Nicotine pouches might be helping tobacco users quit smoking and vaping, a new study says. The pouches — sold under brand names like Velo and Zyn — can’t be marketed as smoking cessation aids like nicotine patches, gums or lozenges, researchers said. But it appears that some are using the pouches to get their nicotine…  read on >  read on >

Destroying the Amazon rainforest doesn’t just threaten the environment, it may also make people sick. A study published Sept. 11 in the journal Communications Earth & Environment found that rates of certain diseases were lower in regions where forests were protected and managed by Indigenous peoples.  Researchers say the findings add evidence to what Indigenous…  read on >  read on >

Women who overcome cervical cancer might have another potentially life-threatening health crisis on their horizon, researchers say. Cervical cancer survivors have nearly double the risk of developing anal cancers compared to the general population, researchers reported Sept. 11 in JAMA Network Open. And their risk increases as they grow older, and as time passes since…  read on >  read on >

A new blood test can potentially detect head and neck cancers caused by human papilloma virus (HPV) up to 10 years before symptoms appear, a new study says. The test, called HPV-DeepSeek, detects microscopic fragments of HPV DNA that have broken off from a tumor and entered the bloodstream, researchers reported Sept. 10 in the…  read on >  read on >

RSV can make even healthy, full-term babies sick enough to land in the hospital or require intensive care, a new study says. In fact, more than half of RSV-infected infants and children who required intensive care or prolonged hospitalization were born at term and had no chronic health problems, researchers reported Sept. 9 in The…  read on >  read on >

Air pollution might speed up the devastating effects of Alzheimer’s disease on the brain, a new study says. Alzheimer’s patients exposed to higher levels of particle pollution appeared to suffer an increased buildup of toxic amyloid and tau proteins in their brains, researchers reported Sept. 8 in JAMA Neurology. The more air pollution a person…  read on >  read on >

Your beauty rest might be protecting your brain health as well, a new study says. Seniors with chronic insomnia might experience a faster decline in their memory and thinking skills as they age, researchers reported today in the journal Neurology. Chronic insomniacs had a 40% higher risk of developing dementia or suffering a decline in…  read on >  read on >

“Flower power” psychedelic drugs might be a potential cure for modern anxiety, new research suggests. A single dose of LSD helped people suffering from clinical anxiety in a new clinical trial. Anxiety patients experienced rapid, significant and durable relief following a single treatment with MM120, an oral pharmaceutical formulation of the psychedelic drug LSD, researchers…  read on >  read on >