Smoking shrinks the human brain, and once that brain mass is lost then it’s gone for good, a new study warns. Brain scans from more than 32,000 people strongly link a history of smoking with a gradual loss of brain volume. In fact, the more packs a person smoked per day, the smaller their brain… read on > read on >
Regular exercise appears to enhance and even grow crucial areas of the human brain, new research using MRI scans shows. It’s long been known that physical activity is a brain-booster, but this international study illustrates ways this could be happening. “With comprehensive imaging scans, our study underscores the interconnected synergy between the body and the… read on > read on >
A loaded revolver left out on a nightstand, a curious child — and unimaginable tragedy. Moments like this have occurred in American homes hundreds of times over the past two decades, killing 1,262 children, according to a sobering new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Overall, firearms used in [these] unintentional… read on > read on >
Knives, vegetable peelers, blenders: There are plenty of ways to injure yourself in the kitchen during the holidays. To keep things merry, cheery and safe, experts at Midwest Orthopaedics at RUSH (MOR) in Chicago say there are simple steps you and those who are helping you cook can take to stay safe. They point out… read on > read on >
Media mogul Oprah Winfrey confirmed Wednesday that she has used a weight-loss medication to help her shed pounds and get healthy. Winfrey has added the drug to a regimen that includes regular exercise and other lifestyle tweaks, People magazine reported. Weight fluctuations “occupied five decades of space in my brain, yo-yoing and feeling like why… read on > read on >
Being in a marriage or long-term relationship typically includes promises of monogamy, but new research shows a surprising number of folks, mostly men, are open to the idea of having another person in the mix. Fully one-third of men in the United Kingdom are open to the idea of having more than one wife or… read on > read on >
Women are more likely to have children in the same month as their own birth, and now researchers think they might know why. Births within immediate families tend to cluster within a given month, according to data on more than 10 million deliveries in France and Spain. Siblings tend to share the same birth month… read on > read on >
Mpox is making headlines again, as an outbreak of severe disease in the Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa has infected thousands of people and killed hundreds. Amid this worrying scenario, researchers at New York University (NYU) offer a glimmer of good news: Smaller doses of the mpox vaccine Jynneos, given in a different way,… read on > read on >
Parents who imbibe while watching the Super Bowl are more likely to use aggressive discipline on their children than those who abstain during the football game, a new study reports. What’s interesting is that moms made up more than 90% of the parents in the study, noted lead researcher Bridget Freisthler, a professor of social… read on > read on >
The Supreme Court will review the ability of American women to easily access a commonly used abortion pill, the court announced Wednesday. Mifepristone has become central to the response by health care professionals and reproductive rights advocates to last year’s Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade. The pill can be transported across state and… read on > read on >
