Doctors think they’ve figured out a way to predict who might lose vision due to a high brain pressure disorder. Idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) occurs when there’s unexplained pressure buildup in the fluid that cushions the brain in the skull, researchers explain in the journal Neurology. If untreated, IIH can lead to blindness, researchers said.…  read on >  read on >

An anti-inflammation injectable drug can reduce mucus buildup and improve breathing among asthma patients, a new clinical trial says. The drug dupilumab (Dupixent) effectively clears up airways plugged by mucus during an asthma attack, researchers reported Oct. 27 in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. Results found half as many patients had…  read on >  read on >

People’s risk of heart attack or stroke skyrockets after a bout with the flu or COVID, a new evidence review says. Folks are four times more likely to have a heart attack and five times more likely to have a stroke within a month of infection with influenza, researchers reported today in the Journal of…  read on >  read on >

A 67-year-old New Hampshire man has set a medical milestone after living more than nine months with a gene-edited pig kidney, doctors announced Monday.  The experimental transplant, performed by surgeons at Mass General Brigham, lasted 271 days, the longest anyone has survived with an animal organ. Doctors said Tim Andrews of Concord, New Hampshire, had…  read on >  read on >

A young boy in New Zealand needed emergency surgery and lost part of his bowel after swallowing more than 80 small, high-powered magnets, according to a new case report published in the New Zealand Medical Journal. Doctors said the boy swallowed between 80 and 100 neodymium magnets, each just a few millimeters wide. Once inside…  read on >  read on >

Ketamine might not be effective in treating depression, new clinical trial results reveal. Ketamine infusions added to standard depression care did nothing for people hospitalized with the mood disorder, researchers reported Oct. 22 in JAMA Psychiatry. “Our initial hypothesis was that repeated ketamine infusions for people hospitalized with depression would improve mood outcomes. However, we…  read on >  read on >

Folks who’ve suffered one or two concussions at some point shouldn’t worry about developing chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a new study has concluded. CTE is more common in people who experience many repeated head impacts, like the football players in whom the disorder was first identified, researchers recently reported in the Journal of Neuropathology &…  read on >  read on >

A friendly clasp on the shoulder. A comforting hug. Holding hands. All these can be dangerous in the wrong hands, a new study reports. Manipulative and narcissistic people are more likely to use touch in a calculating manner to influence their partners, researchers report in the journal Current Psychology. “What’s new about our work isn’t…  read on >  read on >

Want to be ready to respond if an adult starts choking on their food, or a child on some object they’ve swallowed? Updated guidelines are available that let people know just what to do if an infant, child or adult is choking — and it’s pretty much the same thing for everyone. Rescuers should alternate…  read on >  read on >