If you’re pregnant and worried that getting a COVID-19 vaccine might trigger severe side effects, you can relax. New research shows that pregnant women and new mothers don’t suffer more reactions after a shot than other women do. “Pregnant people do well with the vaccine,” said lead study author Dr. Alisa Kachikis, an assistant professor… read on > read on >
Could the constancy of a sympathetic ear help guard your brain against the ravages of aging? Yes, claims new research that analyzed data on nearly 2,200 American adults and found those in their 40s and 50s who didn’t have someone to listen to them had a mental (“cognitive”) age that was four years older than… read on > read on >
If you suffered a bout of COVID-19 and your lungs took a beating, new research has reassuring news: You will likely be spared long-term respiratory damage. Scientists looked at COVID-19 survivors who had asymptomatic, moderate or severe COVID-19 infections and also underwent unrelated elective lung operations (for example, to treat lung nodules or lung cancer)… read on > read on >
A new study may help explain why people with multiple sclerosis (MS) experience worsening disability while those with two related diseases do not. MS causes permanent brain and spinal cord scarring, and researchers investigated whether the same damage accompanies two rarer, similar diseases in which the immune system also attacks the central nervous system. The… read on > read on >
Dental care should be a required part of Medicaid coverage for adults in every state, the American Dental Association and nearly 130 other organizations urge in a letter to Congress. The groups called on lawmakers to support and advance a bill called the Medicaid Dental Benefit Act. “Poor oral health hurts more than our mouths,”… read on > read on >
Early treatment with COVID-19 survivors’ blood plasma doesn’t prevent disease progression in people who have mild COVID-19 symptoms but are at risk for more severe illness, a new clinical trial finds. “As physicians, we wanted this to make a big difference in reducing severe illness and it did not,” said principal investigator Dr. Clifton Callaway,… read on > read on >
There’s an old saying, “Age and guile beat youth and exuberance,” and new research suggests there might be something to that. Some key brain functions can improve in people as they age, researchers report, challenging the notion that our mental abilities decline across the board as we grow old. With increasing age, many people appear… read on > read on >
The United States’ early rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations may have saved nearly 140,000 lives, a new study suggests. Using data on state vaccination campaigns and COVID-19 deaths, researchers estimate that immunizations prevented 139,393 deaths nationwide between December 2020 and early May 2021. On the state level, vaccinations prevented an average of five deaths for every… read on > read on >
Antibodies generated by COVID-19 vaccines are effective against the Delta variant and other coronavirus variants of concern, new research shows. The findings may help explain why most vaccinated people have avoided the surge of Delta variant cases sweeping across the United States. “In face of vaccination, Delta is relatively a wimpy virus,” said study co-author… read on > read on >
Like it or not, Broward County, Fla., has become a flashpoint for the national debate over reopening public schools in the middle of a COVID-19 surge driven by the highly infectious Delta variant. Coronavirus infections claimed the lives of three Broward educators within 24 hours of each other, just as schools are set to reopen… read on > read on >
