Young American women are greeting the prospect of pregnancy with a decided “meh,” driving down U.S. fertility rates, a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study says. The actual number of U.S. births declined by 14% between 1990 and 2023, and the fertility rate went down by 23%, according to a paper in… read on > read on >
The time of day — or year — an asthma test takes place can affect its accuracy, a new study says. Routine asthma testing is more reliable when done in the morning, researchers reported in the journal Thorax. Starting at 8:30 a.m., the chances of the test accurately detecting a person’s asthma decreases by 8%… read on > read on >
41 percent of parents wish the government was doing more to address bird flu read on >
Hours before his scheduled Senate confirmation, the White House has withdrawn the nomination of Dr. Dave Weldon to lead the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Weldon, a Republican and former congressman, said he was told Wednesday night that his nomination would not move forward because there were not enough votes for confirmation.… read on > read on >
Most low-birth-weight toddlers are not on track to be ready to attend school, a new study says. Only one-third of babies born weighing less than 5.5 pounds are ready to attend school by ages 3 to 5, researchers reported in the journal Academic Pediatrics. They tend to lag in early learning skills, self-regulation and social/emotional… read on > read on >
Playing with a dog for just 15 minutes can significantly reduce a person’s stress, a new study reports. Stressed students who interacted with a friendly dog reported less stress, had a reduced heart rate and had lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol in their saliva, researchers said in the journal PLOS One. The experience… read on > read on >
Nostalgia might be met by eyerolls from some, as the emotion might inspire insipid images of rose-tinted glasses, gooey sentimentality and living in a time-lost past. But people prone to nostalgia have an edge when it comes to their health and well-being, a new study says. Nostalgic people have more close friends and put more… read on > read on >
A muscle-stimulating implant combined with a robotic exoskeleton can help restore movement in people paralyzed by a spinal cord injury, a new study says. The spinal cord implant delivers well-timed electrical pulses to muscles, stimulating natural muscle activity coordinated with supportive robotic movements, researchers reported March 12 in the journal Science Robotics. Five people paralyzed… read on > read on >
Patients generally don’t mind getting AI-written notes from their doctor’s office, unless they know the note came from a computer program, a new study says. Patients shown messages written by either AI, otherwise known as artificial intelligence, or a human doc tended to prefer the responses drafted by AI, although overall satisfaction was high for… read on > read on >
Agency says 90 percent of tested products have undetectable or extremely low levels of benzene read on >
