Exposure to wildfire-related air pollution in western states has taken its toll on U.S. patients who are on dialysis. New research linked it to elevated risks of hospitalization and death in patients who were receiving in-center hemodialysis treatment in Washington, Oregon and California. Wildfires have been increasing in frequency and severity. The researchers studied nearly…  read on >  read on >

TUESDAY, Nov. 7, 2023 (HealthDay News) – A new study provides deeper insight into the safety of COVID-19 vaccines for people planning to become pregnant. Boston University researchers found no increased risk of early or late-term miscarriage resulting from either the male or the female partner getting a COVID-19 vaccination prior to conceiving. This study…  read on >  read on >

Gun violence causes a ripple effect that creates a lasting impact on young people lucky enough to survive being shot, as well as their families, a comprehensive new study finds. Child and teenaged gunshot survivors carry the physical and emotional scars of violence, and their families suffer even more dramatic aftereffects, the Harvard-associated researchers found.…  read on >  read on >

A growing number of people have become unpaid caregivers for loved ones, and a new report says many are overlooking the financial consequences of their selflessness. One in five adults now provide uncompensated care to family and loved ones with health problems, according to the report from the TIAA Institute and the University of Pennsylvania…  read on >  read on >

Advisors to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have voted to recommend that health providers wear masks during routine care for patients who are thought to be contagious. Still, health care workers were frustrated that the draft recommendation does not specify what kind of mask should be worn — loose-fitting surgical masks or…  read on >  read on >

The first new antibiotic for gonorrhea — the second most common sexually transmitted disease — has shown promise in a clinical trial. That news should come as a relief to public health experts, because gonorrhea has become resistant to all but one of the existing antibiotics used to treat it. This new antibiotic, called zoliflodacin,…  read on >  read on >

A new study on Clostridioides difficile infections finds that choosing an alternative antibiotic for high-risk patients with pneumonia can reduce infection risk. C. diff infections can be deadly, and they are often acquired by hospitalized patients taking broad-spectrum antibiotics.   More than 450,000 C. diff infections are reported in the United States each year, leading…  read on >  read on >

Cellphone use might be blunting a fellow’s chances of becoming a father, a major new study reports. Young men who frequently use mobile phones have lower sperm concentrations and sperm counts than guys who rarely dial on the go, Swiss researchers found using more than a decade’s worth of data. However, the data also showed…  read on >  read on >