THURSDAY, Oct. 21, 2021 (HealthDay News) — The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine booster restored close to full protection against COVID-19 in a late-stage trial involving 10,000 people, the company announced Thursday. They said the booster was 95.6% effective and that they plan to submit the latest data to the U.S. Food andContinue Reading
THURSDAY, Oct. 21, 2021 (HealthDay News) — It’s a drug that’s been supported by some conservative media figures, but taking ivermectin to treat or prevent COVID-19 might land you in the hospital, a new study warns. Interest in the drug surged last summer as the highly contagious Delta variant tookContinue Reading
THURSDAY, Oct. 21, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Nine of 10 patients with so-called “bubble boy” immune disease who received gene therapy about a decade ago are still disease-free, researchers report. The gene therapy was developed at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), to treat the rare and deadly immuneContinue Reading
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 20, 2021 (HealthDay News) — The answer to helping kids with “lazy eye” before it’s too late could be a hand-held screening device, a new study suggests. Amblyopia can’t be treated with glasses or contact lenses after a child’s vision reaches maturity, and without treatment, it can leadContinue Reading
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 20, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Gender-affirming breast removal (mastectomy) can greatly enhance a patients’ mental well-being, a new study finds. Gender-affirming mastectomy is the most common type of gender-confirming surgery, but there’s “not a lot of information out there about how exactly these types of surgeries help people,”Continue Reading
TUESDAY, Oct. 19, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Affordable over-the-counter hearing aids could soon bring relief to millions of Americans suffering from hearing loss, under a landmark proposal announced Tuesday by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The proposal would create a category of hearing aids that could be sold directlyContinue Reading
TUESDAY, Oct. 19, 2021 (HealthDay News) — While they’re helping to ease reflux, some heartburn drugs may also be reducing the severity of gum disease, new research suggests. For the study, researchers assessed probing depth in the gums (the gap between teeth and gums) in more than 1,000 patients withContinue Reading
TUESDAY, Oct. 19, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Men still outnumber women in stroke therapy clinical trials, which means women may end up receiving less effective treatment, researchers say. For the new study, investigators analyzed 281 stroke trials that included at least 100 patients each and were conducted between 1990 andContinue Reading
MONDAY, Oct. 18, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Researchers may have found a noninvasive way to temporarily open the brain’s borders to allow tumor-fighting medication inside. By necessity, the brain is shielded by a layer of specialized cells called the blood-brain barrier. Its job is to allow needed substances in —Continue Reading
MONDAY, Oct. 18, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Prolonged stays in space appear to damage astronauts’ brains, a small, new study suggests. The researchers studied five Russian cosmonauts, mean age 49, who stayed on the International Space Station (ISS) for an average of 5.5 months. Blood samples were taken from theContinue Reading