Health Highlights: Feb.1, 2022

Pfizer will ask FDA to approve its COVID vaccine for kids under 5. If approved, the two-shot regimen would become the first approved for use in children this young; older children are already eligible for the vaccine. Read more

Opioids’ grim toll on young American lives. A new analysis estimates that between 2015 ad 2019, addiction and overdose robbed teens and young adults of nearly 1.5 million years of life. Read more

Driving simulator study shows marijuana’s dangers behind the wheel. Drivers navigating roads became more erratic and error-prone, even when they thought they were unaffected by recent pot use. Read more

Biden Administration restores rules limiting mercury production by power plants. The move by the EPA would reverse a decision made by the Trump administration and help safeguard Americans from the dangerous toxin. Read more

Shedding pounds might prevent precancerous colon polyps. A new study suggests that even a small amount of weight loss may reduce your risk for benign growths that can raise cancer risk. Read more