Leslie Maier lost her son, Chris, to meningococcal meningitis more than 15 years ago, but by telling his story she hopes to educate other parents about this rare but potentially deadly illness that a vaccine can prevent. Soon after Chris passed away in 2005, Maier joined the board of the National Meningitis Foundation. Now she… read on > read on >
Studies that can’t be verified and may be untrue are much more likely to be cited in the media because they tend to be more interesting, researchers report. They looked at studies in top psychology, economic and nature/science journals and found that only 39% of 100 psychology papers were successfully replicated. The replication rates were… read on > read on >
So-called yo-yo dieting may increase a woman’s risk of insomnia, sleep apnea and other sleep problems, a new study suggests. Yo-yo dieting — formally called weight cycling — is defined as losing and regaining 10 pounds or more when not pregnant. The study included more than 500 women in every stage of adult life, including… read on > read on >
Going gluten-free is a trend that touts benefits for the mind and body, but a new study finds no evidence that gluten is bad for your brain. Among nearly 13,500 middle-aged women, researchers found no connection between eating wheat, barley or rye (the sources of gluten) and mental ability. According to the study authors, the… read on > read on >
Exposure to a certain type of air pollution while pregnant may up the odds that your child will develop asthma, a new study says. Children born to mothers exposed to high levels of ultra-fine particle air pollution during pregnancy have a significantly increased risk of asthma, researchers found. Ultra-fine particle pollution is smaller than the… read on > read on >
Vaccines approved for use in the United States and Europe show protection against all of the more infectious coronavirus variants known to be circling the globe, the World Health Organization said Thursday. “All COVID-19 virus variants can be controlled in the same way, with public health and social measures,” European Regional Director Hans Kluge said… read on > read on >
Mom always said too much TV would rot your brain, and as with so many other things it appears she was right. Middle-aged folks who regularly turn to TV for entertainment appear to have a greater risk of decline in their reasoning and memory later in life, three new studies suggest. Researchers found that even… read on > read on >
If you are a heart patient, could climbing the stairs be a good workout alternative to the gym, particularly during a pandemic? It looks that way, two new studies show. Researchers noted that less than a quarter of heart patients stick to exercise regimens and that common reasons for not doing so include lack of… read on > read on >
During the early months of the coronavirus pandemic, heart disease and stroke deaths rose in the United States, but a new study shows the increases were much larger in minority groups. Researchers compared monthly cause-of-death data for March to April 2020 to the same period in 2019. They found that heart disease deaths rose about… read on > read on >
A small but significant percentage of Americans take medications that can hamper their immune system and its response to COVID-19 vaccines, researchers say. Their analysis of data from more than 3 million adults under 65 with private insurance found that nearly 3% take immunosuppressive drugs. Those include chemotherapy medications and steroids such as prednisone. Two-thirds… read on > read on >
