The microbes on your toothbrush mostly come from your mouth — not your toilet — and provide insight into your oral health, researchers say. Their study was inspired by people’s concerns that flushing a toilet might create a cloud of aerosol particles that end up on toothbrushes and other bathroom surfaces. The researchers asked people…  read on >  read on >

Developing diabetes during pregnancy may increase a woman’s risk for heart disease later in life, according to a new study. It included about 1,100 women without type 1 or type 2 diabetes. Those who developed diabetes during pregnancy (gestational diabetes) were twice as likely by mid-life (average age: 48) to have calcium in their arteries,…  read on >  read on >

Here’s a new reason to make sure your kids get their seasonal flu shot. A new study showed that it reduces kids’ risk for symptoms and severe illness if they get COVID-19. That conclusion is drawn from medical records of more than 900 children diagnosed with COVID-19 between February and August of last year. Those…  read on >  read on >

SATURDAY, Feb.6, 2021The COVID-19 pandemic can make mental health struggles even worse for some people with seasonal affective disorder (SAD). SAD is a type of depression triggered by the shorter daylight hours and gray skies of winter. It causes symptoms such as overeating, social withdrawal and decreased energy. Pandemic-related effects such as stress, anxiety and…  read on >  read on >

New coronavirus case counts are now steadily dropping across the United States, as the worst of the latest surge in the pandemic seems to be subsiding. Nationally, that daily average peaked on Jan. 8, with nearly 260,000 new cases, The New York Times reported. But by Feb. 3, that figure was 136,442, a 47 percent…  read on >  read on >

It’s a link few might have considered, but a new study indicates that climate change may have prompted the COVID-19 pandemic. Rising temperatures caused by greenhouse emissions have boosted the growth of bat-friendly forest habitat in China’s southern province of Yunnan and neighboring areas, making the region a hotspot for bat-borne coronaviruses, the researchers explained.…  read on >  read on >

A virus-linked cancer killing California sea lions is sounding a chilling alarm for mankind. Exposure to environmental toxins significantly boosts risk for the herpes-like cancer, which was discovered in sea lions in 1979. Since then, between 18% and 23% of adult sea lions admitted to a California animal rescue-and-research center have died of the disease.…  read on >  read on >

Want to live like you did in the carefree days before the pandemic? Just roll up your sleeve when your turn comes to get the COVID-19 vaccine, three major medical groups urge in a new public service campaign. The vaccines are safe, effective and will help end the pandemic, according to the American Hospital Association,…  read on >  read on >