The Delta variant of COVID-19 is upending any return to normalcy in some parts of the United States, with locales like Los Angeles County urging vaccinated folks to once again don masks indoors. Infectious disease experts said these places are acting with an abundance of appropriate caution, given that the Delta variant is more transmissible… read on > read on >
Add hearing loss to the many dangers posed by fireworks. More than 40 million Americans have some type of hearing loss, and about 10 million of those cases can be attributed to noise, according to the American Academy of Audiology. Noise from fireworks can reach 155 decibels — louder than a jet plane taking off… read on > read on >
Introducing bedtime routines very early in life can improve sleep habits in the toddler years, according to a new study. Almost 500 new mothers were first surveyed when their infants were 3 months old. They were questioned again when the children were 12 months, 18 months and 24 months. The mothers were asked about their… read on > read on >
A steep rise in vaccination rates has dropped COVID-19 from the first to the seventh leading cause of death in the United States, a new analysis shows. The disease was the third leading cause of death for much of 2020, but became the leading cause of death in December 2020 and early 2021, reaching a… read on > read on >
The notion of parents picking out genetically perfect babies may seem like science fiction. But in a new report, a multidisciplinary group of researchers warn that some companies have already started to offer couples going through in vitro fertilization (IVF) the means to pick better embryos through polygenic scoring. Polygenic scores are a “weighted average… read on > read on >
Want to hold a preschooler’s interest in learning something new? Give them just enough information to make them want to know more, a new study suggests. This creates the perfect mix of uncertainty and curiosity in children, said researchers from Rutgers University, in New Jersey. “There is an infinite amount of information in the real… read on > read on >
The COVID-19 pandemic likely played a role in the 50% increase in deaths from fireworks in the United States last year, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) says. Many public fireworks displays were canceled last summer due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That led many people to light rockets, sparklers and firecrackers in their own… read on > read on >
More than half of American babies are exposed to at least some alcohol before they are born — and for 8 out of 10, it happens before their mothers even realize they’re pregnant, according to a Yale University study. Because alcohol consumption may harm the developing fetus, researchers said their findings underscore the need to… read on > read on >
Is spanking good for parents? Is spanking good for kids? Is spanking good for anyone? No, no and no, according to a big new review of prior research. “Zero studies found that physical punishment predicted better child behavior over time,” said study co-author Elizabeth Gershoff, a professor of human development and family sciences at the… read on > read on >
Because they’re often given drugs that suppress their immune systems, people battling a blood cancer known as multiple myeloma have varying responses to the COVID-19 vaccine, new research shows. Some patients had no evidence at all of COVID-fighting antibody production after getting two doses of vaccine, the new study found. In a minority of cases,… read on > read on >
