“Heading” the ball might affect amateur soccer players’ brain health, a new study says. Players who used their heads to pass or deflect a soccer ball were more likely to develop changes within the folds of their brains, researchers reported Sept. 17 in the journal Neurology. These folds are in the wrinkly outer area of…  read on >  read on >

Four Western states are taking a different approach from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on vaccines for COVID-19, flu and RSV. California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington — now working together as the West Coast Health Alliance — issued joint guidance Wednesday encouraging broader vaccine use than what’s recommended today by the…  read on >  read on >

Type 2 diabetes appears to double a person’s risk for life-threatening sepsis, a new study says. Men and people under 60 with diabetes are particularly at risk for sepsis, a condition in which the immune system overreacts to infection, researchers reported this week at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of…  read on >  read on >

Every movement we make, whether walking, speaking or even breathing, depends on the health of our muscles and nerves. For people living with one of the more than 300 rare conditions known as neuromuscular diseases (NMDs), those everyday actions can become extraordinary challenges. While these diseases such as muscular dystrophies, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Charcot-Marie-Tooth…  read on >  read on >

A simple shunt can restore walking ability and independence in elderly people with a rare brain condition, a major new clinical trial has found. Implanting a shunt to drain excess cerebrospinal fluid significantly improved walking and mobility among seniors with idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH), researchers reported Sept. 16 in The New England Journal of…  read on >  read on >

Aspirin can cut by more than half the risk that colon cancer will come back following initial treatment, a new clinical trial has found. Daily aspirin reduced by 55% the risk of cancer recurrence in patients whose colorectal cancer is driven by a genetic mutation, researchers reported Sept. 17 in the New England Journal of…  read on >  read on >