A teenager’s brain power appears to have little bearing on whether they will become overweight or obese as adults. British researchers found that, on average, sharper teens weighed only slightly less in adulthood than siblings who scored lower on tests of thinking skills, according to a new study published April 13 in the journal PLOS…  read on >  read on >

Hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought illegally to the United States as children may soon be eligible to receive federally funded health care. President Joe Biden on Thursday announced the extension of eligibility for Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act health insurance exchanges to those in DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. “Today,…  read on >  read on >

Daytime naps longer than a half-hour appear to nearly double a person’s risk of developing an irregular heartbeat, a new study reports. People who nap 30 minutes or more a day have a 90% higher risk of developing the heart rhythm disorder atrial fibrillation (a-fib) than those who take shorter naps, according to research presented…  read on >  read on >

In a disappointing finding, a new report shows that suicide rates in America are on the upswing again after a momentary, and minute, decline. According to researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the suicide rate increased from 10.7 people per 100,000 people in 2001 to 14.2 per 100,000 in 2018. The…  read on >  read on >

(HealthDay News) – Juul Labs on Wednesday reached a $462 million settlement with several states over the aggressive marketing of its electronic cigarettes to minors. This latest settlement includes New York, California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Massachusetts and New Mexico. Juul settled with West Virginia earlier this week. The company has already agreed…  read on >  read on >

Whether the gender of a blood donor could affect the recipient’s survival was an unanswered question in medicine. Until now. “Some observational studies had suggested female donor blood might be linked with a higher risk of death among recipients compared to male donor blood, but our clinical trial found that isn’t the case,” co-lead author…  read on >  read on >

As people with HIV live longer they’re at risk of premature heart disease. But a new study finds statin drugs can cut the risk of serious heart problems by more than one-third. The U.S. National Institutes of Health trial found the cholesterol-lowering drugs so effective, in fact, that the study was stopped early. Taking the…  read on >  read on >