TUESDAY, Nov. 19, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Alcohol-related deaths have surged in the United States, nearly doubling over 20 years, and a growing number of victims are women, a new study warns. “Our study found significant gender differences in alcohol-related [death rates],” said senior author Yiota Kitsantas, head of populationContinue Reading
FRIDAY, Nov. 15, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Waning vaccine coverage has fueled a 20% spike in measles cases worldwide, with 10.3 million people struck by the preventable illness in 2023, health officials reported Wednesday. “Inadequate immunization coverage globally is driving the surge in cases,” of what was once a commonContinue Reading
FRIDAY, Nov. 15, 2024 (HealthDay News) — An experimental vaccine has shown promise in protecting against the sexually transmitted disease chlamydia, researchers report. Lab mice given the vaccine were able to rapidly clear subsequent chlamydia infections, and were less likely to develop severe infections compared with unvaccinated mice, researchers reportedContinue Reading
THURSDAY, Nov. 14, 2024 (HealthDay News) — In a move guaranteed to alarm many, President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vocal opponent of vaccines and other tenets of mainstream health care, to head the massive U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The department encompassesContinue Reading
WEDNESDAY, Nov. 13, 2024 (HealthDay News) — The blockbuster GLP-1 drug semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy) could curb drinking for people battling alcohol use disorder, helping them to avoid crises that require hospitalization, new research shows. Numerous studies had already hinted that semaglutide might act on appetite centers in the brain toContinue Reading
WEDNESDAY, Nov. 13, 2024 (HealthDay News) — People are at higher risk of schizophrenia if they indulge in psychedelic drugs, a new study warns. Patients who land in the ER following hallucinogen use have a 21-fold higher risk of developing schizophrenia compared to the general population, Canadian researchers report. EvenContinue Reading
TUESDAY, Nov. 12, 2024 (HealthDay News) — If you think that federal restrictions on the sale of tobacco products make it nearly impossible for your teen to buy vapes online, new research suggests you’re mistaken. In 2020, the Preventing Online Sales of E-Cigarettes to Children Act banned e-cigarettes and vaping products fromContinue Reading
WEDNESDAY, Nov. 6, 2024 (HealthDay News) — More than a third of Americans continue to express mistrust in the science behind COVID vaccines, a new study finds. This level of mistrust has remained relatively consistent, expressed by 36% of people in 2021, 33% in 2022 and 36% in 2023. PeopleContinue Reading
TUESDAY, Nov. 5, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Banning menthol cigarettes could help convince smokers quit the habit, a new study finds. People who prefer menthol cigarettes would rather buy nicotine gum or other nicotine replacement therapies than switch to traditional tobacco cigarettes, researchers reported recently in the journal Drug andContinue Reading
FRIDAY, Oct. 25, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Some Americans should get more than one shot of the updated COVID vaccines because their age or certain health conditions make them more vulnerable to severe infections, U.S. health officials advised this week. Six months after their first shot, people 65 and olderContinue Reading
FRIDAY, Oct. 24, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Certain gut microbes might be linked to a person’s risk of developing Parkinson’s disease, a new study suggests. People prescribed multiple courses of penicillin antibiotics have a modestly lower risk of developing Parkinson’s, researchers found. Those antibiotics might be affecting bacterial populations inContinue Reading
THURSDAY, Oct. 24, 2024 (HealthDay News) — The recommended first age at which Americans should get the pneumococcal vaccine has been lowered from 65 to 50, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Wednesday. “Lowering the age for pneumococcal vaccination gives more adults the opportunity to protect themselvesContinue Reading
TUESDAY, Oct. 22, 2024 (HealthDay News) — At-home brain stimulation therapy can safely and effectively treat severe to moderate depression, a new clinical trial shows. Rates of treatment response and depression remission were three times higher in people receiving the noninvasive brain stimulation, researchers said. “The study results bring promiseContinue Reading
TUESDAY, Oct. 22, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Smokers find it easier to quit if they’re automatically offered support, even if they didn’t ask for it, a new clinical trial finds. Quit rates were higher among health system patients placed in an “opt-out” program, in which tobacco cessation medications and counselingContinue Reading