Health
El Nino puts millions of children into malnutrition: study
Changing rain patterns caused by the El Nino warming phenomenon frequently drives millions of children into malnutrition and saddles them with life-long health issues, researchers say, calling for action against the "predictable" impact. El Nino is a periodic event that affects global weather patterns, occurring every few years when eastern… Read
U.S. sets new lower salt target for food industry
U.S. health authorities have announced a new push for the food industry to slash the salt in its products, a serious public health problem in a country where half the population suffers from hypertension. The voluntary guidelines call for reducing average sodium consumption by about 12 percent by early 2024… Read
FDA panel endorses lower-dose Moderna COVID shot for booster
U.S. health advisers said Thursday that some Americans who received Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine at least six months ago should get a half-dose booster to rev up protection against the coronavirus. The panel of outside advisers to the Food and Drug Administration voted unanimously to recommend a booster shot for seniors,… Read
COVID vaccines for kids? Strategies around the world
Pfizer last Thursday requested emergency approval from U.S. health authorities to use its COVID jab in children aged five to 11. Here is a look at different approaches to vaccinating children against the virus and the debates it has launched around the world. What changes are made for children? Pfizer… Read
Advice shifting on aspirin use for preventing heart attacks
Older adults without heart disease shouldn't take daily low-dose aspirin to prevent a first heart attack or stroke, an influential health guidelines group said in preliminary updated advice released Tuesday. Bleeding risks for adults in their 60s and up who haven't had a heart attack or stroke outweigh any potential… Read
Merck asks U.S. FDA to authorize anti-COVID pill
Drugmaker Merck asked U.S. regulators Monday to authorize its pill for treating COVID-19 in what would add an entirely new and easy-to-use weapon to the world's arsenal against the pandemic. If cleared by the Food and Drug Administration — a decision that could come in a matter of weeks —… Read
What's on the menu matters in health care for diverse patients
Food is a powerful part of community and medicine. It has the potential to build connections, elicit nostalgia, spark joy, mark celebration and promote healing. It also plays a role in determining whether the health care system is inclusive and equitable. I study the challenges that older adults and their… Read
Can I get the flu and COVID-19 vaccines at the same time?
Can I get the flu and COVID-19 vaccines at the same time? Yes, you can get the shots in the same visit. When COVID-19 vaccines were first rolling out in the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended waiting 14 days between the shots and other immunizations as… Read
Study offers dengue treatment hope
Dengue affects tens of millions each year, producing the brutal symptoms that earned it the moniker "breakbone fever," but new research may have found the first-ever treatment for the virus. Tests in cell cultures and mice found that a newly identified compound can effectively disarm the virus, stopping it from… Read
WHO recommends use of first malaria vaccine for children
The World Health Organization has endorsed the RTS,S/AS01 malaria vaccine, the first against the mosquito-borne disease that kills more than 400,000 people a year, mostly African children. The decision followed a review of a pilot program deployed since 2019 in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi in which more than two million… Read
