Jason Lee

Outsourcing NHS services to the private sector is associated with reduced quality of patient care and increased rates of deaths from treatable causes, according to an analysis published in The Lancet Public Health journal. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-privatizing-nhs-decline-quality-healthcare.html

Under the No Surprises Act, disputes between payers and providers are settled through arbitration while the patient is held harmless for any surprise bill that occurs in an emergency or in-patient setting during which the patient could not have reasonably known the provider was out-of-network. Under the law, arbiters are required to weigh several non-monetary factors as well as one monetary benchmark: the median in-network contracted amount for the same or similar service in a local area. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-billing-dispute-resolution-outcomes-texas.html

A new series published in The Lancet today highlights the growing problem of road traffic injuries and lays out some opportunities for preventing injuries and saving lives. The series comes at the same time as the United Nations General Assembly launches a high-level meeting on global road safety June 30-July 1 in New York. The series offers a comprehensive analysis of this rising public health threat. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-worldwide-main-areas.html

New research led by UNSW Sydney reveals traffic-related fatalities and injuries are the biggest killers of young people worldwide—causing more deaths than communicable and non-communicable diseases or self-harm. The findings are published today in The Lancet Public Health in the first global analysis of transport and unintended injury-related morbidity and mortality of young people aged 10-24. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-road-injuries-young-people.html

More than two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, people are realizing that the "new normal" will probably involve learning to co-exist with SARS-CoV-2. Some treatments are available, but with new variants emerging, researchers are looking toward new strategies. In ACS Infectious Diseases, scientists now report that apratoxin S4, an anticancer drug candidate that targets a human protein, can interfere with the replication of many viruses, including SARS-CoV-2 and influenza A, offering a possible pan-viral therapy. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-human-protein-sars-cov-viruses.html

About 80% of people in the U.S. have low to moderate cardiovascular health based on the American Heart Association's new Life's Essential 8 checklist according to a new study published today in Circulation journal. Life's Essential 8, also published today in Circulation, details the Association's updated guidance to measure cardiovascular health, adding healthy sleep as essential for ideal heart and brain health. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-people-optimal-heart-health.html

Sleep duration is now considered an essential component for ideal heart and brain health. Life's Essential 8 cardiovascular health score replaces Life's Simple 7, according to a new Presidential Advisory, Life's Essential 8—Updating and Enhancing the American Heart Association's Construct on Cardiovascular Health, published today in Circulation journal. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-american-heart-association-cardiovascular-health.html

Reacting to a surprising and growing monkeypox outbreak, U.S. health officials on Tuesday expanded the group of people recommended to get vaccinated against the monkeypox virus. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-monkeypox-outbreak.html

Health officials in South Korea on Wednesday approved the country's first domestically developed COVID-19 vaccine for people 18 years or older, adding another public health tool in the fight against a prolonged pandemic. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-south-korea-homemade-covid-vaccine.html

Younger adults living in the U.S. are less likely to be screened for colorectal cancer than older U.S. adults, despite now being eligible under new screening guidelines, and face greater disparities than older U.S. adults who are eligible for screening, according to research from UTHealth Houston. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-eligible-younger-adults-colorectal-cancer.html

The virus that causes COVID-19 undertakes a massive takeover of the body's fat-processing system, creating cellular storehouses of fat that empower the virus to hijack the body's molecular machinery and cause disease. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-covid-fattens-body-cells-fuel.html

Pollution is linked to more than 10 percent of cancer cases in Europe, a report by the European Environment Agency said Tuesday. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-pollution-linked-cancer-cases-europe.html

The US drugstore chain CVS said on Monday that it had temporarily limited purchases of the morning-after pill to three boxes per transaction, in order to avoid a shortage following a recent US Supreme Court verdict that revoked the constitutional right to abortion. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-cvs-pharmacies-limit-morning-after-pill.html

Screening both mothers and fathers for depression beyond their child's first birthday in pediatric offices—the current standard practice—could identify families in need of mental health and other critical resources, according to a Rutgers study. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-parental-depression-screening-postpartum-period.html

