Concussions can increase the long-term risk of a wide range of sleep disorders, a new study indicates. Researchers looked at more than 98,700 U.S. veterans diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and the same number of veterans with no history of TBI. The brain injuries ranged from mild TBI (concussion) to severe. None of…  read on >  read on >

Who is more likely to relapse after opioid addiction treatment — women or men? A new study that followed 1,100 recovering opioid users reveals that their risks are different. The researchers followed the men and women for one year after treatment at more than 100 substance-use treatment facilities across the United States. During that time,…  read on >  read on >

The first U.S. case of a Brazilian COVID-19 variant that doctors fear can re-infect the previously sick surfaced in Minnesota in early January 2021, and the more infectious variant has since been found in four other states, a new government report says. Known as the P.1 variant, it first appeared in a Minnesotan who’d recently…  read on >  read on >

College students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have a harder time making it to graduation than their peers do, a new study suggests. Researchers found that of 400 students they followed, those with ADHD had a lower grade-point average (GPA) — about half a grade lower — than students without the disorder. The gap emerged freshman…  read on >  read on >

Doctors are testing a decades-old surgical technique as a new way to treat certain stroke patients. And the preliminary results look promising, they say. At issue are strokes caused by intracranial atherosclerosis, where blood vessels within the brain become hardened and narrowed. Strokes occur when the blood supply to the brain is disrupted, depriving tissue…  read on >  read on >

A clinical trial evaluating the use of convalescent plasma in patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 symptoms has been halted because the treatment didn’t benefit them, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Convalescent plasma (also called “survivor’s plasma”) is derived from the blood of patients who have already recovered from COVID-19. It’s thought…  read on >  read on >