Twenty years on, responders to the World Trade Center attacks in New York City are showing increased risks of certain cancers, two new studies confirm. Researchers found higher-than-average rates of prostate cancer among firefighters, medics and other workers who toiled at the disaster site on and after Sept. 11, 2001. And compared with firefighters from…  read on >  read on >

COVID-19 vaccine booster shots might not be needed for most people, according to a large international review. The review — conducted by a team that included scientists from the World Health Organization and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration — concluded that current vaccines are effective enough against severe COVID-19, even from the Delta variant,…  read on >  read on >

With the expansion of Medicaid under Obamacare, fewer Americans are uninsured and more are getting their blood pressure and blood sugar under control, a new study finds. The gains are especially strong among Black and Hispanic patients, according to Boston University researchers. “Our results suggest that over the longer-run, expanding Medicaid eligibility may improve key…  read on >  read on >

Older adults who regularly eat foods like fish, nuts and olive oil may have less iron accumulation in their brains, as well as sharper memories, a small study suggests. The brain requires a certain level of iron to function normally, but the aging brain can accumulate an excess amount. And that excess iron has been…  read on >  read on >

The decades-long U.S. opioid epidemic could be hitting Black people harder than white folks as the crisis enters a new phase. Opioid overdose death rates among Black Americans jumped nearly 40% from 2018 to 2019 in four states hammered by the epidemic, researchers found. Fatal ODs among all other races and ethnicities remained about the…  read on >  read on >

Anxiety prevention may be just a snowy trail away. New research suggests cross-country skiers — and perhaps others who also exercise vigorously — are less prone to develop anxiety disorders than less active folks. Researchers in Sweden spent roughly two decades tracking anxiety risk among more than 395,000 Swedes. Nearly half the participants were skiers…  read on >  read on >