The U.S. opioid epidemic has been heartbreaking — literally. Young adults’ risk of dying from a devastating infection of the heart has doubled to tripled in the United States during the past two decades, a new study reports. Researchers ascribe the increase in fatal heart infections to the growing number of people between 15 and…  read on >  read on >

In an advance in treating spinal cord injuries, researchers have pinpointed nerve cells that are key to allowing people with paralysis to walk again. The findings come, in part, from nine patients involved in an ongoing Swiss study that is seeking to restore movement to people with paralysis. All nine rapidly regained the ability to…  read on >  read on >

U.S. voters spoke up for abortion rights Tuesday through ballot measures in four states in what was seen as a win for abortion rights supporters. In Michigan, California and Vermont, voters approved measures that would amend their state constitutions to protect abortion, about four months after the U.S. Supreme Court removed the constitutional right to…  read on >  read on >

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 9, 2022 (American Heart Association News) — Science is about discovery. It’s about answering questions and, often, raising new ones. For Elise and Demir Dilci – 16-year-old twins whose research was presented Sunday at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions in Chicago – it was certainly all that. The two high school sophomores…  read on >  read on >

Doctors know a lot about the best ways to treat heart attacks and strokes, but until now they really didn’t have this kind of information for peripheral artery disease (PAD). Affecting as many as 10 million people in the United States, PAD is marked by a plaque buildup in the arteries of the legs, causing…  read on >  read on >

Nearly half of American adults are not getting the sleep they need, a new study shows. That sleep debt is being compounded for many by what researchers call social jet lag, which is the difference between a person’s preferred sleep/wake times and those that society expects. “This is a well-done study examining a very large…  read on >  read on >

Women tend to be better able than men to recover from kidney injury, but why? Apparently women have an advantage at the molecular level that protects them from a form of cell death that occurs in injured kidneys, a new study in mice has discovered. “Kidney disease afflicts more than 850 million people worldwide every…  read on >  read on >

While it can take some time for COVID patients who are taken off ventilators to regain consciousness, a new study suggests this is not necessarily a bad omen. Instead, it might be the way the body protects the brain from oxygen deprivation as a patient starts to recover. Physicians should take these lengthy recovery times…  read on >  read on >

TUESDAY, Nov. 8, 2022 (American Heart Association News) — Being physically active in middle age – before having a heart attack – may reduce the risk of having a second heart attack, according to new research. Scientists have long known that regular physical activity helps prevent stroke, heart attacks and other forms of cardiovascular disease.…  read on >  read on >