An effective and safe oral pill is welcome news for people at risk for blood clots, after a worldwide study led by McMaster University proved milvexian can be used with minimal side effects. Milvexian is unique in that it works by targeting factor XIa, a clotting enzyme that causes dangerous…
California and Colorado start COVID-19 booster shots for all adults
Adults in California and Colorado can receive a COVID-19 booster shot if it has been at least six months since their second dose of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines, according to the states’ public health departments. This guidance expands the recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)…
Start now and give the gift of plants this Christmas
Apparently there are people who start thinking about Christmas with the arrival of spring’s first blowfly. By the end of October they have their shopping done and menus sorted. The gardeners among them will have ordered lilium or hippeastrum bulbs and timed the planting of them to make a stupendous…
Smartphone apps and back pain treatments
Australians hoping to reduce medical and physiotherapy costs by using smartphone apps to self-manage lower back pain could be setting themselves up for failure—with a new study outlining the lackluster quality and lack of individualized medical advice on the apps. The study, published in open-access journal Disability and Rehabilitation, found…
Depression and anxiety rife among doctors during first and second wave of COVID-19 pandemic, study finds
High levels of anxiety and depression among medical doctors have been recorded in a new cross-country study that finds Italian doctors most likely to have experienced mental health symptoms during the pandemic. The study, published in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS ONE, measured the mental wellbeing of doctors in Catalonia (Spain),…
Depression and anxiety for IBD patients may be related to vascular barrier in the choroid plexus closing
A team of researchers affiliated with multiple institutions in Italy has found a possible connection between depression and anxiety for IBD patients and the vascular barrier in the brain choroid plexus closing. In their paper published in the journal Science, the group describes their study of the gut-brain axis response…
‘An Arm and a Leg’: How One State Protects Patients From Hospital Lawsuits
Can’t see the audio player? Click here to listen. In Maryland, hospitals had been suing people — taking them to court and garnishing wages — even though these patients legally qualified for financial assistance, also known as charity care. Those lawsuits are now illegal, because of the state’s new Medical Debt Protection…
People with cancer and cancer survivors in low-income and rural areas face greater risk of suicide
Cancer is an unwelcome blow for anyone, but those diagnosed with cancer who live in low-income and rural areas face an increased risk of suicide compared with those living in high-income and urban areas, according to a study by The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth Houston)….
New analysis shows use and predictors of low-value care in health systems nationwide
Researchers estimate that up to $101 billion in health care spending is wasted each year due to over-treatment or the delivery of “low-value care.” Low-value care includes a wide array of tests and treatments that are medically unnecessary and for which the potential for harm outweigh the potential for benefit….
Child abuse and neglect linked to early death in adulthood
Children who experience sexual or physical abuse or are neglected are more likely to die prematurely as adults, according to a new study analyzing data from the 1950s to the present by researchers at UCL and the University of Cambridge. The study, published in BMJ Open, found that adults who…
A fast and inexpensive way to test SARS-CoV-2 antibody levels in human patients
A team of researchers at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University has developed what they describe as a fast and inexpensive way to test for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in human patients. The results are published in the journal Science Advances. When a person becomes infected by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, their immune system…