Medicare will soon provide up to eight free COVID rapid tests a month to seniors enrolled in the government health insurance program, the Biden administration announced Thursday. The new policy for the over-the-counter tests will take effect in early spring. The at-home tests will be available at pharmacies and other locations for clients with Medicare’s… read on > read on >
If the pandemic taught the world nothing else, it’s that viruses can mutate, potentially giving rise to new and more harmful variants. Now, new research reveals that’s exactly what has happened with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Called VB (for virulent subtype B), the “new” HIV variant actually seems to have emerged more than… read on > read on >
Before your eyes become glued to the Super Bowl or the Winter Olympics, make sure your TV and furniture are anchored to the wall to protect little ones from potentially deadly tip-overs. Between 2018 and 2020, an average of 22,500 Americans a year required emergency department treatment for tip-over injuries, and nearly 44% were under… read on > read on >
Following a bout of severe COVID-19, some children suffer lasting neurological complications, part of a rare condition called multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), a new study finds. The neurological symptoms are wide-ranging, and can include headaches, difficulty falling and staying asleep, daytime sleepiness, brain fog, attention difficulties, social problems, anxiety and depression, all of… read on > read on >
Gum disease has been linked to an increased risk for preterm birth, and now new research suggests that chewing sugar-free gum with xylitol during pregnancy may lower this risk. The study took place in Malawi, Africa, which has one of the world’s highest rates of preterm delivery. Experts are quick to caution that it’s too… read on > read on >
Stroke is a possible complication of COVID-19, and researchers say they now know when that risk is highest. A new study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found the risk of COVID-related ischemic stroke appears greatest in the first three days after you’re diagnosed with the virus. Not just higher, but 10… read on > read on >
Pap tests have long been used to detect cervical cancer early, but preliminary research suggests that cervical cells collected during those tests could also be used to catch other cancers, including deadly ovarian tumors. Researchers found that by analyzing a particular molecular “signature” in cervical cells, they could accurately identify women with ovarian cancer up… read on > read on >
Images of fat-laden, diseased hearts and blackened, rotting feet might be the last thing you expect to see on the label of a can of soda that your child desperately wants, but would such drastic health warnings about the long-term dangers of sugar stop you from buying it? Yes, suggests new research that finds parents… read on > read on >
Pfizer Inc. announced Tuesday that it has asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to authorize its two-dose COVID vaccine for emergency use in children under 5 while it continues to research the power of a third shot in these youngest Americans. If the FDA grants the request, the two-shot regimen would become the first… read on > read on >
Suicides by drug overdose have increased among teens, young adults and seniors, even as they declined for the overall population, U.S. federal researchers say. Drug-related suicides declined for Americans in general during the latter part of the 2010s, researchers from the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) found. But rates of suicide by overdose… read on > read on >
