Want to prevent a respiratory infection? A fingerful of Neosporin antibiotic swabbed inside your nose might help you fight off a range of invading respiratory viruses, a new study claims. Lab animals whose noses were treated using neomycin — the main ingredient in over-the-counter Neosporin ointment — mounted a robust immune defense against both the…  read on >  read on >

Severe mental illness can contribute to a decline in a person’s physical health, with many chronic conditions slowly eroding their wellness, a new review finds. People with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder are more than twice as likely to have multiple chronic health problems such as heart disease or diabetes, researchers reported recently in The Lancet…  read on >  read on >

Many people dogged by depression are turning to the psilocybin found in “magic mushrooms” to ease the condition, and often reporting success. Now, new research suggests much of the credit for that success lies in the relationship between the patient and his or her therapist. It’s the magic of what researchers at Ohio State University…  read on >  read on >

People should rely on the well-established Heimlich maneuver to save a choking victim, rather than newfangled “anti-choking” devices, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says. “The safety and effectiveness of over-the-counter anti-choking devices have not been established; they are not FDA approved or cleared,” the agency said in a safety communication issued Monday. The FDA…  read on >  read on >

Soldiers can suffer brain injury if they are repeatedly exposed to explosive blasts, a new study shows. Further, the more frequently a soldier is exposed to explosions, the greater their risk for brain injury, researchers reported April 22 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Based on this, researchers intend to develop a…  read on >  read on >

The dangerous heart rhythm disorder called atrial fibrillation is becoming more common in middle-aged people, a new study warns. More than a quarter of patients at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) seeking care for A-Fib during the last decade were younger than 65, researchers found. That’s much higher than the 2% prevalence of…  read on >  read on >

A British study finds that beyond the physical pain and turmoil of an mpox diagnosis, many of the mostly gay and bisexual men infected during the 2022 outbreak faced stigma, homophobia and shame. Mpox is spread largely through skin-to-skin contact, and the outbreak in Europe and the United States was largely localized to men who…  read on >  read on >