New parents bringing home their bundle of joy often carry something else with them as they leave the hospital: medical debt. That’s according to new research from Michigan Medicine that found postpartum women are more likely to have medical debt than those who are pregnant. The researchers studied this by evaluating collections among a statewide,…  read on >  read on >

Delirium is common after older patients have surgery and can cause serious complications and distress, but its cause has been a mystery. New research has found that patients who develop postoperative delirium have increased openings in the blood-brain barrier, the layer of cells that prevent substances from entering the brain. “These findings are significant because…  read on >  read on >

Some children who have a common form of eczema should also be tested for allergic reactions because they may have a second allergic-type eczema, a new study suggests. While atopic dermatitis is common and usually develops by age 5, allergic contact dermatitis has similar symptoms and can be triggered by a range of substances. In…  read on >  read on >

The Biden administration is allocating $232.2 million in grants to help stem suicides and improve behavioral health care for at-risk groups. Suicide is happening at an “alarming” rate, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Last year alone, nearly 50,000 Americans died by suicide, up 2.6% from 2021, according to the…  read on >  read on >

People who abuse marijuana may be setting themselves up for heart problems down the road, Canadian researchers report. The new study found that people with so-called cannabis use disorder may have a 60% higher risk for a heart attack, stroke or other major heart-related event, compared to those who don’t abuse the drug. “There appears…  read on >  read on >

Rabies virus is incurable and almost always fatal once it has invaded the central nervous system, with the victim doomed to suffer a horrible death. But researchers now think they’ve found an effective and simple treatment that can cure even advanced cases of rabies. A monoclonal antibody injected into lab mice successfully protected them from…  read on >  read on >

Exposure to air pollution, even for just a short time, drives up your risk of having a stroke over the next few days, new research warns. That conclusion stems from a review of 110 studies conducted across Asia, Europe and the Americas. Depending on the specific nature of the pollutant in question, stroke risk rose…  read on >  read on >