Alligators along North Carolina’s Cape Fear River have high blood levels of 14 toxic chemicals, along with signs of immune system damage, new research shows. The study of levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyls (PFAS) in the reptiles’ blood adds to concerns that the chemicals may cause genetic and immune system harm. Alligators are a sentinel… read on > read on >
It’s not high blood pressure, hemorrhage or sepsis that is more likely to kill pregnant women — it’s their husbands and boyfriends. Homicide is a leading cause of death in pregnant women in the United States, and the risk is growing, researchers warned in a new study published Oct. 19 in the BMJ. It’s “a… read on > read on >
The U.S. National Institutes of Health is investigating COVID experiments at Boston University that have sparked a media firestorm, with some news outlets alleging that scientists created a “killer” strain of the coronavirus as part of their research. Boston University is refuting those news accounts, calling them a “false and inaccurate” interpretation of its research.… read on > read on >
A U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory committee on Wednesday voted to recommend that a controversial drug meant to prevent premature births be pulled from the market. FDA officials have said they want to withdraw the medication, Makena, because of lack of evidence that it works and due to its side effects. The drug was… read on > read on >
A person with advanced heart failure may often need a heart transplant or a mechanical heart pump to survive. But white patients are twice as likely as Black patients to get this critically important care, a new study finds, and racial bias may be the reason why. The findings come from an observational two-year study… read on > read on >
Surgeons have long advised patients to stop smoking cigarettes for several weeks before their operations to lower the risk of complications. But what about weed? New research has found reason for worry: Marijuana users had higher infection rates after minimally invasive knee and shoulder procedures. Patients also had higher rates of deep vein thrombosis (DVT)… read on > read on >
An older class of type 2 diabetes drugs known as thiazolidinediones, or TZDs, may protect you from dementia down the road, according to new research. Thiazolidinediones, also known as glitazones, cut dementia risk by 22% among folks at high risk who also had mild or moderate type 2 diabetes when they took these medications for… read on > read on >
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 19, 2022 (American Heart Association News) — On her first visit to the hospital to check on her newborn patient, the pediatrician detected a heart murmur. A few days later, at Cix Greene’s first office visit, the doctor didn’t hear it. It was almost eight years later, at the boy’s annual checkup, before… read on > read on >
It’s well known that Black women in the United States have an increased risk of childbirth complications. Now, a large new study finds even larger racial disparities when women conceive through infertility treatments. Researchers found that among U.S. women who’d undergone various infertility treatments, Black women had a substantially higher risk of losing their baby… read on > read on >
As men and women enter their golden years, those who regularly fail to get a good night’s sleep face a higher risk for developing not one but two serious chronic illnesses at the same time, new research shows. Researchers from France, Finland and United Kingdom tracked the self-reported sleep routines and health status of nearly… read on > read on >
