WEDNESDAY, Dec. 21, 2022 (HealthDay News) – Cold, dry winter air and a trio of spreading viruses could cause children’s asthma to flare up this winter season. But experts at one children’s hospital offer some tips to help parents keep their kids’ worrisome respiratory symptoms in check. While asthma is a lung condition that can…  read on >  read on >

Researchers think they’ve figured out why people can become reinfected with COVID-19, despite immunity gained from either vaccination or a previous infection. It turns out that antibodies produced in the nose — the first line of defense against respiratory viruses like COVID — decline faster than antibodies found in the bloodstream, British scientists say. Nasal…  read on >  read on >

Groups of whales, dolphins and porpoises are regularly stranded in shallow waters around the coasts of the United Kingdom. Researchers wanted to understand why, so they studied the brains of 22 toothed whales — or “odontocetes” — that were stranded in Scottish coastal waters. The study included five species — Risso’s dolphins, long-finned pilot whales,…  read on >  read on >

Humans have continued to evolve after splitting from chimpanzee ancestors nearly 7 million years ago, according to a new study that found 155 new genes unique to humans that suddenly arose from tiny sections of DNA. Some of the new genes date back to the ancient origin of mammals, according to the researchers. They suspect…  read on >  read on >

Many young U.S. adults are estranged from their parents, at least temporarily — with the father/child bond being especially fragile. Those are among the findings of a new national study that tracked thousands of parent-child relationships from the 1990s to recent years. Researchers found that one-quarter of young adults were estranged from their fathers at…  read on >  read on >

TUESDAY, Dec. 20, 2022 (American Heart Association News) — Even now, years later, Linda Jara’s voice resonates with notes that can only be fully appreciated by certain people – people like her who carry someone else’s heart. Her tone is filled with gratitude. Awe. Contemplation. Thoughtfulness. Sorrow. Exuberance. The overwhelming feeling that someone else –…  read on >  read on >

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is looking into a possible increase in invasive group A strep bacterial infections among children in the United States. A number of children’s hospitals in different parts of the country have reported seeing more dangerous strep A infections in recent weeks, leading federal officials to launch an…  read on >  read on >