An infant will generate a lot of poop during the first year of life, but the very first one may offer key clues about the risk of developing allergies. Researchers analyzed samples of meconium from 100 babies enrolled in the CHILD Cohort Study, a long-term health study of children in Canada. Meconium is a dark… read on > read on >
All Health and Wellness:
Poll Reveals Who’s Most Vaccine-Hesitant in America and Why
U.S. resistance to getting a COVID-19 vaccine is slowly diminishing, a new online survey finds, but it still exists and at especially high rates in some blue-collar jobs. For adults under age 65 who are hesitant, reluctance is mainly driven by concerns about safety, side effects and distrust in government, the poll found. It’s also… read on > read on >
FDA Poised to Ban Menthol Cigarettes
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday proposed a ban on menthol cigarettes, a move that the agency has tried before and one that public health experts and civil rights groups have pushed for years. Menthol cigarettes have been marketed aggressively to Black Americans for decades: About 85% of Black smokers use menthol brands,… read on > read on >
Breathing Dirty Air Could Raise a Child’s Risk for Adult Mental Illness
Kids exposed to air pollution may be at risk for mental illness in early adulthood, a new study suggests. Researchers found that young adults in Britain who were exposed to higher levels of traffic-related air pollutants during their childhood and teen years were prone to develop symptoms of mental illness later. Nitrogen oxides were a… read on > read on >
Dementia Risk Rises as Years Lived With Type 2 Diabetes Increases
The younger people are when they develop type 2 diabetes, the higher their risk of dementia later in life, a new study suggests. Many studies have pointed to links between diabetes and higher dementia risk. Experts say it’s likely because diabetes can harm the brain in a number of ways. Now, the new findings suggest… read on > read on >
AHA News: Take Stock of Your Health With This Post-Lockdown Checklist
THURSDAY, April 29, 2021 (American Heart Association News) — As more people in the United States are vaccinated against COVID-19, and some areas experience a slowdown in virus infections, the nation is slowly starting to reopen. According to health care professionals, post-lockdown life should start with taking stock of your own health. “It’s a great… read on > read on >
CBD: How Much Pain Relief Is Real and How Much Is Placebo?
CBD is all the rage, and millions of people are turning to it for a host of reasons, including pain relief. But despite CBD’s popularity and widespread use, new research finds it’s actual benefits are less clear. The bottom line? CBD — and your expectations about whether it will help (the “placebo effect”) — can… read on > read on >
COVID-19 and Advanced Diabetes Can Be a Deadly Mix: Study
COVID-19 is never a good diagnosis, but health risks are especially high in people with poorly controlled, advanced diabetes, a new study confirms. The new report looked at pooled data from 22 studies that included a total of nearly 18,000 people. Simply having diabetes didn’t raise a COVID-19 patient’s risk for death: The study found… read on > read on >
New Advice for Blood Pressure That’s a Bit Too High
If making healthy lifestyle changes doesn’t lower a patient’s slightly high blood pressure within six months, doctors should then consider prescribing medication, a new American Heart Association scientific statement advises. The recommendation is for people with untreated stage 1 high blood pressure (130-139/80-89 mm Hg) who have a low risk of a heart attack or… read on > read on >
Good Stroke Recovery May Depend on Your ZIP Code: Study
Stroke recovery tends to be worse among Americans in poorer neighborhoods than those in wealthier neighborhoods, a new study finds. “People in less advantaged neighborhoods were more likely to have more disability, lower quality of life and more symptoms of depression than people in more advantaged neighborhoods,” said study author Lynda Lisabeth, from the University… read on > read on >