Stress may take a huge toll on your health, weakening your immune system and opening the door to serious illness, a new study suggests. Traumatic events, job strain, daily stressors and discrimination may all speed aging of the immune system, increasing the risk for cancer, heart disease and other illness, including COVID-19, researchers report. “New…  read on >  read on >

Called “forever chemicals” because they linger in the environment, new research suggests that middle-aged women with high levels of perfluoroalkyls and polyfluoroalkyls (PFAS) in their blood may be more vulnerable to high blood pressure. In the study, women aged 45 to 56 who had the highest concentrations of seven of these chemicals were 71% more…  read on >  read on >

Antibody levels suggest that three doses of Pfizer’s pediatric COVID vaccine help guard children under 5 against infection, a new analysis from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration shows. It was posted online Sunday ahead of an FDA advisory panel meeting scheduled for Wednesday. On that day, the panel will weigh whether the FDA should…  read on >  read on >

Of all the health harms the pandemic brought, new research has uncovered one positive effect: For the first time in 30 years, teens’ consumption of junk food fell following school closures, social restrictions and more parents working from home. The study included 452 participants, aged 13 to 19. It found that after COVID-19 restrictions were…  read on >  read on >

You might think that having the whole bed to yourself would leave you feeling more refreshed in the morning than sleeping with someone who might toss, turn or snore. Yet, a new study suggests that adults who share their beds with a partner have less severe insomnia, less fatigue and more sleep time. They also…  read on >  read on >

Pharmacies and states have ordered millions of doses of the Pfizer and Moderna COVID vaccines for children younger than 5 in advance of possible U.S. authorization of the shots next week, the Biden administration said Thursday. Senior officials said that 5 million doses — half from Pfizer and half from Moderna — are initially available,…  read on >  read on >

You can add more risk of broken bones to the long list of health harms that smoking poses to men. Along with cancer and respiratory diseases, men who smoke have a significantly increased risk of osteoporosis, fractures and early death, a new study finds. Previous research has shown that men are more likely to smoke…  read on >  read on >