Preventing or treating infections could be a key means of warding off dementia, a new evidence review says. Vaccines, antibiotics, antiviral medications and anti-inflammatory drugs are all associated with a reduced risk of dementia, researchers reported in a study published Jan. 21 in the journal Alzheimer’s and Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions. These results…  read on >  read on >

Pumping iron and hitting the treadmill can improve your odds against cancer, a new evidence review says. People with more muscle strength and better cardio fitness are less likely to die from cancer, researchers reported recently in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. This survival benefit extends even to people with advanced-stage cancers, results show.…  read on >  read on >

A broken home seems to set a ticking time bomb in the brains of some children of divorce. Seniors have a 61% higher risk of stroke if their parents divorced when they were children or teenagers, researchers reported in a study published Jan. 22 in the journal PLOS One. The level of added risk is…  read on >  read on >

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is awarding the pharmaceutical company Moderna $590 million to continue developing a vaccine to protect against bird flu. This funding, announced Friday by Moderna, builds on the $176 million it received from HHS last year to support earlier stages of vaccine research. Moderna’s vaccine is designed…  read on >  read on >

Check out your surgeon as you’re wheeled into the operating room. Do they seem tense, on edge, or stressed out? If so, that could be good news for you, a new study says. The patients of stressed surgeons tend to suffer fewer major complications from surgery, according to findings of new study published in JAMA…  read on >  read on >

Menthol cigarettes are under fire in the United States for promoting smoking among Black Americans, with a number of cities and states banning the smokes. In response, the tobacco industry has come up with “menthol mimics” that imitate the cooling effect of menthol, and smokers are taking note of the innovation, a new study published…  read on >  read on >

Sewer sludge from wastewater treatment plants appears to expose farmers and nearby neighbors to toxic “forever” chemicals, a new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) draft risk assessment says. This sludge — which is sometimes applied to farmland as fertilizer — can contain high levels of chemicals called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, the EPA…  read on >  read on >

Nearly a third of Americans have been exposed to unregulated contaminants in their drinking water that might affect their health. What’s more, Hispanic and Black people are more likely to have unsafe levels of contaminants in their drinking water, and to live near pollution sources like industrial facilities, researchers said in a new study published…  read on >  read on >