Two robotic arms—a fork in one hand, a knife in the other—flank a seated man, who sits in front of a table, with a piece of cake on a plate. A computerized voice announces each action: "Moving fork to food," and "Retracting knife." Partially paralyzed, the man makes subtle motions with his right and left fists at certain prompts, such as "select cut location," so that the machine slices off a bite-sized piece. Now: "Moving food to mouth," and another subtle gesture to align the fork with his mouth. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-robotic-arms-brain-partially-paralyzed.html

Intermittent fasting changes the gut bacteria activity of mice and increases their ability to recover from nerve damage. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-intermittent-fasting-nerve.html

A team of researchers at the National Institute of Health Doutor Ricardo Jorge in Portugal, working with a colleague at Lusófona University, also in Portugal, has found that the monkeypox virus has been evolving at a faster rate than expected. In their paper published in the journal Nature Medicine, the researchers describe their genetic study of the virus collected from 15 samples. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-monkeypox-evolving-faster.html

Medicare could waste up to $605 million per year on the controversial Alzheimer's drug aducanumab if it is eventually approved for widespread use because it is supplied in vials containing fixed doses that may not be appropriate for all patients–resulting in the trashing of large volumes of unused drug, new UCLA research finds. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-vial-sizes-controversial-alzheimer-drug.html

Abortion bans enacted across America will be especially painful for women in the US military, one more hurdle they have to face in a man's world where sexual assault and unwanted pregnancies occur more often than in the rest of society. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-abortion-obstacle-servicewomen.html

Peru's government on Sunday declared that a fourth wave of COVID-19 infections had begun to hit the country, which has one of the highest mortality rates from the virus in the world. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-peru-fourth-covid-.html

Compared with other G10 countries, Canada handled the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic well by most measures, according to an analysis in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-canada-covid-response-years-pandemic.html

Late-life dementia is becoming increasingly common in people after 80 years of age. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-future-quick-easy-scan-reveal.html

As conservative US states rush to enact abortion bans following the Supreme Court's bombshell decision, the fight over reproductive rights in America is poised to shift to a new battleground: abortion-inducing pills. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-abortion-pills-battleground-reproductive.html

The World Health Organization said the escalating monkeypox outbreak in more than 50 countries should be closely monitored but does not warrant being declared a global health emergency. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-panel-monkeypox-global-emergency-stage.html

Pfizer announced Saturday that tweaking its COVID-19 vaccine to better target the omicron variant is safe and works—just days before regulators debate whether to offer Americans updated booster shots this fall. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-pfizer-tweaked-covid-shots-boost.html

The World Health Organization said Friday that European summer festivals should not be cancelled due to the monkeypox outbreak but should instead manage the risk of amplifying the virus. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-european-festivals-scrapped-due-monkeypox.html

China reported zero new COVID-19 infections in Shanghai for the first time since March on Saturday, as the country's latest outbreak subsides after months of lockdowns and other restrictions. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-shanghai-covid-cases-months.html

Juul can continue to sell its electronic cigarettes, at least for now, after a federal appeals court on Friday temporarily blocked a government ban. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-juul-e-cigarettes-court-blocks-fda.html

A study investigating the role of Treponema denticola (T. denticola) in Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathogenesis will be presented by Zhiqun Tang of the West China Hospital of Stomatology at Sichuan University, China at the 100th General Session and Exhibition of the IADR, to be held in conjunction with the 5th Meeting of the IADR Asia Pacific Region. The Interactive Talk presentation, "Treponema Denticola Induces Alzheimer-like Tau Hyperphosphorylation in Mice", will take place on Saturday, June 25th, 2022 during the "Biological Impact of Ageing" session. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-treponema-denticola-alzheimer-like-tau-hyperphosphorylation.html

Abortion will likely soon be banned in more than two dozen states. source https://www.webmd.com/baby/news/20220623/roe-v-wade-overturned-ending-50-years-of-abortion-protections?src=RSS_PUBLIC

Every night when we go to sleep, we spend a couple of hours in a virtual world created by our brains in which we are the main protagonist of an unfolding story we did not consciously create. In other words, we dream. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-parkinson-disease-bad-early.html

