Americans seeking out the new COVID boosters are finding themselves held back by insurance entanglements and supply delays. Some insurers have balked at covering the vaccines, with people arriving at shot appointments only to be told that they’ll have to pay $100 or more out of pocket for the jab. And in other places, booster… read on > read on >
While the start of the school year can give kids and teens the chance to reconnect with friends and enjoy school sports and activities, it can also trigger stressors that send many to the emergency room for mental health woes, a new report shows. Among children aged 5 to 17, emergency department visits for depression,… read on > read on >
Symptoms of mild COVID-19 infection have shifted this season, and now are more akin to those of allergies and the common cold, doctors say. Many people with COVID-19 now are presenting with upper respiratory symptoms like runny nose, watery eyes and a sore throat, said Dr. Teresa Lovins, an independent family physician in Columbus, Ind.… read on > read on >
A longstanding core belief of mental health maintains that people must confront their fears to ease the anxiety and depression stemming from those negative thoughts. Now a new study argues that, for some people, suppressing negative thoughts and worries might be a more successful strategy. Mental health actually improved for some study participants after they… read on > read on >
As working class neighborhoods gentrify, you’ll likely see rents rise, pricey restaurants move in — and maybe also a rise in gunshot wounds, researchers say. In U.S. neighborhoods that gentrified, gun injuries were 62% higher than they were in similar neighborhoods that hadn’t gone upscale, according to a new study. Overall firearm incidence was also… read on > read on >
More people around the world are exposed to wildfire smoke that has the potential to harm human health, and their numbers are growing, new research finds. More than 2 billion people are exposed to at least one day of potentially health-impacting wildfire smoke each year, a figure that has grown by almost 7% in the… read on > read on >
Helping undocumented immigrants in the United States connect with primary care doctors could be a money-saver, substantially reducing emergency department use and lowering health costs, a new study finds. The findings are from a New York City program that helped arrange medical appointments from May 2016 to June 2017 for undocumented immigrants with limited incomes.… read on > read on >
When Canadian wildfire smoke shrouded the New York City skyline and spread to parts of New England this summer, millions of East Coast residents saw firsthand just how pervasive it can be. Now, a new study quantifies exactly what wildfire smoke is doing to hard-fought gains in cleaning up the air, even in Eastern states… read on > read on >
Highly processed packaged foods and drinks may be quick, cheap and tasty, but new research suggests they’re also likely to up your risk for depression. Among big consumers of ultra-processed foods, depression risk may rise by as much as 50%, the new study found, particularly when those foods are artificially sweetened. “Given what we know… read on > read on >
Brown rats found and analyzed near Atlanta now carry rat lungworm, researchers report. It’s a parasite that can trigger a dangerous brain encephalitis in both people and pets, and which now threatens a wide area of the U.S. Southeast. Researchers in Georgia say the microscopic rat lungworm, known scientifically as Angiostrongylus cantonensis, typically begins its… read on > read on >
