Older people have vaccines available to prevent severe influenza and COVID-19, but there’s been nothing to protect against the third respiratory virus that contributed to this season’s wretched “triple-demic.” Until now. Two major pharmaceutical companies published clinical trial results this week that pave the way for an RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) vaccine to be available… read on > read on >
HBO’s hit series “The Last of Us” envisions a world decimated by a fungal apocalypse. A real-life insect fungus called Cordyceps makes the leap into humans, turning those stricken into violent zombie-like creatures that spread it to others through bites. Society collapses in a matter of days after the fungus emerges. But viewers can relax:… read on > read on >
Ramen danger: A steaming cup of instant noodles is a big cause of scald injuries in children, researchers report. A new study that examined pediatric admissions at University of Chicago Medicine for burn injuries caused by hot liquids found that nearly one-third were caused by instant noodles between 2010 and 2020. “Anecdotally, it felt like… read on > read on >
A guy pops a little pill just before he expects to get frisky with his girlfriend. But the pill isn’t Viagra, as one might expect. Instead, it’s an on-demand contraceptive that will prevent pregnancy even if taken just before sex. Researchers think they’ve discovered a way to create such a contraceptive pill for men, by… read on > read on >
Raiding the cookie jar or candy dish at grandma’s house may be a treat, but it can also help ruin children’s teeth. And a new survey found more than two-thirds of mothers reporting that their kids’ grandparents gave youngsters sugary foods and beverages, with no limits on consumption. “I have many happy memories of raiding… read on > read on >
Adults use a special part of their brain to solve tough problems. Now, new research shows that kids do the same. Scientists used brain scans and challenging work to assess how kids and adults might work through these tough problems and whether or not their problem-solving processes were the same. Turns out they were. The… read on > read on >
Women who give birth to bigger-than-average babies are susceptible to developing type 2 diabetes later in life, a new study suggests. Large-for-gestational age infants are defined as those weighing 8 pounds or more, said lead study author Dr. Kartik Kailas Venkatesh, an assistant professor of epidemiology at Ohio State University. “In an environment of obesity,… read on > read on >
Late-night cramming, hall parties and other nocturnal activities can rob college kids of sleep, taking a big toll on grade point averages. Freshmen who racked up fewer than 6 hours of sleep a night saw a drop in their end-of-term GPA, new research showed. For every hour of nightly sleep lost, there was a .07… read on > read on >
More than a decade ago, the Obama administration passed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 as a way to counter the toll the obesity epidemic was taking on children’s health. The goal was to markedly improve the nutritional value of federal food programs that regularly put free and/or low-cost breakfasts, lunches and snacks on… read on > read on >
What do race and early education have to do with dementia risk among seniors? Quite a bit, a new study suggests. Researchers spent decades tracking the onset of dementia among nearly 21,000 U.S. seniors, before reaching two main conclusions. The first is that seniors who, as kids, were educated in states that generally had shorter… read on > read on >