Columbia and MIT researchers are revealing the surprising reasons why cancer cells are often forced to rely on fat imports, a finding that could lead to new ways to understand and slow down tumor growth. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-cancer-cells-import-fat.html

The Biden administration has started shipping monkeypox tests to commercial laboratories, in a bid to speed diagnoses for suspected infections for the virus that has already infected at least 142 people in the U.S. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-boosts-monkeypox-cases.html

Before a baby is ever born, critical supply chain problems with nutrition and oxygen can result in premature birth or even death and increase the child and mother's lifelong risk of cardiovascular disease. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-leptin-preeclampsia-prompts-cardiovascular-cascade.html

COVID-19 vaccination is not associated with an increased risk of heart attack or stroke in patients with established cardiovascular disease, according to a large study published today in Cardiovascular Research. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-covid-vaccines-safe-patients-cardiovascular.html

Infertility and pregnancy loss are associated with an increased risk of non-fatal and fatal stroke in later life, finds an analysis of observational studies, published in The BMJ. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-infertility-pregnancy-loss-women-life.html

Despite overall improvements to care for a heart attack, women are less likely to receive timely treatment, according to a new study in Annals of Emergency Medicine. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-treatment-heart-gaps-access-persist.html

The largest study to date of long COVID symptoms in children aged 0-14 years confirms that children who have received a COVID-19 diagnosis can experience symptoms of long COVID lasting at least two months. The study, published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, used national level sampling of children in Denmark and matched COVID-19 positive cases with a control group of children with no prior history of a COVID-19 infection. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-largest-covid-symptoms-children-age.html

A new study finds that having a portable air cleaner in the home can reduce the negative impacts of air pollution on brain development in children. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-air-pollution-healthy-brain.html

Daily use of a mushroom extract supported the immune system in clearing human papillomavirus (HPV) infections, according to researchers with UTHealth Houston. The study was published today in Frontiers in Oncology. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-treatment-option-hpv-infection.html

Results from the largest prospective study of its kind indicate that for individuals who experience trauma, the presence of dissociation—a profound feeling of detachment from one's sense of self or surroundings—may indicate a high risk of later developing severe post-traumatic stress, depression, anxiety, physical pain, and social impairment. The research, which was led by investigators at McLean Hospital, is published in the American Journal of Psychiatry. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-detachment-worse-mental-health-outcomes.html

Researchers have demonstrated how airborne diseases such as COVID-19 spread along the length of a train carriage and found that there is no "safest spot" for passengers to minimize the risk of transmission. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-safest-minimize-covid-transmission.html

What might a sustainable social health care enterprise look like as a mode of public health care delivery? Research from Thailand seeks to answer that question in the International Journal of Productivity and Quality Management. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-sustainable-health.html

A screening tool developed at the University of Strathclyde, U.K., could increase the number of tests on a solid tumor sample by up to 50 times. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-screening-technology-cancer-solid-tumor.html

Research by Oregon State University has explained how an important type 2 diabetes drug is made in nature, opening the door to improvements in manufacturing through biotechnology. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-reveals-key-diabetes-drug-nature.html

More than 80% of UK medical certificates recording stillbirths contain errors, research reveals. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-uk-medical-certificates-stillbirths-errors.html

Do you tend to see the glass as half full, rather than half empty? Are you always looking on the bright side of life? If so, you may be surprised to learn that this tendency could actually be good for your health. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-optimists-longer-1.html

A MedUni Vienna study team has identified the role of a specific subtype of macrophages (white blood cells) in progressive non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. As part of the immune system, these cells have a protective function against fibrosis and liver cirrhosis. At the same time, they are useful as biomarkers of liver disease progression as they can be measured by a blood test. The results were recently published in the Journal of Hepatology. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-blood-biomarker-status-fatty-liver.html

The classification of brain tumors—and thus the choice of optimal treatment options—can become more accurate and precise through the use of artificial intelligence in combination with physiological imaging. This is the result of an extensive study published in Cancers and conducted by the Karl Landsteiner University for Health Sciences (KL Krems). Multiclass machine learning methods were used to analyze and classify brain tumors using physiological data from magnetic resonance imaging. The results were then compared with classifications made by human experts. Artificial intelligence was found to be superior in the areas of accuracy, precision and misclassification, among others, while professionals performed better in sensitivity and specificity. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-accurate-diagnosis-brain-tumors-artificial.html

