Health officials in the Florida Keys have issued a dengue fever alert after two confirmed cases of the mosquito-borne disease were reported there. In the alert, issued this week by the Monroe County Department of Health, officials said they were taking precautions to curb the spread of dengue fever. Those measures include stepping up door-to-door… read on > read on >
All Health and Wellness:
When It Comes to Weight Gain, Not All Antidepressants Are the Same
Weight gain is a common side effect of antidepressants, but some types cause people to pack on pounds more than others, a new study says. Bupropion users are 15% to 20% less likely to gain a significant amount of weight than those taking the most common antidepressant, sertraline, researchers reported July 2 in the Annals… read on > read on >
Facial Temperatures Might Help Docs Diagnose Diabetes, Fatty Liver Disease
Screening for chronic illnesses like diabetes or fatty liver disease could one day be as simple as checking the temperature of your nose, eyes or cheeks. The temperature of different parts of the face are associated with various chronic diseases, researchers reported July 2 in the journal Cell Metabolism. Armed with an AI-driven thermal camera,… read on > read on >
Why Were Kids Hit Less Hard by COVID? New Study Offers Clues
Your children’s never-ending colds and sniffles may have protected them from the worst effects of COVID-19, new research suggests. Throughout the pandemic, it was clear that the SARS-CoV-2 virus tends to cause less severe symptoms in children than in adults, but it wasn’t clear why. Based on a new analysis of nasal swabs taken during… read on > read on >
Just a Few Surgeries Make Up Most Post-Op Opioid Prescriptions
Opioid addiction often starts with a prescription for post-surgery pain relief, and two new studies identify a handful of procedures that account for large shares of those prescriptions. The findings were published recently in two major medical journals. “Our findings suggest that surgical opioid prescribing is highly concentrated among a small group of procedures,” said… read on > read on >
U.S. Government to Pay Moderna $176 Million to Develop mRNA Flu Vaccine
U.S. health officials announced Tuesday that the federal government will pay Moderna $176 million to speed development of a pandemic flu vaccine based on mRNA technology. Such a vaccine could be used to treat bird flu in people, as concern grows about H5N1 cases spreading in dairy cows across the country, the U.S. Department of Health and… read on > read on >
Biden Administration Proposes Rule to Tackle Extreme Heat in the Workplace
As millions of Americans grapple with blistering heat this summer, the Biden Administration on Tuesday proposed a new rule to address excessive heat in the workplace. If the first major federal safety standard of its kind becomes final, the measure would aim to protect an estimated 36 million U.S. workers from injuries related to heat… read on > read on >
Which Diets Help the Hearts of Folks With Type 1 Diabetes?
Two well-known healthy diets can lower heart disease risk in people with type 1 diabetes, a new study says. People who ate similarly to the Mediterranean diet or the DASH diet had lower levels of blood markers that are used in clinical settings to assess heart health risk, researchers reported Sunday at a meeting of… read on > read on >
Use of ‘Benzo’ Sedatives Like Valium, Xanax Won’t Raise Dementia Risk: Study
Benzodiazepines do not appear to increase dementia risk, but could have subtle long-term effects on brain structure, a new study reports. Researchers found no link between use of the sedative drug and a higher risk of dementia in a group of more than 5,400 adults in the Netherlands, according to findings published July 2 in… read on > read on >
Ultrasound May Be Unreliable in Spotting Endometrial Cancer in Black Women
Ultrasound cannot reliably rule out endometrial cancer in Black women given how readings are now assessed, a new study argues. Transvaginal ultrasound is commonly used to screen for cancer by measuring the thickness of the endometrium, the inner wall of the uterus. This screening method is supposed to be 99% to 100% accurate for ruling… read on > read on >