Pregnancy can be a big motivator for women to stop smoking. Now a new study suggests that at least some pregnant smokers start cutting back even before they know they’ve conceived. The findings, researchers say, suggest there may be biological mechanisms during pregnancy that can blunt the desire for nicotine. If true, understanding those processes…  read on >  read on >

MONDAY, Oct. 17, 2022 (HealthDay News) – New, more contagious Omicron variants are starting to spread across the United States, new government data show. Luckily, they’re related to the Omicron variant BA.5, so recently updated booster shots should provide some protection against the new variants, known as BQ.1. and a descendant called BQ.1.1. Together, they…  read on >  read on >

Aggressive measures are needed in the world’s tropical regions to prevent the inevitable next global pandemic, an international coalition of researchers has concluded. Epidemics around the world have largely been driven by viruses that spill over from wild animals into humans, mainly in tropical hot spots where a diverse number of animals come into frequent…  read on >  read on >

New trial data shows that Pfizer’s updated COVID booster shot is more powerful against Omicron subvariants than the original shot, the company announced Thursday. The findings are reassuring, since human data on the tweaked vaccine was not available when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the reformulated booster shots in September. “These early data…  read on >  read on >