Researchers have discovered that when patients who have type 2 diabetes and asthma take a certain class of medication to control their blood sugar, their asthma symptoms also improved. Not only could this help diabetes patients who may have less asthma control on asthma medicines, but it could potentially open up new treatment options for…  read on >  read on >

As a means of providing long-term relief from chronic pain, flotation tanks simply don’t hold water, new research reveals. Nearly 100 people plagued by longstanding pain underwent “flotation restricted environmental stimulation therapy” (REST), and the results were disappointing, at least over the long term, German researchers found. The treatment involves floating inside a soundproof, lightless…  read on >  read on >

Low testosterone levels may increase men’s risk of severe COVID-19, according to a new study. On average, men fare worse with COVID-19 than women. “During the pandemic, there has been a prevailing notion that testosterone is bad. But we found the opposite in men,” said senior study author Dr. Abhinav Diwan. He’s professor of medicine,…  read on >  read on >

Newfangled marijuana products — edibles, concentrates, vapes — are driving an overall increase in pot-related calls to U.S. poison control centers, a new study shows. There were more than 11,100 calls related to marijuana use in 2019, up from about 8,200 in 2017, researchers said. More and more of those calls are related to manufactured…  read on >  read on >

Comedian and commentator Bill Maher recently made news of his own when he contracted COVID-19 despite being fully vaccinated. But such breakthrough COVID-19 cases among the vaccinated are rare, according to new data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID-19 Vaccine Breakthrough Case Investigations Team. Nearly 10,300 SARS-CoV-2 infections have occurred in…  read on >  read on >

Although older adults are among the most vulnerable to the ravages of COVID-19, new research warns that young patients can develop long-lasting fatigue and concentration problems, even if their COVID-19 infection was mild. That’s the troubling takeaway from three COVID-19 cases involving patients between the ages of 19 and 30. Investigators said they all developed…  read on >  read on >