The new coronavirus continues to dodge, duck, dip and dive, mutating again and again to find its way past people’s immune defenses. The latest COVID variant to gain a foothold in America is called XBB.1.5, which has rapidly started to crowd out other competing variants. XBB.1.5 is the first recombinant COVID variant expected to become… read on > read on >
Doctors are seeing an alarming increase in cases of a specific genital malformation in male babies, and new research suggests environmental factors might be at play. The malformation is known as hypospadias, where the opening of the urethra is not at the tip of the penis, but on the underside of the organ. In the… read on > read on >
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may be an even bigger predictor of depression and anxiety in adulthood than autism is, a new study finds — highlighting the mental health side of the disorder. It’s known that kids and adults with ADHD often have co-existing conditions, including depression and anxiety. Research suggests that about 14% of children with… read on > read on >
In yet another setback for the future of HIV prevention, the only HIV vaccine in a late-stage trial has failed, study leaders announced Wednesday. Launched in 2019 as a partnership between the U.S. government and the pharmaceutical giant Janssen, the Mosaico trial was being conducted in eight European nations and the Americas, including the United… read on > read on >
Hospital emergency codes are used to swiftly alert staff to something requiring a quick response, but a recent study suggests many health care workers can’t accurately identify them. To learn more, researchers focused on five Georgia health care facilities. The study included 304 employees and codes for 14 emergencies. On average, participants could correctly identify… read on > read on >
Television ads for drugs are filled with glowing images of people living their best lives, all thanks to that new med they’ve been prescribed. But drugs being touted on TV often have little to no benefit compared to other treatments, a new study published online Jan. 13 in JAMA Network Open finds. Fewer than one-third… read on > read on >
In today’s highly polarized political environment, is it possible to stay up-to-date with the news of the day without getting totally stressed out? If not, is there a way to limit the emotional and physical fallout? Or is all that individual stress in service of a greater societal good? New research paints a complex picture… read on > read on >
While appendicitis is a common emergency, Black people experiencing its symptoms more often have a delayed diagnosis. But that doesn’t happen in lower-quality hospitals that serve more Black patients, according to new research. There, Black people are diagnosed more quickly. “There is clearly a benefit to patients being treated in predominantly minority-serving hospitals when they… read on > read on >
U.S. health officials say they plan to investigate whether some nursing homes are falsely labeling patients as schizophrenic so they can administer sedating antipsychotic drugs to them. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) noted that evidence of this abuse has grown over decades. It plans to launch an investigation of select nursing homes… read on > read on >
The number of Americans who had trouble paying their medical bills dropped precipitously between 2019 and 2021, and funds from the American Rescue Plan and other federal pandemic relief programs may have been a reason why. Overall, 10.8% of Americans responding to a federal survey in 2021 said they had had problems covering medical bills… read on > read on >
