America's Epidemic of STDs May Finally Be Slowing

TUESDAY, Nov. 11, 2024 -- The epidemic of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the United States appears to be cooling off after more than two decades, a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study says.

Gonorrhea cases dropped for a second year in 2023, declining 7% and falling below pre-pandemic levels, researchers sa...

Vitamin D Supplements Could Help Lower Blood Pressure in Obese People

Vitamin D supplements might lower blood pressure in seniors who are obese, reducing their heart health risk, a new study says.

But taking more than the recommended daily dose will not provide additional health benefits, researchers report in the Journal of the Endocrine Society.

“Our study found vitamin D supplementati...

Grandparents & Grandkids: Poll Shows Them Helping Each Other

Grandchildren are a true blessing for seniors, helping them avoid loneliness and keeping them on their toes, a new poll reports.

Overall, 72% of people with grandkids say they hardly ever feel isolated, compared with 62% of those without grandchildren, according to results from the University of Michigan’s National Poll on Healthy Ag...

Kids Still Find It Easy to Buy Flavored Vapes Online

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 from being shipped through the U.S. Postal Service ...

U.S. Alcohol Intake Rose During Pandemic, and for Years After

Even as the pressures of the pandemic began to ebb, Americans' growing dependence on alcohol did not, a troubling new study shows.

Two years into the globe-altering health crisis, the percentage of Americans who consumed alcohol -- which had already spiked between 2018 and 2020 -- inched even further up in 2021 and 2022. Not only that, bu...

Beta Blockers Unnecessary for Folks Without Heart Failure; May Be Linked to Depression

Beta blockers are go-to meds for many people who've survived a heart attack.

However, new Swedish research has found that they might not be needed for heart attack survivors whose hearts have retained a normal pumping ability. 

Using them in this group might even raise patients' odds for depression, the data showed.

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Bird Flu Is Decimating Elephant Seal Colonies

The H5N1 strain of avian flu is now passing easily among South America's elephant seals and drastically cutting herd populations, a new report finds.

"It is likely that more than half of the reproductive population died due to the virus. It will take decades before the numbers are back to the 2022 population size," said Valeria Falabella, ...

Genomic Test Might Quickly Diagnose Any Type of Infection

A cutting-edge genetic test can rapidly detect and identify almost any kind of disease-causing microorganism in the human body, whether it’s a virus, bacteria, fungus or parasite, researchers say.

Doctors have been using the genetic test for more than a decade to identify pathogens in spinal fluid, after its development at the Univer...

Could Asthma Harm a Child's Memory Skills?

Asthma is associated with memory problems in children, a new study has found.

Further, the early onset of asthma might worsen potential memory deficits in kids, researchers found.

This is the first study to make such a connection, researchers said.

“This study underscores the importance of looking at asthma as a potential...

Report Finds Big Disparities in Americans' Well-Being by Region

Americans’ well-being varies widely between different regions of the nation, a new study reports.

People in the southern U.S., Appalachia and the Rust Belt states score lowest on the Human Development Index (HDI), a composite measure that includes a population’s life expectancy, education and income, researchers report in The L...

Weight Loss Meds Help Stroke Survivors Prevent Stroke Recurrence, Death

The weight-loss drug Ozempic can help reduce stroke patients’ risk of a heart attack or death, a new study says.

GLP-1 weight-loss drugs like Ozempic or SGLT2 diabetes medications like Jardiance or Farxiga both helped protect the health of people following a stroke, researchers found.

Patients taking either a GLP-1 or SGLT2 dru...

Diabetes & Kidney Trouble Can Bring Heart Disease Decades Earlier

People with both type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease face a heart health double-whammy, a new study says.

Men with both diabetes and kidney disease will develop heart health problems 28 years earlier than those without either condition, researchers reported today at an American Heart Association meeting in Chicago.

Women with ...

Hourglass-Shaped Stent Might Ease Tough-to-Treat Angina

Recurring angina chest pain in people with a certain type of heart disease can be tough to treat, but a new hourglass-shaped stent could be a real advance, researchers report.

People with what's known as microvascular disease -- impeded blood flow in tiny blood vessels within the heart -- improved significantly once they got  the new ...

Bystanders More Readily Perform CPR If 911 Operator Instructs

You encounter someone collapsed on the sidewalk and quickly dial 911. 

Whether or not the operator instructs you on how to deliver cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) could mean life or death, especially if the victim is female, new research shows.

In a study involving nearly 2,400 emergency calls for cardiac arrest in North Car...

How ADHD May Influence a Child's Weight

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder can influence a child’s weight in ways that will shape their long-term health, a new study says.

Kids with ADHD tend to have lower birth weight, which increases their risk of developmental delays and health problems, researchers in the U.K. found.

But these kids also are more likely to d...

Have an Implanted Defibrillator? Triple-Digit Heatwaves Could Pose Danger

Thousands of Americans with heart trouble have small implanted defibrillators, to help regulate their heartbeat and keep cardiac events at bay. 

But new research finds that on extremely hot days, people with the devices face nearly triple the odds for a dangerous arrhythmia known as atrial fibrillation (A-fib), compared to days with c...

Obesity-Linked Heart Deaths Nearly Tripled in U.S. Over Past Two Decades

Lives lost to obesity-related heart disease have nearly tripled over the past twenty years, a new study reports.

Heart disease deaths linked to obesity increased 2.8-fold between 1999 and 2020, according to findings presented today at the American Heart Association’s annual meeting in Chicago.

The increase occurred especially a...

Unexplained Weight Loss and What It Can Mean for Your Health

It may seem counter-intuitive, but losing weight without even trying may not be a good thing.

"It's not typical to have a noticeable drop in weight without changing how much you're eating, being more physically active or trying to lose weight," said dietitian Christine Goukasian.

"Unexplained weight loss is a red flag," she added in ...

Women Can Incur 'Catastrophic' Bills for Out-of-State Abortions, Study Finds

One piece left out of the abortion debate is the high transportation and medical bills facing women forced to leave their state to obtain the procedure.

A new study is the first to give hard numbers on those concerns.

It finds that, even before the fall of Roe v. Wade, 65% of women who traveled to another state to undergo a...

1 in 5 People Could Have Long COVID

More than 1 in 5 Americans likely suffer from long COVID, a new AI-assisted review has found.

The analysis suggests that nearly 23% of U.S. adults experience the symptoms of long COVID, according to results published Nov. 8 in the journal Med.

That’s much higher than the 7% prevalence of long COVID that’s been su...