When getting vaccines, switching arms for each dose may produce greater immunity than having the jabs delivered into the same arm. That’s the finding from a new study that looked at the first two doses of COVID vaccines. Those who alternated arms showed a small increase in immunity over those who got both shots in… read on > read on >
New guidelines from the American Dental Association (ADA) are cracking down on the use of opioids for tooth pain. The guidelines say that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) taken alone or alongside acetaminophen should be the first-line treatment for managing short-term dental pain in teenagers and adults. The available medical evidence indicates that those medications can… read on > read on >
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has resumed a national campaign that uses the stories of former smokers to warn Americans about the many health dangers of tobacco. Known as the “Tips From Former Smokers” campaign, seven new people are featured in ads sharing their stories about how cigarette smoking damaged their health.… read on > read on >
Scientists say they’ve created the first 3D-printed brain tissue where neurons network and “talk” to each other. The breakthrough could be an advance for studying neurological processes in the lab, say a team from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “This could be a hugely powerful model to help us understand how brain cells and parts of… read on > read on >
Police seizures of “magic” mushrooms have more than tripled within the past five years, the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse reports. The total weight of psilocybin mushrooms seized by law enforcement increased from 498 pounds in 2017 to 1,861 pounds in 2022, according to a new report published Feb. 6 in the journal Drug… read on > read on >
Using ultrasound to measure blood flow in the placenta and the fetus could help spot issues tied to low birth weight, researchers report. As the Dutch investigators explained, about 10% of fetuses are determined to be “small for gestational age” after ultrasound examination in the womb. Some underweight newborns do just fine, but others may… read on > read on >
The former ‘party drug’ ketamine has gotten some good press recently, with clinical trials suggesting it might be a powerful and fast-acting antidepressant. Now, one of the first “real-world” studies of ketamine against depression appears to support those findings. Researchers at the University of Michigan and the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System say that almost half… read on > read on >
They say money can’t buy happiness – and now a new study of Indigenous peoples around the world backs up that assertion. People living in small-scale societies on the fringes of the modern world lead lives as happy and satisfying as folks from wealthy, technologically advanced nations, researchers report Feb. 5 in the Proceedings of… read on > read on >
Age-related macular degeneration can lead to vision loss in seniors, but new therapies have offered fresh hope for preserving eyesight later in life, eye experts say. These cutting-edge therapies benefit both the dry and wet types of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), says the American Society of Retina Specialists (ASRS). Eleven million people in the United… read on > read on >
New research suggests healthy lifestyles can help stave off dementia, perhaps by building a resilient ‘cognitive reserve’ in the aging brain. The study was based on the brain autopsies on 586 people who lived to an average age of almost 91. Researchers compared each person’s lifestyle and end-of-life mental skills to their neurological signs of… read on > read on >
