Many Americans Frustrated in Search for Low-Cost COVID Boosters

Americans seeking out the new COVID boosters are finding themselves held back by insurance entanglements and supply delays.

Some insurers have balked at covering the vaccines, with people arriving at shot appointments only to be told that they’ll have to pay $100 or more out of pocket for the jab.

And in other places, booster appo...

In 22 U.S. States, More Than a Third of Adults Are Now Obese

Obesity is on the rise across the United States.

In 22 states, 35% of adults or more were obese last year, new data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show.

Just 10 years ago, there were no states that had obesity rates at or above 35%.

“Our updated maps send a clear message that additional support for ...

Kraft Cheese Slices Recalled Due to Plastic Wrap Choking Hazard

Kraft Heinz said it is recalling over 83,000 packs of its Kraft Singles American processed cheese slices because of a packaging defect in the plastic that wraps the cheese slices.

A temporary issue developed on one of the wrapping machines, making it possible for a thin strip of individual film to stay on the cheese slice after the wrapper...

Kids' ER Visits for Mental Health Crises Rise When School Term Begins

FRIDAY, Sept. 22, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- While the start of the school year can give kids and teens the chance to reconnect with friends and enjoy school sports and activities, it can also trigger stressors that send many to the emergency room for mental health woes, a new report shows.

Among children aged 5 to 17, emer...

Medicaid Reinstated for Nearly 500,000 Children and Families: CMS

FRIDAY, Sept. 22, 2023 (HealthDay News) – About 500,000 children and families have had their Medicaid reinstated after some states erroneously purged them because of a systems issue, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) said Thursday.

The agency had first expressed concerns about the issue last month, telling states to evalua...

Vaping Raises a Teen's Odds of Developing Asthma

New research underscores the harms of e-cigarettes, showing that vaping increases the risk of asthma in teens who have never smoked cigarettes.

Although e-cigarettes have fewer toxins than regular cigarettes, they still contain a mixture of harmful chemicals and raise the risk of respiratory diseases, researchers say.

“Increasing k...

Newer Diabetes Meds Might Not Work as Well in Black Patients

FRIDAY, Sept. 22, 2023 (HealthDay News) – New research suggests some newer diabetes treatments may not be as beneficial for Black patients, after earlier drug trials included small numbers of non-white people.

Whether the medications -- called sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2-Is) and glucogen-like peptide 1 receptor agon...

Scientists Spot Gene Mutation Linked to Esophageal Cancer

Researchers have found a gene mutation linked to esophageal cancer, which could lead to better prevention and treatment strategies.

Investigators from Case Western Reserve University in Ohio found the mutation, potentially helping those at risk of what is a highly lethal cancer. Esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) is a cancer of your food pip...

Brain Trauma Could Help Trigger Heart Troubles

While the neurological impact of a traumatic brain injury (TBI) has long been studied, new research suggests TBIs are also hard on the heart.

The research team took a closer look at connections between the two organs, finding that nervous system dysfunction, neuro-inflammation, changes in the brain-gut connection and post-injury health is...

Babies May Leave Cells Behind That Help Mom Prepare for Future Pregnancies

One pregnancy may leave behind microscopic souvenirs that prepare a mom's immune system for the next one, a new study suggests.

Experts said the research, carried out in lab mice, offers new insights into a longstanding puzzle: Why doesn't a pregnant woman's immune system attack the fetus, which is essentially a foreign invader?

Scie...

Today's COVID Is Increasingly Looking Like a Cold or Flu

Symptoms of mild COVID-19 infection have shifted this season, and now are more akin to those of allergies and the common cold, doctors say.

Many people with COVID-19 now are presenting with upper respiratory symptoms like runny nose, watery eyes and a sore throat, said Dr. Teresa Lovins, an independent family physician in Columbus, Ind.

FDA Must Crack Down on Retailers Selling Tobacco to Teens: Report

A new government report finds that federal regulators need to do more to help in the battle to keep kids and teens off tobacco.

Among the report’s findings were that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration needs to get tough on retailers selling tobacco to youth and should improve its oversight of online retailers.

The FDA should al...

U.S. Resumes Free COVID Test Program

Americans will once again be able to get free at-home COVID tests.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced Wednesday that it will spend $600 million to buy and offer the tests, produced by 12 domestic manufacturers, and it will begin accepting orders for those tests on Monday through covidtests.gov.

“The Bi...

Suppressing Negative Thoughts Can Sometimes Be Healthy, Study Contends

A longstanding core belief of mental health maintains that people must confront their fears to ease the anxiety and depression stemming from those negative thoughts.

Now a new study argues that, for some people, suppressing negative thoughts and worries might be a more successful strategy.

Mental health actually improved for some stu...

In Mississippi, a Huge Jump in Cases of Babies Born With Syphilis

The United States is experiencing an alarming wave of congenital syphilis, and one southern state saw a 1,000% rise in babies born with the infection between 2016 and 2022.

The number of babies born with the infection in Mississippi rose from 10 in 2016 to 110 in 2022. Syphilis is a sexually transmitted bacterial infection. Congenital syph...

Gun Injuries Rise as Neighborhoods Gentrify

As working class neighborhoods gentrify, you'll likely see rents rise, pricey restaurants move in — and maybe also a rise in gunshot wounds, researchers say.

In U.S. neighborhoods that gentrified, gun injuries were 62% higher than they were in similar neighborhoods that hadn’t gone upscale, according to a new study.

Overall fire...

Wildfire Smoke Pollution a Growing Global Threat

More people around the world are exposed to wildfire smoke that has the potential to harm human health, and their numbers are growing, new research finds.

More than 2 billion people are exposed to at least one day of potentially health-impacting wildfire smoke each year, a figure that has grown by almost 7% in the past decade, according t...

Helping Undocumented Immigrants Find a Primary Care Doc Lowers ER Costs: Study

Helping undocumented immigrants in the United States connect with primary care doctors could be a money-saver, substantially reducing emergency department use and lowering health costs, a new study finds.

The findings are from a New York City program that helped arrange medical appointments from May 2016 to June 2017 for undocumented immig...

Substance Abuse Greatly Raises Odds of Heart Attack, Stroke During Pregnancy

Substance abuse and pregnancy may be a dangerous combination.

New research finds that pregnant women with a history of substance abuse had a dramatically increased risk of death from heart attack and stroke during childbirth compared to women with no drug history.

“This telling research shows that substance use during pregnancy dou...

Millions Are Exposed to Secondhand Smoke and Don't Know It

A lot of people who think they don’t have secondhand smoke exposure actually do, according to a new study that compared survey answers with blood tests.

According to the results of sensitive blood tests, more than half of American adults in the study had recently been exposed to secondhand tobacco smoke. Most were not aware of it.

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