You can’t always choose who operates on you, especially in an emergency, but the sex of your surgeon shouldn’t matter, should it? It just may, according to a Canadian study of 1.3 million people. It reported that women who underwent common elective or emergency surgeries with male surgeons had a 15% higher chance of dying,… read on > read on >
Older adults have a higher risk of delirium after hip and knee surgery if they’re taking anxiety, depression or insomnia drugs, researchers say. “Our findings show that different classes of medicine are riskier than others when it comes to causing delirium after surgery, and the older the patients are, the greater the risk,” said lead… read on > read on >
You may feel silly doing it, but baby talk helps your infant learn the basics of human language, a new study suggests. By mimicking the sound of a smaller vocal tract, baby talk guides babies on how words should sound coming out of their own mouths, the researchers explained. “It seems to stimulate motor production… read on > read on >
Long COVID can be tough to diagnose in children, but there are a number of things to look for. “Many children don’t have any symptoms when they have a COVID infection,” said Dr. Sindhu Mohandas, a pediatric infectious disease specialist and attending physician at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. “So if the symptoms of long COVID… read on > read on >
They take care of others, but many U.S. home health care workers say they’re not in good shape themselves, a new study finds. Researchers analyzed self-reported data collected from nearly 3,000 home health care workers in 38 states between 2014 and 2018 and found that more than a quarter rated their general health as fair… read on > read on >
This time of year can be hard on the heart. The United States has more heart attack deaths between Christmas and New Year’s Day than at any other time of year, so the American Heart Association (AHA) offers some holiday health tips. “The holidays are a busy, often stressful, time for most of us,” said… read on > read on >
Fever-related seizures in young children can be alarming for parents, but they’re usually not life-threatening, an expert says. During a so-called febrile seizure, a child may lose consciousness, experience body stiffness and have full-body shaking. The seizures — which typically last a minute or two, but can go on longer — rarely require medication, and… read on > read on >
Abortion providers in Texas can sue state officials in federal court over the state’s new abortion law, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Friday, but it refused to block the law while such legal actions may be taken. In its ruling, the high court said lower courts should consider challenges against the law, which bans most… read on > read on >
Children with the rare cancer neuroblastoma often succumb to the disease despite aggressive treatment. But researchers have found that adding an experimental antibody to that treatment, right off the bat, may improve their outlook. Of 64 children treated with the antibody in a clinical trial, 74% were still alive and free of a recurrence three… read on > read on >
Nearly half of 12- to 17-year-olds in the United States have had at least one COVID-19 vaccine shot, but the initial rush to get teens immunized has stalled, a new survey of parents shows. Only 1% of parents now plan to get their teen vaccinated as soon as possible; 13% said they’ll wait and see… read on > read on >
