Cataract surgery could restore good vision to older people and by doing so cut their odds for potentially life-threatening falls, a new study finds. Folks who got the surgery had significantly lower odds for bone fractures and brain hemorrhages linked to falling compared to people with cataracts who didn’t get the operation, researchers report. The… read on > read on >
Experiments in sheep are hinting that doses of caffeine given to women in pregnancy, as well as their newborns after birth, could prevent cerebral palsy. Cerebral palsy is a disabling condition often caused by asphyxia — reductions in oxygen supply — around the time of birth. Asphyxia can cause other neurodevelopmental disorders, as well. Researcher… read on > read on >
Expanded access to addiction treatment and the overdose-reversal med naloxone likely prompted a 37% reduction in OD deaths linked to opioids taken with meth or other stimulant drugs, a new study suggests. OD death rates were 8.9 deaths per 100,000 in communities with expanded access to treatment and naloxone, compared to 14.1 deaths per 100,000… read on > read on >
At-home brain stimulation therapy can safely and effectively treat severe to moderate depression, a new clinical trial shows. Rates of treatment response and depression remission were three times higher in people receiving the noninvasive brain stimulation, researchers said. “The study results bring promise that an innovative treatment modality may become available for patients suffering from… read on > read on >
Smokers find it easier to quit if they’re automatically offered support, even if they didn’t ask for it, a new clinical trial finds. Quit rates were higher among health system patients placed in an “opt-out” program, in which tobacco cessation medications and counseling are automatically prescribed upon learning they smoke, researchers found. It’s called an… read on > read on >
Light therapy could be a useful treatment for the most common form of age-related macular degeneration, a new study says. The therapy, called photobiomodulation or “red light” therapy, can reduce the risk of vision loss and slow progression of the “dry” form of macular degeneration, researchers reported recently at the annual meeting of the American… read on > read on >
The skin condition eczema appears to be linked to a serious condition that can end in leg amputation, a new study finds. People with eczema are at significantly higher risk of developing peripheral vascular disease, researchers reported recently in the journal Clinical and Experimental Dermatology. Peripheral vascular disease occurs in 11% of patients with eczema,… read on > read on >
.jpg)
The United States experienced a small but significant rise in infant deaths in the months following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision overturned Roe v. Wade, a new study shows. The Dobbs ruling, handed down in July of 2022, led to outright bans on abortion in 14 states and tighter restrictions in eight others. According to… read on > read on >
Health insurers would be required to cover the cost of over-the-counter birth control and emergency contraception under new rules proposed by the White House on Monday. “Since Roe v. Wade was overturned more than two years ago, Republican elected officials have made clear they want to ban or restrict birth control, defund federal programs that… read on > read on >
Walking pneumonia cases are surging among young children in the United States, federal health officials warn. “Bacterial infections caused by Mycoplasma pneumoniae increased in the United States since late spring and have remained high,” a statement issued Friday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted. “The proportion of patients discharged from emergency departments with… read on > read on >
