Local Outbreaks Can Motivate The Vaccine-Hesitant, Poll Finds

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• March 31, 2025
• Full Page

COVID-19 and influenza burned through the U.S. during this year’s cold and flu season, and deadly measles outbreaks have sickened people in 19 states.

So what does it take to get people vaccinated against these preventable diseases?

Essentially, an outbreak w...

New Drug May Cut Sudden Heart Risk by 94%

• I. Edwards HealthDay Reporter
• March 31, 2025
• Full Page

A new drug may help protect millions of people from heart attacks and strokes by lowering a little-known risk factor in the blood.

The drug, made by Eli Lilly and called lepodisiran, lowered levels of a tiny particle called Lp(a) by 94% with a single shot, the study show...

Top FDA Vaccine Official Quits, Warns of Vaccine Misinformation

• I. Edwards HealthDay Reporter
• March 31, 2025
• Full Page

A top vaccine official at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is stepping down, warning that vaccine misinformation is coloring the country’s top health decisions.

Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, sa...

Smartwatches Can Help People Control Diabetes Through Exercise

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• March 31, 2025
• Full Page

Wearing a smartwatch might do more than track steps (or your texts) -- it could be a powerful tool for helping people with type 2 diabetes stay active, a new study says.

Participants were more likely to start and maintain an exercise regimen if they had a smartwatch prov...

Bad Sleep Linked To Alzheimer's-Related Brain Changes

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• March 31, 2025
• Full Page

Certain stages of sleep – deep sleep and dream sleep – appear to contribute to brain health in ways that affect risk of Alzheimer’s disease, a new study says.

People who get less deep sleep or dream sleep have smaller volumes in critical brain regions, ...

More Type 1 Diabetics Are Obese, Taking GLP-1 Drugs

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• March 31, 2025
• Full Page

Use of cutting-edge weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Zepbound has increased dramatically among people with type 1 diabetes, raising safety concerns among experts, a new study says.

Both adults and children with type 1 diabetes are taking the drugs more often to manage ...

Breasts Can Shrink Following Cancer Surgery, Radiation

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• March 31, 2025
• Full Page

Breast-conserving therapy for breast cancer might not conserve as much as previously thought, a new study suggests.

Women’s breasts can shrink considerably after they’ve undergone radiation therapy and lumpectomy for their early-stage breast cancer, researche...

Surgery Not Necessary In Some Early-Stage Breast Cancers, Study Says

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• March 31, 2025
• Full Page

Surgery might not be needed to treat as many as 60% of early-stage breast cancers, a new study says.

Breast cancers that have been completely wiped out by chemotherapy and radiation treatment are not likely to come back, according to a small-scale clinical trial publishe...

Citrus Oil Formula May Relieve Dry Mouth for Cancer Patients

• I. Edwards HealthDay Reporter
• March 29, 2025
• Full Page

A new formula made with natural citrus oil could help cancer patients find relief from dry mouth, a common and painful side effect of radiation treatments.

The formula was created by researchers at the University of South Australia and Stanford University. It mixes limon...

Measles Outbreak Leads to Dangerous Vitamin A Toxicity

• I. Edwards HealthDay Reporter
• March 28, 2025
• Full Page

As a measles outbreak spreads across U.S., doctors are now seeing a new and unexpected danger: Children getting sick from taking too much vitamin A.

At Covenant Children’s Hospital in Lubbock, Texas, several unvaccinated children showed signs of liver problems afte...

Trump Administration To Cut 10,000 Health and Human Services Jobs

• I. Edwards HealthDay Reporter
• March 28, 2025
• Full Page

The Trump administration will lay off 10,000 workers at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a major reorganization, officials announced Thursday.

The changes reflect efforts to cut the size of the federal government and follow Health Secreta...

Organ Transplant Patient Dies After Contracting Rabies

• I. Edwards HealthDay Reporter
• March 28, 2025
• Full Page

A Michigan resident has died after receiving an organ transplant infected with rabies, state health officials said Wednesday.

The patient got the transplant at an Ohio hospital in December and passed away the following month.

The exact type of organ and the patient...

New Surgical Technique Preserves Erectile Function In Prostate Cancer Patients

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• March 28, 2025
• Full Page

A pioneering technique can help nearly twice as many men preserve erectile function following prostate cancer surgery, researchers say.

The new surgical method, called NeuroSAFE, preserves the nerves that run through the prostate’s outer layers, which are thought t...

AI Improves Diagnosis Of Celiac Disease

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• March 28, 2025
• Full Page

Liz Cox, 80, had been suffering from severe stomach pains and anemia for nearly 30 years before doctors finally diagnosed her with celiac disease.

Cox first developed severe stomach pains in her 30s, after having her three children.

“My doctor carried out var...

Sugar Substitute Appears To Boost Appetite, Hunger

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• March 28, 2025
• Full Page

Splenda doesn’t directly add calories to your diet, but the sweetener still might lead people to pack on pounds, a new study says.

The sugar substitute might spur on a person’s appetite and feelings of hunger, potentially leading them to overeat, according to...

Social Media Can Drag Down Troubled Young People

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• March 28, 2025
• Full Page

Is there a person in your life who just can’t stop scrolling social media, almost as if they’ve formed an emotional dependence on sites like Instagram and TikTok?

Such an attachment might be associated with worse mental health symptoms among young people bein...

Stroke Risk Higher For At Least A Decade After Minor Stroke-Like Attacks

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• March 28, 2025
• Full Page

The risk of a full-blown stroke will remain high for at least a decade after a person has a slight brush with stroke, in the form of a transient ischemic attack or minor stroke, a new study says.

These patients have a nearly 13% increased risk of stroke over five years a...

Virtual Reality Headsets Can Help Ease Cancer Pain

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• March 28, 2025
• Full Page

Virtual reality (VR) might be able to provide cancer patients significant pain relief, a new study says.

A small group of cancer patients reported a decrease in their pain after using VR headsets that allowed them to explore realistic underwater scenes, according to find...

NIH Ends Funding for the Effects of Climate Change on Health

• I. Edwards HealthDay Reporter
• March 27, 2025
• Full Page

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) will no longer fund new research on how climate change affects people’s health, according to records reviewed by ProPublica.

The new directive was shared internally with staff last week. It follows other action to st...

Chinese Woman Is Third Person To Get a Gene-Edited Pig Kidney

• I. Edwards HealthDay Reporter
• March 27, 2025
• Full Page

A Chinese woman is the third person in the world living with a gene-edited pig kidney, and nearly three weeks after surgery, doctors say she’s doing well.

The woman, reportedly 69 years old, had kidney failure for eight years before receiving the pig kidney.

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