The 2023 illness and death in Nebraska of a stray kitten infected with rabies set off a large-scale effort to discover how the feline became infected in the first place. That’s because the strain of rabies the 6-week old kitten carried had never been detected so far west: The nearest other cases of the Eastern… read on > read on >
Is vaping finally losing its coolness for American teens? The latest tally of federal data finds that 550,000 school kids, mostly high schoolers, quit using e-cigarettes in 2024. Vaping rates fell from 10% of high school students in 2023 to 7.8% this year, “reaching the lowest level ever measured” by the National Youth Tobacco Survey,… read on > read on >
A national recall of meat and poultry has been expanded to include close to 12 million pounds of products that may have been contaminated with listeria, U.S. health officials announced. In addition, the updated recall noted that some of the affected products “were distributed to schools. A school distribution list is not available at this time.”… read on > read on >
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Weight-loss and diabetes drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro or Zepbound appear to help people battle alcoholism and opioid addiction, a new study finds. People taking this class of drugs, called glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1), have a 50% lower rate of drunkenness than people with addiction disorders not on the meds, researchers reported Oct. 17… read on > read on >
A new diagnosis of Alzheimer’s or other dementia often spurs a person to move from their home, new research shows. “One possible explanation is that individuals with dementia and their caregivers may choose to move closer to family or informal caregivers, either with independent housing arrangements or entering formal long-term care services,” wrote a team… read on > read on >
A new, reassuring study finds that men can take the diabetes drug metformin without worrying that their offspring will suffer from birth defects. Recent research raised concerns that metformin could promote birth defects in children by damaging the quality of a man’s sperm. But this study of more than 3 million pregnancies, published Oct. 16… read on > read on >
Doctors might be overprescribing sedatives to stroke survivors, a new study warns. About 5% of people are prescribed a benzodiazepine following a stroke, to help calm anxiety and improve sleep, researchers found. Benzodiazepine meds include Valium, Ativan and Xanax. But these prescriptions often are for pills that last longer than a week, which could hamper… read on > read on >
Alzheimer’s disease might damage the brain in two distinct phases, a new study suggests. An early phase that occurs slowly and silently appears to lay the groundwork for a second, more widely destructive phase of Alzheimer’s, according to sophisticated brain scans. “The results fundamentally alter scientists’ understanding of how Alzheimer’s harms the brain and will… read on > read on >
An off-label clot-busting drug appears to work slightly better in treating stroke patients than an approved medication, a new review finds. The clot-buster tenecteplase is associated with a slightly higher likelihood of excellent recovery and reduced disability three months following a stroke, compared to the drug alteplase, researchers report. However, the likelihood of good recovery… read on > read on >
A young Israeli researcher who lost a sibling in the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israeli civilians said the tragedy has spurred her to study the unique aspects of grief at the sudden loss of a brother or sister. The research by Master of Arts student Masada Buchris, of Hebrew University in Jerusalem, hasn’t… read on > read on >
