TUESDAY, Nov. 16, 2021 (American Heart Association News) — A health education class tailored to South Asian culture was associated with improvements in certain cardiac risk factors and lower odds of death among participants, a new study shows. South Asians – those with ethnic descent from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, the Maldives or…  read on >  read on >

Researchers have identified a second HIV-positive person whose body might have naturally cleared the infection — sparking hope that studying such exceedingly rare events will help lead to a cure. The researchers cautioned that they cannot prove the woman has fully eradicated the virus from her body, in what’s known as a “sterilizing” cure. But…  read on >  read on >

Marijuana use in pregnancy may increase your child’s risk for stress and anxiety, a new study suggests. Although some moms-to-be use pot hoping to relieve morning sickness and anxiety, they should know it may cause genetic changes in the uterus that result in children becoming anxious, aggressive and hyperactive, researchers say. “People are saying that…  read on >  read on >

For decades, doctors have struggled with the fact that the benefit of any blood-thinning pill came with the added risk of excess bleeding. Now, an experimental anti-clotting pill called milvexian has been found to be effective in patients who had knee replacement surgery — without adding any excess risk for bleeding. The study focused on…  read on >  read on >

A rare inflammatory condition associated with COVID-19 in children was more severe in the second wave of patients than in the first, researchers report. For the study, investigators examined the cases of 106 patients with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) who arrived in two waves at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C. In the…  read on >  read on >

Many women dread having to give up coffee during their pregnancy, but new research suggests that consuming a little caffeine while expecting might not necessarily be a bad thing. “While we were not able to study the association of consumption above the recommended limit, we now know that low-to-moderate caffeine is not associated with an…  read on >  read on >

MONDAY, Nov. 15, 2021 Certain commonly prescribed antidepressants appear to substantially lower the risk of dying among seriously ill COVID-19 patients, a large new study indicates. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are among the most widely prescribed drugs for the treatment of depression. They include drugs like Lexapro (escitalopram), Paxil (paroxetine) and Zoloft (sertraline). “We…  read on >  read on >

People suffering from dangerous abnormal heart rhythms can take matters into their own hands and figure out what is triggering their episodes, researchers report. Folks with atrial fibrillation (a-fib) were able to reduce their episodes of the irregular heartbeat by 40% by identifying and then avoiding the substances or activities that caused their heart to…  read on >  read on >