Spinal injections of a common anesthetic may help clear the inflammatory skin condition psoriasis, a small pilot study suggests. The study involved four patients with severe psoriasis, and researchers are describing it as a “proof-of-concept” — specifically, the idea that targeting certain sensory nerves might help treat the skin disease. Much more research is needed…  read on >  read on >

On Monday Scotland became the world’s first country to help its residents with what activists supporting the move call “period poverty.” The country now offers free period products for anyone who needs them, a decision first made in November 2020 by unanimous approval in Scottish Parliament, according to CBS News. Making these products available is…  read on >  read on >

MONDAY, Aug. 15, 2022 (HealthDay News) – Monkeypox could soon get a new name. The World Health Organization announced Friday that it plans to rename the condition to eliminate any derogatory or racist connotations, a decision in alignment with current best practices for naming diseases. “The naming of virus species is the responsibility of the…  read on >  read on >

While most people know that breathing in wildfire smoke isn’t good for respiratory health, they may not know that unclean air is also problematic for the heart. Individuals with underlying cardiovascular disease risk factors may also be at risk from the smoky air impacting their heart conditions, according to the American Heart Association (AHA). “Wildfire…  read on >  read on >

The dangers of school traffic is a major worry for many parents, a new poll finds. In fact, a third of more than 900 parents surveyed last spring said speeding and distracted parent drivers are their main concern, and drivers who don’t follow the rules should be banned from school parking areas. According to the…  read on >  read on >

The most popular COVID-19 vaccines are safe to use in pregnancy, a large, new Canadian study has concluded. About 4% of pregnant women given an mRNA vaccine had a significant health event within a week of their first dose, and about 7% did after dose two, according to data gathered from more than 191,000 Canadian…  read on >  read on >

State and local health officials have detected the poliovirus in New York City’s wastewater, a finding that indicates the virus has spread widely since first being discovered in the wastewater of a neighboring county last month. The New York State Department of Health and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene both…  read on >  read on >

Preparing your taxes is a purely mental activity, but one that leaves many exhausted by the end of the effort. The same goes for reading a dense report, picking apart reams of spreadsheet data, or writing a fact-laden paper. That feeling of exhaustion following a bout of intense thinking isn’t all in your head, a…  read on >  read on >