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 >
WEDNESDAY, June 23, 2021 (American Heart Association News) — In 2014, Marian Butts was hospitalized for fluid in her lungs. Right before being released, a cardiologist told her she had some heart damage from a previous heart attack. That was a shock to her and her family. Years before, the Chesapeake, Virginia, resident, who has… read on > read on >
You might not believe it, but Florida firefighter Carsten Kieffer was incredibly lucky when a 12-foot alligator leapt into his boat and chomped down on his right forearm. Just about no one else thought so, and that went double for Kieffer: Both main bones in his arm were broken, and a big bite had been… 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 >
The good news: Levels of lead in the air that Londoners breathe are far lower today than they were in the 1980s, when leaded gas was an automotive staple. The bad news: Decades-old lead particles still pollute the city’s air, a stubborn and potentially hazardous leftover of a now banned product. The findings might have… read on > read on >
Young adults who use marijuana appear to have an increased risk of suicidal thoughts and attempted suicide, according to a new study from the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). In fact, the risk that someone between 18 and 34 will think about, plan for or attempt suicide increases with the amount of marijuana… read on > read on >
Many older adults are still taking a daily baby aspirin to ward off first-time heart problems — despite guidelines that now discourage it, a new study finds. Researchers found that one-half to 62% of U.S. adults aged 70 and up were using low-dose aspirin to cut their risk of heart disease or stroke. And aspirin… read on > read on >
TUESDAY, June 22, 2021 (American Heart Association News) — Two days before Halloween, Nicky Larson stayed up late making edible witch’s hats and spiders for her daughter’s day care. When her left shoulder started to ache, she iced it, pegging the pain to poor posture. The next morning, after taking her daughter, Molly, to day… read on > read on >
