91-year-old Margaret Keenan gets her Covid-19 booster vaccine Getting jabs against a range of diseases will soon be “as easy as booking a cab”, the NHS has promised. Easier access to vaccine records via the NHS app and one-stop-shops where people can get their shots alongside other health checks are among measures set out in a new vaccination strategy on […]
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Reviewed Identifying an older patient who is at risk for post-operative cognitive dysfunction might be done in the blink of an eye – literally. Researchers at Duke Health found that a simple EEG measurement detects a signal of cognitive vulnerability when patients are asked to close, then open their eyes. Conducted prior to surgery, the non-invasive readout of brain waves […]
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Reviewed Smoking shrinks the brain, according to a study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The good news is that quitting smoking prevents further loss of brain tissue -; but still, stopping smoking doesn't restore the brain to its original size. Since people's brains naturally lose volume with age, smoking effectively causes the brain to […]
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Pfizer announced Tuesday that it expects to complete this week its $43 billion acquisition of cancer-focused biotech company Seagen after clearing key regulatory hurdles. “Pfizer and Seagen have now received all required regulatory approvals,” Pfizer said in a news release that reported a key US antitrust waiting period had expired. “Pfizer expects to close the acquisition of Seagen on December […]
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Creating new vaccines is one of several possible strategies in the fight against antibiotic-resistant bacteria, in addition to using fewer antibiotics and using them smarter. One of the bacteria that we still do not have vaccines against is Enterococcus faecium. It is often resistant to many common antibiotics, including a type of reserve antibiotic or “last resort” antibiotic called Vancomycin. […]
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Researchers say they looked at 9,000 pregnancies and concluded cannabis is associated with a number of unhealthy pregnancy outcomes. They noted that they used testing rather than self-reporting, as in other studies, because of the amount of contradictory information about cannabis’ effect on pregnancies. The researchers concluded that exposure to cannabis was associated with a 1.5-fold increase in risk for […]
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Alcohol use on certain special occasions may contribute to harsher parenting by mothers, according to an innovative study. The findings compare drinking and parenting behaviors on Super Bowl Sunday and Valentine’s Day and may help create environments conducive to positive parenting. It is known that special occasions—sporting events, holidays, bachelor parties, and so on—involve atypical drinking behaviors. Major sporting events, […]
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The problem of food-borne metal contamination has taken on new urgency, thanks in part to a 2021 US Congressional Report detailing high levels of metals found in infant food pulled off grocery shelves. (More recently, high levels of lead were discovered in children’s fruit puree pouches.) Now, two new studies provide information on the correlation between exposure to heavy metals […]
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A new paper in Biology Methods & Protocols indicates that researchers in Germany have developed a new system to display epitopes in mammal cells for immunization studies. They believe that this method can help scientists greatly in immunization efforts. Promoting blood cells to produce antibodies against a specific viral protein is an important step in developing vaccines for human use. […]
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Doctor explains treatment for whooping cough on This Morning A professor has issued advice about protecting yourself against a very contagious disease, known as the 100 day cough, as the UK is currently seeing a spike in cases. So far this year, the health authorities have received notifications of 1,141 cases of whooping cough. According to the latest data, there […]
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