FDA Panel Votes to Make All COVID-19 Shots Bivalent
In a unanimous 21-to-0 vote last week, an advisory board for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended that the original formulation of the COVID-19 vaccine be retired and all shots going forward be the bivalent version, which targets both the original coronavirus strain and circulating omicron variants. Currently, two types of Pfizer and Moderna […]
Celiac Disease May Increase Risk of Heart Attack and Stroke, Study Finds
Some of the biggest risk factors for cardiovascular disease — including obesity, high blood pressure, and elevated cholesterol — are less common in people with celiac disease. But a new study suggests that people living with celiac disease are still more likely than other individuals to experience medical crises like heart attacks and strokes. The […]
Could Vaccines Help Stave Off Dementia?
People who get common viral infections like pneumonia, influenza, and shingles may be at increased risk for neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s down the line, a new study suggests. For the study, published in the journal Neuron, researchers analyzed medical records for about 450,000 adults in Finland and the United Kingdom. They searched for connections […]
Oxygen Therapy Offers Promising Results in People With Crohn’s Fistulas
Hyperbaric oxygen treatment (HBOT), a procedure that involves increasing the oxygen supply in the blood to speed up the healing process, could be a safe and effective treatment option for people with fistulizing Crohn’s disease, according to an abstract presented at the Crohn’s & Colitis Congress, held January 19 to 21 in Denver. The study […]
Eye Drop Brand Linked to Dangerous Drug-Resistant Infections, CDC Warns
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is warning consumers to stop using using EzriCare Artificial Tears in the wake of a “multistate cluster” of infections linked to the eye drops. At least one person has died from a bacterial infection that may be associated with the preservative-free eye drops, the CDC said in a […]
Staying Married to One Person for Many Years May Promote Brain Health
People who stayed married to one person for many years in mid-life had a lower risk of developing dementia in old age, according to a recent study published in the Journal of Aging and Health. “Being married can have an influence on risk factors for dementia,” said lead author Vegard Skirbekk, PhD, at the Norwegian […]
First FDA-Approved RSV Vaccines Expected Within Months
This winter has been a doozy for the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). The season hit early, with more than 126,000 cases detected between October and November 2022, according to Contemporary Pediatrics. “RSV season is horrible,” says Janet Englund, MD, a pediatrician at Seattle Children’s Hospital and a professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington […]
Valley Fever, a Fungal Disease, Is Becoming More Common
In the popular new HBO series The Last of Us, based on the hit video game of the same name, people become zombies after being infected with a fungus similar to the real-life Ophiocordyceps fungus, which can commandeer the bodies of ants. While the threat of a fungal zombie apocalypse is pure science fiction, illnesses […]
FDA Approves Trodelvy to Treat Most Common Breast Cancer Subtype
Patients with the most common subtype of breast cancer have a new treatment option. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has expanded its approval of the oncology drug sacituzumab govitecan (Trodelvy) to include advanced hormone receptor (HR)–positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)–negative (HR-positive/HER2-negative) tumors. The FDA approved Trodelvy for adults with advanced […]