About 900,000 U.S. children aged 5 to 11 received their initial dose of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine during the first week of eligibility for that age group, the Biden administration said Wednesday. Not only that, nearly 700,000 more are scheduled in the coming days, health officials added. The low-dose Pfizer vaccine for younger children was approved… read on > read on >
If the U.S. Food and Drug Administration wants to know whether it should follow through on its proposed menthol cigarette ban, it need only look to Canada for an answer. A new study finds that Canada’s ban on menthol cigarettes seemed to drive more smokers to quit, with overall cigarette sales dipping after the law… read on > read on >
While deaths from sepsis have dropped in the United States since 2000, older Americans remain particularly susceptible to the life-threatening bacterial infection, new government data shows. Sepsis strikes roughly 2 million people each year and is the cause of one in three hospital deaths in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease… read on > read on >
Illustrating the power of the mind to heal itself, new research suggests that the placebo effect could help drive antidepressants’ effects against anxiety disorders. The placebo effect refers to an increase in the success of a treatment when a patient expects a benefit. In the new study, patients with social anxieties who were assured that… read on > read on >
WEDNESDAY, Nov. 10, 2021 (American Heart Association News) — Depression remained common during the pandemic and worsened for some people, according to a new study aiming to cast light on links between the pandemic and mental health. Researchers examined the records of 4,633 people at a large health care system in Utah who were screened… read on > read on >
WEDNESDAY, Nov. 10, 2021 (American Heart Association News) — Acrolein, crotonaldehyde and styrene, compounds found in everything from cigarette smoke to plastics, were associated with higher blood pressure measurements for both the top, systolic, and bottom, diastolic, numbers. “Acrolein is a well-known cardiotoxic chemical, and styrene had a causative signal with diastolic blood pressure,” said… read on > read on >
The COVID-19 pandemic has offered some lessons on respiratory disease transmission, and now a new review suggests that hospitals could use those insights to create even smarter infection-control policies. The review, published Nov. 9 in the Annals of Internal Medicine, suggests that some longstanding infection-control tactics at hospitals are “outdated.” And certain changes, like greater… read on > read on >
Dr. Kim Huffman, an avid runner, gets a fair amount of guff from friends about the impact that her favorite exercise has on her body. “People all the time tell me, ‘Oh, you wait until you’re 60. Your knees are going to hate you for it’,” Huffman said. “And I’m like, ‘That’s ridiculous’.” Next time… read on > read on >
Shining a light on the powerful link between the mind and body, a new study suggests that cardiac arrest survivors who learn to focus their thoughts on the here and now during recovery are less likely to become depressed or anxious. The finding centers on a mental health practice known as “mindfulness,” which amounts to… read on > read on >
WEDNESDAY, Nov.10, 2021A key to reduced Alzheimer’s disease risk in women could be how much of the hormone estrogen they’re able to stockpile over the years, new research suggests. Certain lifetime choices — such as having more children, taking hormonal birth control or taking hormone therapy during menopause — mean that a woman has greater… read on > read on >
