Doctors who overprescribe antibiotics are often blamed for medication-resistant illnesses, but new research points to another potential culprit: air pollution. Controlling air pollution could reduce antibiotic resistance, greatly reducing deaths and economic costs, according to a new in-depth global analysis were published Aug. 7 in The Lancet Planetary Health.. “Antibiotic resistance and air pollution are…  read on >  read on >

Bringing a professional sports team to a new city often includes a big taxpayer-funded stadium subsidy, but new research shows that has a health downside: a spike in flu deaths. “Most, if not all, of the sports venues in the cities we studied received direct and/or indirect public financing,” said researcher Brad Humphreys, a professor…  read on >  read on >

Underage drinking is an issue in many U.S. communities, but the number of law enforcement agencies using alcohol-related enforcement strategies has remained low or dropped in the past decade. In a new study, researchers tracked law enforcement strategies for underage drinking, impaired driving and sales to obviously intoxicated persons between 2010 and 2019. The research…  read on >  read on >

Black women have significantly more preterm births than white women do, and though almost a third of these extra cases can be explained by heart issues and social factors, the rest remain a mystery. However, targeting those known factors could improve birth outcomes, a new study suggests. Social determinants of health include factors such as…  read on >  read on >

In the midst of a childhood obesity epidemic, a new study is pointing to a way to help school kids maintain a healthier weight: clean, accessible drinking water. The decidedly low-tech solution emerged in a study of 18 California elementary schools that serve largely low-income minority families. Researchers found that when they kicked off a…  read on >  read on >

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved a new pill, called zuranolone, that may quickly ease severe postpartum depression and help millions of women regain their emotional equilibrium following childbirth. Taken as a pill once a day for two weeks, zuranolone (Zurzuvae) showed “rapid, significant and sustained” reductions in depressive symptoms when compared…  read on >  read on >

FRIDAY, Aug, 4, 2023Steroids are often unnecessarily prescribed to pregnant women thought to be at risk of preterm birth, a new evidence review contends. As a result, millions of babies are needlessly exposed to long-term health problems associated with steroid use in gestation, such as increased risk of infection and delayed brain development, researchers say.…  read on >  read on >

A leading U.S. pediatric organization has reaffirmed its support for gender-related treatments in minors, but also plans a systematic review of the medical research. The move by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) to examine research on the treatments is similar to recent moves in England and Sweden. Both limited access to the treatments after…  read on >  read on >