A U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel on Wednesday recommended updating the formula for COVID vaccines ahead of a fall campaign that will encourage Americans to get the latest shots. The unanimous vote recommends that vaccine makers tailor the next vaccine to target the JN.1 variant, which dominated infections in the United States last winter, the… read on > read on >
Higher amounts of the artificial sweetener xylitol might raise the risk of heart attack and stroke, a new study warns. Xylitol is a zero-calorie sugar alcohol commonly used in sugar-free candy, chewing gum, baked goods and toothpastes, researchers said. But high blood levels of the sweetener is associated with an increased risk of suffering a… read on > read on >
One in six patients serviced by a major California health care system said they used marijuana regularly, with many citing health reasons for doing so, a new study finds. In most cases, doctors may not know that weed is part of a patient’s daily life. “Patients may not tell their primary care providers about their… read on > read on >
America’s poison control centers are increasingly fielding calls on cases of deliberate or accidental poisonings that end in disability or death, a new report finds. Researchers at the University of Virginia Health System reviewed more than 33.7 million poison exposures reported to the 55 poison centers in the United States between 2007 and the end… read on > read on >
Common drugs used to control cholesterol, blood sugar and high blood pressure might also lower a person’s risk of stroke, a new study finds. The researchers evaluated the risk of brain aneurysms that cause bleeding strokes in patients. For the study, they looked at the medical records for nearly 4,900 patients who had a bleeding… read on > read on >
Despite recent concerns that taking Ozempic, Wegovy or other GLP-1 medications might be unsafe before a surgery, a new review has uncovered no such danger. The issue arose because weight-loss drugs slow gastric emptying. The thought was that food might linger in the stomach so patients might be at higher risk of aspirating food particles… read on > read on >
Teenagers who are part of close-knit neighborhoods and families are less likely to have sex at a young age, a new study has found. On the other hand, teens’ schools have less influence on their sexual behavior, researchers report. “Our results echo other studies’ findings on the importance of families and neighborhoods in protecting youth… read on > read on >
One of the biggest obstacles to treating brain cancer is getting tumor-killing drugs past the blood-brain barrier that normally protects the brain from foreign invaders. Now, new research shows that ultrasound waves emitted from a device implanted in a cancer patient’s skull could be the key to getting chemotherapy and immunotherapy drugs into the brain.… read on > read on >
Many women are unhappy with the state of U.S. maternal health care, but a major new poll finds most Americans don’t understand how badly the nation lags behind other wealthy countries in this area. Only about 2 in 5 (42%) women currently pregnant or ever pregnant strongly felt they had access to the best possible… read on > read on >
Drug-resistant fungal infections are appearing in the United States, resulting in highly contagious and tough-to-treat cases of ringworm, also known as jock itch or athlete’s foot, experts warn in a pair of reports. The two fungi reported are among a group that cause skin rashes of the face, limbs, groin and feet, researchers said. Unfortunately,… read on > read on >