E-cigarettes have become increasingly popular among adolescents, and the latest available scientific evidence suggests the use of these products leads to adverse health effects that may accrue over time, leading to an increased risk of cardiovascular and pulmonary disease over the course of the life of people who use e-cigarettes, according to a new scientific statement from the American Heart Association published today in the Association's peer-reviewed journal, Circulation: Research. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-action-e-cigarette-adolescents-lifetime-cvd.html

A new study published today in the journal Current Medical Research and Opinion reveals that females are "significantly" more likely to suffer from long COVID than males and will experience substantially different symptoms. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-females-covid-underscoring-critical-sex-disaggregated.html

Hazmat-suited workers poke plastic swabs down millions of throats in China each day, leaving bins bursting with medical waste that has become the environmental and economic levy of a zero-COVID strategy. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-china-mass-mantra-mountain.html

As communities prepare for Fourth of July festivities, some parents may be overlooking burn and injury risks for children, a new national poll suggests. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-national-poll-parents-minimize-firework.html

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States, and early detection and treatment are key to prolonging survival in patients. A recent study published by Wiley online in Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, found that area-level education and income are associated with patients' lung cancer stage at the time of diagnosis. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-links-area-level-income-greater-likelihood.html

A new genetic discovery adds weight to a theory that motor neurone degenerative diseases are caused by abnormal lipid (fat) processing pathways inside brain cells. This theory will help pave the way to new diagnostic approaches and treatments for this group of conditions. The discovery will provide answers for certain families who have previously had no diagnosis. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-gene-discovery-motor-neurone-diseases.html

Youth hockey players with more years of bodychecking experience were at significantly higher risk of concussion than their peers with less bodychecking experience, according to new research in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-bodychecking-injury-teen-hockey-players.html

A cholera outbreak in Iraq has infected at least 13 people and scores more suspected cases have been sent for analysis, most from the northern Kurdistan region, health officials said Sunday. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-iraq-cholera-cases-scores.html

South Africa on Saturday hailed a WTO agreement to allow developing countries to start producing their own COVID vaccines following a near two-year battle. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-south-africa-hails-covid-vaccine.html

The final regulatory decision paves the way for doctors, pharmacists, and others to start vaccinating children 6 months and older in the U.S. starting this week. source https://www.webmd.com/vaccines/covid-19-vaccine/news/20220618/cdc-gives-final-ok-for-covid-vaccinations-for-youngest-kids?src=RSS_PUBLIC

The World Health Organization says it has removed the distinction between endemic and non-endemic countries in its data on monkeypox to better unify the response to the virus. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-endemic-country-distinction-monkeypox.html

U.S. health advisers on Saturday recommended COVID-19 vaccines for infants, toddlers and preschoolers—the last group without the shots. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-cdc-covid-shots-children.html

Florida doctors will be able to order COVID-19 vaccines for children under 5 from the federal government, the White House said Friday, after Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis said the state would not order and distribute the shots in the state. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-white-house-florida-doctors-under-.html

Germany's health minister urged residents and visitors to wear face masks indoors to protect themselves and others from the coronavirus, but he acknowledged that current data doesn't justify making mask use a legal requirement. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-germany-health-minister-urges-voluntary.html

The World Health Organization on Friday called on all nations to invest more in mental health, saying "the suffering is enormous" and has been made worse by the COVID pandemic. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-enormous-urges-mental-health-action.html

Pediatric obesity remains a serious health problem in the United States, where one in five children are affected. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force now recommends that pediatricians screen for obesity during primary care visits and refer families to behavioral intervention programs. While there is growing interest in providing these services, accessibility continues to challenge their success. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-pediatric-obesity-treatment-accessible.html

Physicians at Stanford Medicine have developed a way to provide pediatric kidney transplants without immune-suppressing drugs. Their key innovation is a safe method to transplant the donor's immune system to the patient before surgeons implant the kidney. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-pediatricians-transplant-kidneys-immune-suppressing-drugs.html

