WEDNESDAY, April 13, 2022 (American Heart Association News) — In the beginning, the idea of environmental justice didn’t have a name. It didn’t have much support, either. A few years after the first Earth Day, a young sociologist named Robert Bullard gathered data for a 1979 lawsuit, filed by his then-wife, about a landfill planned… read on > read on >
All Health and Wellness:
J&J to Pay Over $300 Million in Pelvic Mesh Case
Johnson & Johnson must pay $302 million to the state of California for deceptive marketing of pelvic mesh implants for women, an appeals court ruled on Monday. However, that is $42 million less than the $344 million originally assessed in 2020. Superior Court Judge Eddie Sturgeon had ruled in an earlier non-jury trial that the… read on > read on >
Why Do Some Smokers Never Get Lung Cancer?
Strong natural protection against cancer-causing mutations may explain why some longtime smokers don’t develop lung cancer, according to a new study. Researchers compared mutations in cells lining the lungs from 14 never-smokers, ages 11 to 86, and 19 smokers, ages 44 to 81. The smokers had used tobacco up to 116 pack years. One pack… read on > read on >
More Than Half of Cancer Survivors Fear a Recurrence
You’ve battled and beaten back a bout of cancer, so now you can take comfort in your victory, right? Wrong, claims new research that found most cancer patients and survivors fear their disease will return once treatment ends, a new analysis shows. Researchers reviewed 46 studies from 13 countries and found that 59% of cancer… read on > read on >
Black Patients Less Likely to Get Into Pancreatic Cancer Clinical Trials
Black Americans are far less likely to be included in clinical trials of pancreatic cancer drugs than white Americans, and eligibility criteria are a significant factor in that gap, according to a new study. “The standard of care in cancer treatment is informed by studies conducted with predominantly non-Hispanic white patients,” said study author Dr.… read on > read on >
With COVID, Inflammation May Be Triggering Loss of Smell
Immune system-triggered inflammation is the likely reason for the loss of smell reported by many COVID-19 patients, a new study finds. “As a neuropathologist, I wondered why smell loss is a very common symptom with COVID-19 but not with other respiratory diseases,” said lead study author Dr. Cheng-Ying Ho. She is an associate professor of… read on > read on >
U.S. STD Cases Spiked During Pandemic
Even as the COVID-19 pandemic kept people isolated at home, sexually transmitted disease (STDs) cases increased across the United States. Although cases fell in the pandemic’s early months, infections rose again by the end of 2020, with gonorrhea, syphilis and congenital syphilis surpassing 2019 levels, according to a new U.S. Centers for Disease Control and… read on > read on >
Your Personality May Safeguard Your Aging Brain
Certain personality traits may make older adults more or less vulnerable to waning memory and thinking skills, a new study suggests. The study, of nearly 2,000 older adults, found that those high on the “conscientious” scale — organized, self-disciplined and productive — were less likely to develop mild cognitive impairment. That refers to subtler problems… read on > read on >
How the ‘Magic Mushroom’ Drug May Tweak the Brain to Ease Depression
Psilocybin — the active component in “magic mushrooms” — may help rewire the brains of people with depression. Psychedelics including psilocybin have shown promise in treating many mental health disorders in recent years, and a new study is among the first to begin to unravel precisely how they work. “The brain becomes more open and… read on > read on >
AHA News: Couple Had to Wait Until After Daughter’s Birth to Learn Exactly What Was Wrong With Her Heart
TUESDAY, April 12, 2022 (American Heart Association News) — At their babies’ 20-week ultrasound, Bridget and Jerrid Conway were eager to catch another glimpse of their twin girls. In the exam room, the technician moved the wand over Bridget’s stomach. When she lingered over Twin A, or Sadie as they later named her, the Conways… read on > read on >