Sickle cell disease is one of many chronic health conditions that dramatically increases the risk of hospitalization and death in people infected by COVID-19. Unfortunately, folks with sickle cell disease are much less likely to have received the best protection available to them — a COVID vaccine. Completion of the initial two-dose COVID vaccination series…  read on >  read on >

U.S. doctors are prescribing antifungal creams to patients with skin complaints at rates so high they could be contributing to the rise of drug-resistant infections, new research shows. These are “severe antimicrobial-resistant superficial fungal infections, which have recently been detected in the United States,” noted a team led by Jeremy Gold, a researcher at the…  read on >  read on >

A spike in the use of ADHD medications during the pandemic likely prompted drug shortages that continue to frustrate patients and doctors today, a new study shows. New prescriptions for stimulants that treat the condition jumped for young adults and women in particular after the pandemic first struck in March 2020, according to a study published Jan.…  read on >  read on >

Black Americans have strokes nearly a decade younger on average than white people, a new study has found. The study also revealed that Black people consistently had a higher rate of stroke than white folks over a 22-year period, according to findings published in the journal Neurology. Overall, strokes have declined, regardless of race. “We…  read on >  read on >

Medical marijuana might help ease chronic pain, but it also slightly increases a patient’s risk of a dangerous abnormal heart rhythm, a new study says. Patients treated with medical cannabis had a nearly 1% increased risk of being diagnosed with a heart rhythm problem that required monitoring and possible treatment, results show. The risk was…  read on >  read on >

Pain can present itself in many forms for people battling multiple sclerosis, and one type can interfere with exercising, new research shows. One class of pain experienced by MS patients is what the authors of the new study call nociceptive, caused by specific damage to tissues. Another form is neuropathic pain, caused by the loss…  read on >  read on >

Nearly half of homes tested in a new study contained toxic byproducts of cigarette smoke. Known as thirdhand smoke, these tobacco byproducts remained on furniture, floors and bric-a-brac.  Researchers who tested homes of 84 children found nicotine on surfaces in every home, and nearly half had detectable levels of a tobacco-specific carcinogen called NNK. “This…  read on >  read on >

A bout of depression can trigger a bump in body weight among people struggling with obesity, a new study has found. People who had an increase in symptoms related to depression experienced an increase in their weight a month later, researchers report in the journal PLOS One.  “Overall, this suggests that individuals with overweight or…  read on >  read on >

With blizzards and possible power outages threatening much of America this week, some dangers might not be immediately obvious: carbon monoxide poisoning, fires and electric shock. “I urge consumers to follow CPSC’s safety tips to prepare ahead of storms to prevent loss of life in a storm’s aftermath,” said Alex Hoehn-Saric, chair of the U.S. Consumer…  read on >  read on >