Health and Wellness « Weekly Sauce

New variant has been spotted in the Mediterranean, Southeast Asia, Western Pacific regions read on >

Motorcycle helmet laws save lives and prevent many severe injuries, according to a new head-to-head study comparing two states. North Carolina mandates helmets for all motorcyclists, while South Carolina only requires riders younger than 21 to wear them, researchers said. As a result, North Carolina riders had fewer severe injuries and were less likely to… read on > read on >

Preschoolers who don’t naturally lose weight are more likely to develop full-fledged childhood obesity by age 9, a new study says. Most kids tend to see their body-mass index (BMI) decline between ages 1 and 6, before starting to slowly gain weight as they grow, researchers reported recently in JAMA Network Open. (BMI is an… read on > read on >

Popular GLP-1 weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Zepbound can help reduce a woman’s risk for as many as 14 cancers associated with obesity, a new study says. People taking a GLP-1 drug had a 7% lower risk of developing an obesity-related cancer and an 8% lower risk of death from any cause, compared to… read on > read on >

Approval is for once-daily 0.3 percent roflumilast topical foam for patients 12 years and older read on >

U.S. mothers are struggling with both their mental and physical health, a new study says. The percentage of mothers who report excellent mental health dropped 12 points between 2016 and 2023, from 38% to 26%, researchers reported today in JAMA Internal Medicine. Mothers reporting excellent physical health dropped by four points, from 28% to 24%,… read on > read on >

Former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy is urging lawmakers to take stronger steps to protect children from the potential dangers of social media. In a recent interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” Murthy said Congress has failed to act on what he described as a growing crisis. “Congress has not stepped up to… read on > read on >

Dozens of staff at the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) walked out of a recent town hall meeting after Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya suggested the agency may have helped fund research that caused the COVID-19 pandemic. The protest happened roughly 27 minutes into the meeting, held at NIH headquarters in Bethesda, Md. In a… read on > read on >

Music legend Billy Joel has canceled tour dates through July 2026 after being diagnosed with a brain condition called normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH). The 76-year-old singer announced Friday that his condition had worsened with recent performances, affecting his hearing, vision and balance, CBS News reported. “I’m sincerely sorry to disappoint our audience, and thank you… read on > read on >

“It’s easier to put your elbow in your ear” is a time-tested way to describe the impossibility of any given task. But the route to easing knee pain might indeed wend through the ear, a new study says. Stimulating the vagus nerve through the ear improved knee pain for some patients, according to early trial… read on > read on >