As people age, their immune systems naturally begin to decline. This aging of the immune system, called immunosenescence, may be an important part of such age-related health problems as cancer and cardiovascular disease, as well as older people's less effective response to vaccines. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-social-stress-immune-aging.html

Along with the United States and India, Brazil is one of the three countries to have been most hit by the COVID pandemic, both in terms of deaths and confirmed cases (660,000 and 30 million respectively). The doubts we may harbor over the reliability of official data (especially for infections, but also for deaths) are not able to challenge this dismal record. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-quantifying-effects-bolsonaro-dismal-covid-.html

With Australians learning to live with COVID and resuming international travel, cases of influenza are steadily rising. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-flu-shot-cell-based-adjuvanted-vaccines.html

North Korea on Thursday reported the eruption of another infectious disease in addition to its ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, saying leader Kim Jong Un has donated his private medicines to those stricken with the new disease. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-korea-disease-outbreak-covid-.html

Overuse of these inhalers is linked to an increased risk of hospital admissions and severe asthma attacks. They also found that prescribing varies between GP practices, with some overprescribing rescue inhalers to 6% of their asthma patients and some to as many as 60%. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-quarter-people-asthma-over-using-inhalers.html

A novel staging framework that assesses the progression of Huntington's disease (HD), similar to the way cancer is staged 0 to 4, has been developed by UCL scientists as part of an international consortium; this 'significant' step paves the way for clinical trials of drugs in the earliest phase of disease. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-huntington-disease-revolutionize-drug-trials.html

Treating menopause as a hormone deficiency requiring treatment is inaccurate and fuels negative expectations which might be harmful to women, argue experts in The BMJ today. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-medicalizing-menopause-unhelpful-women.html

More fragmented sleep and longer periods of wakefulness after bedtime among a group of low-income African American adults were associated with lower cognitive function such as poor attention, according to a new study. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-poor-african-americans-diminished-cognitive.html

A state health department's quick action to mobilize an inter-facility response to protect ventilator-dependent residents of a skilled nursing facility from a superbug outbreak in the middle of the pandemic is being highlighted at an infection control conference today. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-louisiana-team-approach-infection-vulnerable.html

Most research on children involved with the child welfare system focuses on the negative consequences, such as depression and suicide. A new study from University of Toronto researchers instead examined factors associated with resilience and flourishing among adults who had contact with the child welfare system as children. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-majority-children-contact-child-welfare.html

People who have genetic variations associated with lowering LDL-cholesterol similar to statin medications appear to have an increased risk of developing cataracts and having cataract surgery, according to new research published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association (JAHA). source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-cholesterol-lowering-gene-cataracts.html

The number and rate of U.S. abortions increased from 2017 to 2020 after a long decline, according to figures released Wednesday. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-abortions-pregnancies-terminated.html

In recent years, a new treatment strategy known as focal therapy (partial gland ablation) has emerged for prostate cancer considered to be "intermediate risk"—mostly, small tumors confined to one area of the prostate. At Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK), researchers have been working closely with an advanced focal therapy approach known as high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), guided by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-high-intensity-focused-ultrasound-hifu-prostate.html

Data from two large cancer centers in the United States have shown that the COVID-19 pandemic caused substantial disruption to clinical trials for cancer treatment and care. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-cancer-clinical-trials-significant-covid-.html

Researchers identified a greater increase in functional capacity, the ability to perform activities of daily living, as a result of Nordic walking in patients with coronary heart disease compared to standard high-intensity interval training and moderate-to-vigorous intensity continuous training. The results of their randomized clinical trial are published in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-nordic-functional-capacity-people-heart.html

Mayo Clinic researchers studied the outcomes of 483 high-risk patients treated for COVID-19 with a five-day oral regimen of nirmatrelvir and ritonavir, together marketed as Paxlovid. Only a handful developed COVID-19 rebound symptoms, and the researchers say more studies are needed to determine why. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-covid-patients-rebound-symptoms-paxlovid.html

The Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved a drug called baricitinib as the first oral tablet for treating severe alopecia areata, an autoimmune disorder affecting more than 300,000 people in the United States every year. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-pill-treatment-alopecia.html

