A U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel on Friday addressed a continuing issue with pulse oximeters — that they give less accurate readings for folks with darker skin. The devices are designed to measure oxygen levels in the blood, so correct readings are critical, experts say. During its daylong meeting, the FDA’s Anesthesiology and… read on > read on >
Accessing mental health care via telehealth boomed during the pandemic, and it continues to be a valuable resource for patients. However, it could still be tough to find, depending on the clinics available in your area, new research finds. “We found considerable variation in the types of services telehealth offered by mental health clinics across… read on > read on >
Americans pay nearly three times as much for their prescription drugs as residents of other nations do, new research shows. Drug prices in the United States average nearly 2.8 times those seen in 33 other countries, the report from RAND Health Care found. Brand-name drugs are even more expensive, with U.S. prices averaging 4.2 times… read on > read on >
Even mild cases of COVID can trigger insomnia in most people, a new study reports. About three out of four people with mild COVID (76%) reported experiencing insomnia following their illness. Further, nearly one in four (23%) said they’d experienced severe insomnia, according to results published Feb. 5 in the journal Frontiers in Public Health.… read on > read on >
Driving at night can be risky business, as a dangerous combination of darkness and the glare of bright lights can make it hard to see the road, but one expert offers some safety tips. “If you have to drive in the evening time and you’re not comfortable, try to stick with roads that you know… read on > read on >
Women are much more prone than men to develop autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis and lupus. Now, researchers have come up with a potential explanation for that — one that’s rooted in genes that drive a person’s gender. The female body has a complex means by which it handles the additional X chromosome,… read on > read on >
The heavy lead apron dentists drape over you during dental X-rays may soon be a thing of the past. On Thursday, the American Dental Association (ADA) announced that its member dentists can dispense with the aprons, technically called “thyroid collars” because they were used to shield that organ from radiation. “After reviewing nearly 100 articles,… read on > read on >
Americans are cautiously optimistic that AI will be able to improve the health care they receive, a new Cleveland Clinic survey finds. About three out of five Americans believe that AI will lead to better heart care, and 65% say they would be comfortable receiving heart advice from AI technology, the poll showed. But people are… read on > read on >
It’s known by the street name “gas station heroin,” but a new government report finds the highly addictive supplement Neptune’s Fix may also contain synthetic pot. The product has already been linked to seizures, brain swelling and hallucinations, researchers reported Thursday in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, a publication of the U.S. Centers for Disease… read on > read on >
In some good news for those folks who rolled up their sleeves for the latest COVID vaccine last fall, new government research shows the updated shots halve the chances of getting a symptomatic infection. “Everything from this study is reassuring that the vaccines are providing the protection that we expected,” study author Ruth Link-Gelles, head… read on > read on >
