Women and men experience similar rates of dangerous complications after a major heart surgery. So why are women dying at higher rates than men when these complications strike? That’s the main question raised by a new study that involved more than 850,000 cases of Medicare beneficiaries who underwent high-risk heart surgeries. These operations included heart… read on > read on >
Following hurricane damage that shuttered a North Carolina plant that makes 60% of the country’s IV fluids, U.S. health officials have invoked the Defense Production Act to hasten rebuilding of the factory. A nationwide shortage of IV fluids has only worsened since Hurricane Helene wrecked the plant run by Baxter International Inc. late last month,… read on > read on >
The number of U.S. children who suffer seizures after swallowing prescription medications or illicit drugs has doubled in recent years, a new study finds. Drug poisonings among kids resulting in seizures increased from 1,418 in 2009 to 2,749 in 2023, steadily rising about 5% each year, results showed. These cases doubled among children ages 6… read on > read on >
Folks with peanut allergies don’t have to worry that someone might be munching on the nuts during an airline flight, researchers report. It turns out there’s no evidence to the commonly held belief that nut allergens can be spread through aircraft ventilation systems, a new review concluded. “In fact, food-induced allergic reactions are around 10–100… read on > read on >
Accident victims tend to flood emergency rooms on days with heavy air pollution, a new study shows. The number of patients treated at ERs increase by 10% to 15% on days with increased particle pollution in the air, researchers found. That increase is driven by cases of trauma, along with more people suffering breathing difficulties… read on > read on >
It’s typically thought that medical school requires four years of study after graduating college. But doctors might be able to shave a year off their medical education and still do a great job treating patients, a new study finds. Graduates who took three years of medical school performed equally well on tests of skill and… read on > read on >
People sense millisecond shifts in odor as quickly as they might spot a change in color, new research shows. The study discounts the notion that smell is a “slower” sense than sight or hearing, scientists say. “A sniff of odors is not a long exposure shot of the chemical environment that averages out” over time,… read on > read on >
It’s natural for a parent to bundle an injured child into a car and rush their kid to the emergency room. But that decision could actually delay their child’s emergency care, a new study shows. Severely injured children brought to an ER by their parents aren’t treated as quickly as those who arrive via ambulance,… read on > read on >
As temperatures soar in some of America’s hottest spots, death rates among local homeless people rise as well, new research shows. Data from 2015 through 2022 finds a big bump in deaths among unhoused people in Clark County in Nevada (which includes Las Vegas), and Los Angeles County in California. The death toll could rise… read on > read on >
As with any new drug, parents and doctors may worry that the use of GLP-1 weight-loss meds by children and teens might raise psychiatric risks, including the risk for suicide and suicidal thoughts. But a new study involving more than 54,000 U.S. adolescents found no such link. In fact, obese kids who used the drugs… read on > read on >
