los Angeles Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology believe one of the factors leading to the rising cases is that younger women are receiving fewer screenings. Although the cancer type...
British scientists behind crucial COVID trial pivot to monkeypox treatment research
The British scientists behind one of the major therapeutic COVID-19 trials have turned their focus to treatments for monkeypox, a viral disease that has been labeled a global health emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The team from Oxford University behind the so-called RECOVERY trial - which honed in on four effective COVID treatments...
What human waste can tell us about monkeypox
First, it was COVID-19 that drove some Las Vegas scientists to the sewers.
Now, it’s monkeypox.
Turns out, what goes down the toilet can tell us a lot about diseases spreading in an area.
That's how scientists at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas know how widespread the monkeypox virus is, even before the health department.
SCIENTISTS CAN DETECT COVID-19...
Monday, August 22, 2022
New study suggests brain-zapping cap improves short-term memory loss in older adults
A cap used to zap the brain with electrodes appeared to improve short-term memory for adults older than 65, according to a new study.
Researchers who published the study in the journal Nature Neuroscience on Monday believe the technology may have the potential to curve the risk of dementia and other memory loss diseases. However, despite the enthusiasm...
New Ebola infection in eastern Congo linked to devastating 2018 outbreak
A new case of Ebola virus has been confirmed in the city of Beni in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the country's National Institute for Biomedical Research (INRB) said on Monday.
Testing showed the case was genetically linked to the 2018-2020 outbreak in North Kivu and Ituri provinces, which killed nearly 2,300 people, said a statement from...
Quick, inexpensive prenatal test may help predict miscarriage risk
A new test developed by researchers from Columbia University in New York City may help pregnant women learn if their developing fetus is at increased risk of miscarriage.
The test is called the Short-read Transpore Rapid Karyotyping (STORK), and it’s a less expensive, less time-consuming test than those that use samples collected from standard prenatal...
Sunday, August 21, 2022
Los Angeles county health department offering free COVID-19 testing for pets
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is offering free COVID-19 testing for pets who may have been exposed to the virus.
Los Angeles health officials announced the initiative on Aug. 20, stating that it has recently received funding to conduct the free COVIS-19 testing on pets.
"Your pet may be eligible for free SARS-CoV-2 testing if they...
Dr. Birx: CDC at 'inflection point,' expects real change following watershed admission
Former White House coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx praised the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for its rare admission of missteps in how the agency responded to COVID-19.
"A lot of directors would have just tried to tweak [it], and tweaking the agency at this point was not going to be successful," Birx said during an appearance...
Saturday, August 20, 2022
Friday, August 19, 2022
CDC director says it's 'frustrating' when health decisions are 'political'
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shared how "frustrating" it is when health decisions are politically driven.
"It's frustrating when people are making health based decisions through a political lens." Walensky told Fox News' Dr. Marc Siegel. "We've done everything that we can, and I continue to...
Study suggests alcohol and smoking cause almost half of global cancer deaths
Alcohol, smoking and a high body mass index (BMI) are the preventable risk factors attributable to nearly half of all global cancer deaths, according to a new study funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
The study, published in The Lancet on Thursday, examined cancer cases from 2019 and found that 44% of cancer deaths were caused by preventable...
WHO recommends two monoclonal antibody medications to treat Ebola
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday recommended two monoclonal antibody treatments against Ebola, saying the use of such drugs combined with better care had "revolutionized" the treatment of a disease once seen as a near-certain killer.
The drugs - Regeneron's Inmazeb (REGN-EB3) and Ridgeback Bio's Ebanga (mAb114) - use laboratory-made monoclonal...
Will monkeypox become an 'established STD'? Why one infectious disease expert thinks so
The Nigerian doctor who treated the 2017 monkeypox outbreak in Nigeria told Fox News in an interview that the virus now "shows all of the signs of becoming an established STD," as more U.S. cases arise and the Biden administration has called the outbreak a public health emergency.
Infectious disease physician Dr. Dimie Ogoina treated the first...