A new report raises questions about the training and qualifications of many caregivers for the elderly across the United States. The study by the RAND Corporation, a nonprofit research organization, found that nearly a third of Americans who arranged for paid care of a frail elderly adult or person with dementia hired someone from outside…  read on >  read on >

Surgery for the most common type of benign brain tumor should be considered for patients 80 and older, Finnish researchers say. Meningiomas originate in the meninges surrounding the brain, and the primary treatment is surgery. But the risks of operating increase with age, so surgery for meningioma patients who are 80 and older is rare…  read on >  read on >

The brain interprets physical signals differently in people with depression, anorexia and some other mental health disorders, new research shows. British scientists examined “interoception” — the brain’s ability to sense internal conditions in the body — in 626 patients with mental health disorders and a control group of 610 people without mental illness. “Interoception is…  read on >  read on >

Losing weight is hard, but many weight loss supplements promise to make the journey easy. Unfortunately, there’s little high-quality research to back these claims, a new study shows. Hundreds of weight loss supplements like green tea extract, chitosan, guar gum and conjugated linoleic acid are being hawked by aggressive marketers. And an estimated 34% of…  read on >  read on >

The pandemic not only cost hundreds of thousands of American lives, but it also appears to have triggered a deep drop in births, U.S. health officials reported Wednesday. Until 2020, the birth rate had been declining about 2% a year, but that rate dropped to 4% with the start of the pandemic, researchers from the…  read on >  read on >

Rashes, itchiness and other skin problems can develop after people receive COVID-19 vaccines, but such problems are rare and go away quickly, new research shows. For the study, the researchers looked at more than 40,000 employees of a Boston hospital system who received two-dose mRNA COVID-19 vaccines (such as the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines) and…  read on >  read on >

Women battling infertility are often given medications to help them conceive, and potential side effects are always a concern. Now, research suggests use of the drugs won’t raise a woman’s odds for breast cancer. Researchers at King’s College London in the United Kingdom analyzed studies from 1990 to January 2020 that included 1.8 million women…  read on >  read on >

Pollen is tough enough for allergy sufferers, but a new study suggests it also helps spread the new coronavirus and other airborne germs. Researchers had noticed a connection between COVID-19 infection rates and pollen concentrations on the National Allergy Map of the United States. That led them to create a computer model of all the…  read on >  read on >