FRIDAY, Feb. 17, 2023 (HealthDay News) – Actor Bruce Willis’ health issues have worsened, his family announced Thursday, revealing that he has now been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia. The condition typically starts between the ages of 45 and 65 and is the most common form of dementia for people under 60, according to Johns Hopkins…  read on >  read on >

If you spend hours a day scrolling on your smartphone or tablet, you might get “tech neck.” “Humans are upright creatures, and our bodies aren’t designed to look down for long periods of time, which puts extra pressure on the cervical spine,” said Dr. Kavita Trivedi, associate medical director of the Spine Center at UT…  read on >  read on >

The changes in temperature and daylight brought by winter may make a person feel like hibernating. It turns out that humans do get longer REM sleep in wintertime and less deep sleep in autumn, even in an urban setting, German researchers reported Feb 17 in Frontiers in Neuroscience. REM sleep is the stage when vivid…  read on >  read on >

Older people have vaccines available to prevent severe influenza and COVID-19, but there’s been nothing to protect against the third respiratory virus that contributed to this season’s wretched “triple-demic.” Until now. Two major pharmaceutical companies published clinical trial results this week that pave the way for an RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) vaccine to be available…  read on >  read on >

Talk about the stuff of nightmares. You have extremely itchy skin at bedtime, not to mention a pimple-like rash. What is it? Those are fairly clear signs of scabies, a microscopic parasitic infestation where mites burrow under your skin and lay eggs there. Scabies infection comes from prolonged contact, not just a quick brush against…  read on >  read on >

THURSDAY, Feb. 16, 2023 (American Heart Association News) — A quarter-century ago, the foundations were laid for the Jackson Heart Study, one of the most significant research efforts in the history of heart health. As the largest single-site study of Black people’s heart health ever undertaken, it would eventually spawn more than 800 scientific papers…  read on >  read on >

HBO’s hit series “The Last of Us” envisions a world decimated by a fungal apocalypse. A real-life insect fungus called Cordyceps makes the leap into humans, turning those stricken into violent zombie-like creatures that spread it to others through bites. Society collapses in a matter of days after the fungus emerges. But viewers can relax:…  read on >  read on >

A new study builds upon earlier evidence that vaping isn’t any healthier than smoking. In analyzing epithelial cells taken from the mouths of vapers, smokers and people who had never vaped or smoked, researchers found that vapers and smokers had more than twice the amount of DNA damage as found in non-users. Those who vaped…  read on >  read on >

A new study finds brain changes in F16 fighter pilots, which could shed light on what happens to astronauts during space travel. The hope is that the study, published Feb. 15 in Frontiers in Physiology, will help scientists understand the effects of space flight on the brain, possibly helping improve training programs for pilots and…  read on >  read on >

Ramen danger: A steaming cup of instant noodles is a big cause of scald injuries in children, researchers report. A new study that examined pediatric admissions at University of Chicago Medicine for burn injuries caused by hot liquids found that nearly one-third were caused by instant noodles between 2010 and 2020. “Anecdotally, it felt like…  read on >  read on >