THURSDAY, Nov. 11, 2021 (HealthDay News ) — A Texas ban on mask mandates in schools violates the rights of students with disabilities, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. The decision opens the door for school districts in the state to issue their own mask policies that could affect more than 5 million students, The New…  read on >  read on >

Sorry, parents, but giving your babies enriched formula won’t improve their chances of doing well in school when they’re in their teens, a new study shows. The research was prompted by claims that enriched formula promotes brain development. To learn more, researchers analyzed data from seven randomized trials of nutritionally modified infant formula conducted at…  read on >  read on >

The COVID-19 pandemic has offered some lessons on respiratory disease transmission, and now a new review suggests that hospitals could use those insights to create even smarter infection-control policies. The review, published Nov. 9 in the Annals of Internal Medicine, suggests that some longstanding infection-control tactics at hospitals are “outdated.” And certain changes, like greater…  read on >  read on >

WEDNESDAY, Nov.10, 2021A key to reduced Alzheimer’s disease risk in women could be how much of the hormone estrogen they’re able to stockpile over the years, new research suggests. Certain lifetime choices — such as having more children, taking hormonal birth control or taking hormone therapy during menopause — mean that a woman has greater…  read on >  read on >

It may look like bad news, but a new study says it’s not: The number of people younger than 21 who had total hip replacement surgery in the United States jumped from 347 in 2000 to 551 in 2016. The increase wasn’t due to a rise in the number of children with inflammatory arthritis, which…  read on >  read on >

Schools could provide solutions for kids who are grappling with depression, a new study suggests. Students who have school-based depression screening are twice as likely to begin treatment as peers who don’t get that service, researchers say. “Our study is publishing at a time when more adolescents are reporting symptoms of depression,” said principal investigator…  read on >  read on >