Perhaps by reducing anxiety, a service dog can help reduce seizures in people with tough-to-treat epilepsy, a new study finds. A group of 25 study participants had an average 31% fewer seizures after months of owning a service dog trained to help people with epilepsy. And seven of those patients experienced a 50% to 100%… read on > read on >
PFAS “forever” chemicals, increasingly linked to health risks, will no longer be added to food packaging handled by American consumers, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Wednesday. “Grease-proofing materials containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances [PFAS] are no longer being sold for use in food packaging in the U.S.,” Jim Jones, the agency’s Commissioner for… read on > read on >
The historic overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022 has not had any significant effect on the number of abortions performed each month in the United States, new data shows. The #WeCount report tracks abortion rates across the country for the nonprofit Society of Family Planning, a group promoting research on abortion and contraception. It… read on > read on >
According to the advocacy group Autism Speaks, one in every 36 U.S. children has an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Early diagnosis is crucial to helping to treat the condition, but how is a diagnosis done? The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has an updated review of what’s involved in diagnosing autism in kids.… read on > read on >
Once thought to be a bygone disease, measles is making a comeback in the United States and globally as folks shun a safe, surefire way to prevent it: The measles vaccine. But what is measles, and how easily does it spread? Drs. Aaron Milstone and Lisa Lockherd Maragakis, two infectious disease experts at Johns Hopkins… read on > read on >
Folks who use marijuana have a greater risk of heart attack and stroke, with the odds rising even higher when they partake every day, a new study finds. Both daily and non-daily marijuana users had an increased risk of heart attack and stroke compared to non-users, researchers reported Feb. 28 in the Journal of the… read on > read on >
Babies born to mothers who experience profound grief during pregnancy may be vulnerable to heart failure much later in life, new research suggests. “If future studies support our findings, the implementation of early screening for risk factors such as obesity, hypertension and diabetes in children born to mothers who experienced bereavement, as well as the… read on > read on >
What if you’d been treated for years for a condition, only to find out that you’d long ago been misdiagnosed? That’s what’s happening to a sizable number of Americans who are taking allergy meds (to little effect) when in fact they have chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS), a new study contends. “We have seen so many patients… read on > read on >
Live musical performances speak to the soul, stimulating the brain in ways more powerful than listening to a recorded tune does, new research finds. “Our study showed that pleasant and unpleasant emotions performed as live music elicited much higher and more consistent activity in the amygdala [the emotional center of the brain] than recorded music,”… read on > read on >
In a new study, yoga appears to have bolstered the brain health of older women who had risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease. The study can’t prove that the ancient practice will slow or prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s, but it did seem to reverse some forms of neurological decline, researchers said. “That is what yoga… read on > read on >
