Deprivation, neglect and abuse during childhood can increase a person’s long-term risk of health problems, a new study warns. “Stress is implicated in nine of the 10 leading causes of death in the United States today,” said senior researcher Dr. George Slavich, director of the UCLA Laboratory for Stress Assessment and Research. “It’s about time…  read on >  read on >

A few cups of coffee each morning can help protect a person against heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes, a new study says. Drinking three cups of coffee a day — or about 200 to 300 milligrams of caffeine — lowered the risk of health problems linked to the heart or metabolism, researchers found.…  read on >  read on >

For the second time this year, the Senate plans to vote Tuesday on a law that would create a nationwide right to IVF. The bill was already blocked by Republicans earlier this year, but Democrats are hoping to use this second vote to pressure Republican congressional candidates on the hot button issue, the Associated Press…  read on >  read on >

As wildfires continue to burn across parts of California, a new study finds that smoke from these blazes and other air pollution could be harming kids’ mental health. Repeated exposure to high levels of particle pollution increases kids’ risk of depression, anxiety and other mental health symptoms, researchers reported. What’s more, each additional day of…  read on >  read on >

With implications for research around postpartum depression and other health issues, scientists have tracked the changes pregnancy brings to the female brain. These changes weren’t subtle: Big shifts in what’s known as the brain’s “white matter” versus “gray matter” were observed, according to a team from the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). “The maternal…  read on >  read on >

Fatty liver disease linked to diabetes and obesity can easily progress to liver cirrhosis, but new research suggests that GLP-1 medicines like Ozempic can help stop that. In a new decades-long study, veterans with diabetes and what’s known as metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) were 14% less likely to progress to cirrhosis if they’d…  read on >  read on >

For the first time, scientists have detected microscopic microplastics lodged in the human brain. Researchers in Germany and Brazil say that 8 out of 15 autopsied adults had microplastics detected within their brain’s smell centers, the olfactory bulb. The particles were likely breathed in over a lifetime, since tiny floating microplastics are ubiquitous in the…  read on >  read on >

People with rare genetic variants linked to degenerative brain disorders like Parkinson’s disease are at increased risk of developing ALS, a new study finds. Further, having these genetic variants increases the risk of a person having faster-progressing ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) and dying earlier, researchers found. The strongest link was with Parkinson’s disease, results show.…  read on >  read on >

Vaping may look cool when you’re young, but it appears to be dulling the brains of college students, a new study warns. College students who vape have lower cognitive function scores than those who don’t, researchers reported Sunday at the American Neurological Association’s annual meeting in Orlando, Fla. And the more students vape, the lower…  read on >  read on >