In a move that further toughens safety standards for lead paint dust, the Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday announced the finalization of a rule that declares any detectable amount of the toxin in a home or child care center to be hazardous. “Too often our children, the most vulnerable residents of already overburdened communities, are…  read on >  read on >

Stress is flooding the nation as the 2024 U.S. presidential election nears its climax. This stress is only natural, but it can be managed, said Eric Storch, vice chair of psychiatry and behavioral sciences with Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. “There is uncertainty with change,” Storch said in a Baylor news release. “People worry…  read on >  read on >

Babies who breathe in polluted air tend to have higher rates of peanut allergy as they grow up, but the same wasn’t true for immune-based conditions like egg allergy or eczema, Australian researchers report. Why the connection to peanut allergy in particular? That’s not yet clear, said study lead author Dr. Diego Lopez, of the…  read on >  read on >

Smokers find it easier to quit if they’re automatically offered support, even if they didn’t ask for it, a new clinical trial finds. Quit rates were higher among health system patients placed in an “opt-out” program, in which tobacco cessation medications and counseling are automatically prescribed upon learning they smoke, researchers found. It’s called an…  read on >  read on >

Walking pneumonia cases are surging among young children in the United States, federal health officials warn. “Bacterial infections caused by Mycoplasma pneumoniae increased in the United States since late spring and have remained high,” a statement issued Friday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted. “The proportion of patients discharged from emergency departments with…  read on >  read on >