Meningococcal disease — which includes meningitis — appears to be on the rise among Americans infected with HIV, new research reveals. Researchers stress that the risk to any one person remains exceedingly rare, regardless of their HIV status. Each year between 2017 and 2021 HIV-positive patients accounted for five to 15 cases of the bacterial… read on > read on >
All Mommy:
Is Coffee’s Morning Jolt Mostly Placebo?
Coffee kickstarts many a sleepyhead’s day, but a new study argues that it’s not the caffeine alone that provides the morning wake-up. People who took a basic caffeine pill did not experience the same sort of brain boost they did from sipping a cup of coffee, according to brain scans. Caffeine alone does activate some… read on > read on >
Growing Up Poor May Rewire a Child’s Brain: Study
Growing up in poverty may harm the structural wiring of a child’s brain, a new study claims. Researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found a link between both neighborhood and household poverty and the brain’s white matter tracts. These let the brain communicate between its regions and are important for processing… read on > read on >
Infectious Disease Experts Update Rules on ‘Superbug’ Spread in Hospitals
“Superbug” infections are increasing in U.S. hospitals, and a coalition of medical groups has now issued a set of updated recommendations to protect patients. These guidelines are meant to prevent the spread of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, also known as MRSA, the authors of the recommendations argue. MRSA causes about 10% of hospital-associated infections in the… read on > read on >
The Age When People Seek Help for Gender Dysphoria Is Falling
Growing numbers of young people are expressing a sense of a “mismatch” between the gender on their birth certificate and the one that they “feel” inside, particularly those assigned female at birth. And the age when these people are seeking help and gender-affirming medical care is dropping, according to a new study of more than… read on > read on >
Dr. Anthony Fauci to Become Professor at Georgetown University
(HealthDay News) – Dr. Anthony Fauci, best known for his public health leadership during the pandemic, will become a professor at Georgetown University starting next week. Fauci will work in both the Division of Infectious Diseases in the School of Medicine and at the McCourt School of Public Policy. “I am delighted to join the… read on > read on >
COVID Could Harm Men’s Sperm Months After Infection
Having even a mild COVID-19 infection could trigger a months-long drop in sperm, a new study finds. Researchers found both lower sperm concentrations and fewer sperm that were able to swim when studying men an average of 100 days after COVID-19 infection, which is enough time for new sperm to be produced. “There have been… read on > read on >
Sarah Ferguson Reveals Breast Cancer Diagnosis, Mastectomy
Sarah Ferguson has undergone treatment for breast cancer, she announced on her podcast. The Duchess of York, 63, had a mastectomy after the diagnosis and the surgery was successful, her rep confirmed Sunday, People magazine reported. “The Duchess is receiving the best medical care and her doctors have told her that the prognosis is good.… read on > read on >
When Kids Fatally Shoot Other Kids: Tragedies That Don’t Have to Happen
When a child unintentionally shoots and kills another child in the United States, they’ve likely been playing around with an unlocked, loaded gun, new research reveals. Analyzing a decade’s worth of data, researchers also found that 4 out of 10 such gun deaths involve kids 2 to 4 years old. About two-thirds of the unintentional… read on > read on >
Could Dentures Raise Your Odds for Pneumonia?
Dentures may hide harmful germs that cause pneumonia, British researchers report. For the study, the investigators took samples from the dentures of nursing home patients who did and didn’t have pneumonia. They analyzed the samples to identify the types of microbes present. The researchers specifically looked for microbes that could cause pneumonia and if there… read on > read on >