Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine could soon receive full approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the company said Wednesday. The update sent Novavax’s stock up more than 21% in early trading. It also helped ease fears that the decision had been delayed by the Trump Administration, the Associated Press reported. Novavax makes the only…  read on >  read on >

Recreational use of “magic mushroom” psilocybin skyrocketed in the U.S. during the early 2020s, as states began toying with legalization of the psychedelic drug, a new study says. The number of adults 30 and older who had used psilocybin in the past year increased by 188% between 2019 and 2023, researchers reported April 21 in…  read on >  read on >

Depression and anxiety have been increasing steadily among children and teenagers in recent years, a new study says. More than 1 in 10 children (10.6%) suffered from anxiety in 2022, up from 7.1% in 2016, researchers reported April 21 in JAMA Pediatrics. During the same period, depression among children increased to 4.6% from 3.2%, results…  read on >  read on >

The Talk. It’s an anxiety-producing proposition for just about every parent — and as you might expect, opinions vary widely about when and how to have The Talk with a child nearing puberty. Parents are evenly split in thinking it’s best to start talking about puberty before age 10, at age 10, or when children…  read on >  read on >

Babies exposed to air and light pollution have a higher risk of developing childhood thyroid cancer, a new study says. Airborne particle pollution and outdoor artificial light both increased babies’ risk of developing thyroid cancer before they turned 20, researchers recently reported in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. “These results are concerning, especially given how…  read on >  read on >

A panel of federal health experts on Wednesday recommended expanded vaccine options for several diseases, including respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), meningitis and a mosquito-borne illness called chikungunya. The panel, known as the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), makes vaccine use recommendations to the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),…  read on >  read on >