Coverage for eligible, necessary care is denied each year to tens of thousands of seniors with private Medicare Advantage plans, U.S. federal investigators say. In a report released Thursday, the team from the inspector general’s office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said Medicare needs to improve oversight of these plans and… read on > read on >
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday released proposed rules — first announced a year ago — to ban menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars. “The proposed rules would help prevent children from becoming the next generation of smokers and help adult smokers quit,” U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in an… read on > read on >
If longevity were a priority when choosing a pup, Jack Russell terriers and Yorkshire terriers would be top picks. Those little dynamos have the longest life expectancy of a host of common dog breeds, according to a new study by Dr. Dan O’Neill, an associate professor of companion animal epidemiology at the Royal Veterinary College… read on > read on >
An experimental vaccine given during pregnancy has shown early promise for protecting infants from a potentially severe respiratory infection. The vaccine, being developed by Pfizer, aims to protect babies from respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV. Most of the time, RSV causes nothing more than a cold. But it can lead to serious lung infections in… read on > read on >
Dietary fiber gets a lot of praise for helping people feel full and for lowering the risk of certain types of disease. Yet many types of dietary fiber exist — and they don’t all work the same, according to a small new study. “When you actually get down to it, fiber is incredibly heterogeneous. It’s… read on > read on >
In the fall of 2021, TikTok announced a major milestone to coincide with its fifth anniversary: The amassing of roughly 1 billion global users, many of them young, turning to the app every month as a way to view, make and share bite-sized videos. But what exactly do those young users think of the app?… read on > read on >
It’s been slightly more than a year since Jonathan Akindle, 23, underwent weight-loss surgery, and so far, so good. He is now down 130 pounds, and he was able to get through gastric sleeve surgery and recovery without taking any opioids for pain. “The pain right after surgery was more like a stomach ache. It… read on > read on >
THURSDAY, April 28, 2022 (American Heart Association News) — Many people with heart failure also have diabetes or high blood pressure. But new research suggests those conditions, even when treated, aren’t well controlled, placing people at risk for worsening heart problems. “We know that controlling hypertension and diabetes is critical for people with heart failure,”… read on > read on >
Planet Earth is growing hotter, forcing different animal species to migrate to new areas and interact with other unfamiliar creatures at an increasing rate. That phenomenon could have dire consequences to human health, a new study says, raising the odds for new viral illnesses such HIV (which originated in primates), as well as pandemics such… read on > read on >
Moderna announced Thursday that it has asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to authorize the emergency use of its COVID-19 vaccine for children under the age of 6. It’s the first vaccine maker to seek U.S. authorization of a COVID-19 shot for that age group. “We believe mRNA-1273 [the Moderna vaccine] will be able… read on > read on >
