Millions of people take statins to lower their cholesterol, and new research suggests these drugs may also ease ulcerative colitis. An inflammatory bowel disease with no real cure, ulcerative colitis causes sore spots on the lining of the colon that can lead to rectal bleeding, diarrhea and cramping. Treatment typically involves anti-inflammatory drugs and/or removal… read on > read on >
Even when genetics and personality are working against you, having a strong network of supportive friends and family may help lower alcoholism risk, researchers say. “Genes play an important role in alcohol use,” stressed Jinni Su, an assistant professor of psychology at Arizona State University in Tempe, and lead author of a new study. But… read on > read on >
America’s waistline keeps widening. On Wednesday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that 16 states now have at least 35% of their residents who are obese, a number that’s nearly doubled since 2018. The CDC’s 2020 Adult Obesity Prevalence Maps now show that Delaware, Iowa, Ohio and Texas have joined Alabama, Arkansas,… read on > read on >
The cost of providing hospital care for unvaccinated Americans has reached $5.7 billion in just three months, CBS News reported. Between June and August, about 287,000 people who were not vaccinated were hospitalized for COVID-19 in the United States, according to data from the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) and the Peterson Center on Healthcare, which… read on > read on >
The number of U.S. infants born with syphilis is climbing at an alarming pace, reaching a high not seen since the 1990s, according to new government figures. Newborn syphilis, a potentially fatal condition, was at one time nearly eliminated in the United States. But the disease has seen a resurgence in recent years — and… read on > read on >
As severe cases of COVID-19 rise and demand surges for monoclonal antibody treatments, the U.S. government is ordering more from two key suppliers. Monoclonal antibodies, which are lab-engineered immune system proteins, can help trigger a healthy immune response against COVID-19 infection. The Biden administration has also taken over distributing the therapeutics, to help avoid shortages… read on > read on >
Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients undergoing a treatment that depletes a type of immune cell that fuels MS attacks still have a strong response to mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, a new study finds. “The message from this study is clear — it is worthwhile for patients with MS receiving [anti-CD20] treatment to get a COVID-19 vaccine, which… read on > read on >
If you’re making your own face mask to protect against COVID-19, three layers of cotton towel fabric are best, researchers from India report. That recommendation comes after testing how best to block cough droplets moving at different rates, from mild to severe. “Our results show cotton, towel-based fabrics were most effective among the considered fabrics… read on > read on >
The COVID-19 pandemic has many women thinking twice about having more kids. In a survey of close to 1,200 New York City women with young children, one-third of respondents who had been thinking about having another baby before the pandemic but hadn’t started trying said they were no longer considering it. For women who stopped… read on > read on >
Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients diagnosed with colon cancer may have a greater risk of dying from cancer or other causes in the next six months to year than colon cancer patients without MS, a Canadian study finds. “These results warrant further investigation to determine what factors may lead to shorter survival times,” said study author… read on > read on >
