Stroke survivors have an 80% increased risk of dementia compared to people who’ve never suffered a stroke, a new study finds. About 19% of people who’d had a stroke developed dementia during an average six-year follow-up, compared with just 13% of those with no stroke, researchers reported Dec. 4 in the journal Neurology. “Importantly, our… read on > read on >
Deaths from fentanyl-linked drug overdoses have begun to decline in the United States, but the crisis is far from over and those numbers could easily rise again, a new government report shows. About 70% of fatal drug overdoses recorded in 2023 involved fentanyl, the research showed. The number of these deaths dropped 7.8% nationwide in… read on > read on >
Hockey players’ chances of developing concussion-related brain injury increase with every year they spend on the ice, a new study finds. The odds of having chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) increase among hockey players 34% for each year played, researchers reported Dec. 4 in JAMA Network Open. Results show 18 out of 19 National Hockey League… read on > read on >
A California dairy farm has expanded a recall of its raw milk and cream after state health officials discovered bird flu virus in more milk samples. In a notice posted Tuesday, Fresno-based Raw Farm LLC said it has now recalled all whole milk and cream products with “use by” dates of Nov. 27 to Dec.… read on > read on >
Health officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo are racing to try to identify the cause of a mysterious, flu-like illness that has sickened 376 people and left 79 dead in that country. In a alert posted on the social media platform X on Tuesday, the Congo’s Ministry of Public Health, Hygiene and Social Security… read on > read on >
The choice may be bittersweet, but the evidence is clear: New research shows that dark chocolate can lower a person’s risk of type 2 diabetes. People who ate at least five servings of dark chocolate a week had a 21% lower risk of the blood sugar disease, researchers found. Further, the more dark chocolate a… read on > read on >
Access to psychotherapy has increased substantially among Americans, particularly young adults, a new study has found. About 12% of young adults received psychotherapy in 2021, followed by 8% of the middle-aged and 5% of seniors, researchers found. Overall, the percentage of U.S. adults receiving psychotherapy rose from about 7% in 2018 to 9% in 2021,… read on > read on >
Decades of lead exposure from car exhaust altered the mental health of millions of Americans, making them more prone to depression, anxiety and ADHD, a new study claims. Lead was first added to gasoline in 1923 to help keep car engines healthy, researchers said. But lead is toxic to brain cells, and there’s no safe… read on > read on >
Taking even high doses of supplementary vitamin D won’t lower an older person’s odds for type 2 diabetes, new research confirms. Vitamin D supplements may have other benefits, but in otherwise healthy folks with sufficient levels of the nutrient, “our findings do not suggest benefits of long-term moderate- or high-dose vitamin D3 supplementation” in warding off… read on > read on >
GLP-1 meds are all the rage for weight loss nowadays, but not everyone can safely take the drugs to shed pounds. Invasive weight-loss surgeries can often be a tough sell, too. Now, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) say they’ve developed an alternative: A small, implanted gastric balloon that people can inflate or… read on > read on >
