Low vaccination rates for the flu, RSV and COVID-19 are putting Americans at higher risk for severe illness and hospitalization this winter, a new government alert warned Thursday. There is an “urgent need” to boost vaccination rates as the trio of viruses spread through the country, the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention said.… read on > read on >
Smoking shrinks the human brain, and once that brain mass is lost then it’s gone for good, a new study warns. Brain scans from more than 32,000 people strongly link a history of smoking with a gradual loss of brain volume. In fact, the more packs a person smoked per day, the smaller their brain… read on > read on >
Being in a marriage or long-term relationship typically includes promises of monogamy, but new research shows a surprising number of folks, mostly men, are open to the idea of having another person in the mix. Fully one-third of men in the United Kingdom are open to the idea of having more than one wife or… read on > read on >
Mpox is making headlines again, as an outbreak of severe disease in the Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa has infected thousands of people and killed hundreds. Amid this worrying scenario, researchers at New York University (NYU) offer a glimmer of good news: Smaller doses of the mpox vaccine Jynneos, given in a different way,… read on > read on >
An overwhelming majority of older Americans think health insurers and Medicare should cover the cost of weight-loss medications like Ozempic, Wegovy or Zepbound, a new survey has found. More than four out of five older adults (83%) think insurance companies should pay for drugs that help obese people manage their weight, according to poll results… read on > read on >
A healthy plant-based diet can reduce a person’s risk of type 2 diabetes by 24%, a new study has found. Eating plenty of fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains has this protective effect even in people with a genetic predisposition for diabetes or risk factors like obesity, advanced age or lack of physical activity, researchers… read on > read on >
Saying “no” to a holiday invite might feel unforgivably rude, but people often overestimate the social consequences of turning down an invitation, psychologists report. More than three out of four people (77%) say they’ve accepted an invitation to an activity they didn’t want to attend because they were concerned about the consequences of declining. To… read on > read on >
Many women and men begin new relationships never dreaming they could later be enmeshed in a cycle of intimate partner violence. Now, a new study finds there are early behavioral warning signs from a partner that suggest the risk for violence is there. And the more signs a person sees in the partner, the higher… read on > read on >
Nurses are less likely to discharge still-recovering Black patients to home health care than white patients, a new study has found. About 22% of Black patients are referred to home health care by discharge nurses, compared with 27% of white patients, according to a report published in the January issue of the journal Medical Care.… read on > read on >
Suicide rates for Black women and girls ages 15 to 24 have more than doubled over the past two decades, a new report finds. “Suicides are rapidly increasingly among young, Black females in the U.S.,” said study first author Victoria Joseph, an analyst in the department of epidemiology at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health… read on > read on >