Researchers in UC Santa Barbara neuroscientist Kenneth S. Kosik's lab have discovered a novel organelle—a previously unknown cell structure whose function it is to help clean up faulty proteins in times of stress and keep cells functioning in top condition. Optimizing this membraneless organelle, which they call a BAG2 condensate, could lead to treatments for conditions that are the result of misfolded proteins, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative conditions. Their results are reported in a paper led by project scientist Daniel C. Carrettiero and published in the journal Nature Communications. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-scientists-characterize-membraneless-organelle-role.html

Children who learn to play well with others at pre-school age tend to enjoy better mental health as they get older, new research shows. The findings provide the first clear evidence that 'peer play ability', the capacity to play successfully with other children, has a protective effect on mental health. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-pre-school-friends-lowers-mental-health.html

A new University of Waterloo study shows that current Hepatitis B vaccination, screening, and treatment strategies in Ontario will leave the province well short of its goal to reduce preventable infections that afflict 1,000 Ontarians annually. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-current-hepatitis-treatment-strategies-inadequate.html

A graph of how long Americans sleep forms a U-shaped pattern across our lives, with age 40 being the low point and hours of sleep starting to creep back up about age 50, Medical College of Georgia investigators report. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-age-busy-americans.html

New York City’s two sites have intervened in hundreds of overdoses, but significant challenges confront other locations hoping to provide the same services. source https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/features/safe-consumption-sites?src=RSS_PUBLIC

Federal health officials said Sunday that kid-sized doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccines appear to be safe and effective for kids under 5, a key step toward a long-awaited decision to begin vaccinating the youngest American children. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-pfizer-covid-shot-effective-kids.html

U.S. regulators have historically inspected baby formula plants at least once a year, but they did not inspect any of the three biggest manufacturers in 2020, according to federal records reviewed by The Associated Press. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-baby-formula-werent-covid.html

New research has revealed that humans moderate the size of energy-rich meals they eat, suggesting people are smarter eaters than previously thought. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-people-size-portions-high-calorie-foods.html

The Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) shortages brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic proved to be an opportunity for a Virginia health system to not only address supply chain issues, but also to improve their environmental footprint. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-reusable-gown-eases-chain-environmental.html

New research has shown that normal human brain temperature varies much more than we thought, and this could be a sign of healthy brain function. In healthy men and women, where oral temperature is typically less than 37°C, average brain temperature is 38.5°C, with deeper brain regions often exceeding 40°C, particularly in women during the daytime. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-healthy-human-brains-hotter-previously.html

Medical equipment that can be manufactured at low cost, is simple to use and can be easily maintained will help extend surgery to the 5 billion people worldwide who currently cannot get access to it, say researchers. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-low-techjust-doctor.html

According to new research by investigators at the Mayo Clinic and Washington State University, e-bandages could be an effective alternative to antibiotics for managing wound infections. The findings are presented at ASM Microbe 2022, the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-antibiotic-free-hydrogen-peroxide-e-bandages-wound.html

Hospitalized patients with diabetes or hyperglycemia who receive goal-directed glycemic management that includes new technologies for glucose monitoring and pre-discharge diabetes self-management education may have better outcomes and less likelihood of readmission, according to a Clinical Practice Guideline issued today by the Endocrine Society at ENDO 2022. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-endocrine-society-clinical-guideline-hospitalized.html

Life disruptions and the stresses of the COVID-19 pandemic led to disturbed ovulation with decreased progesterone durations or levels, according to research being presented Sunday at ENDO 2022, the Endocrine Society's annual meeting in Atlanta, Ga. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-covid-pandemic-stress-impacts-ovulation.html

High fructose consumption should be avoided to prevent the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), according to research being presented Sunday, June 12 at ENDO 2022, the Endocrine Society's annual meeting in Atlanta, Ga. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-people-consume-high-fructose-corn.html

A new study finds overweight and obese people maintained an average weight loss of 10.6% over 3 to 5 years with a program of lifestyle changes in combination with anti-obesity medications. Weight loss of more than 10% provides significant health benefits, according to researchers who are presenting their findings Sunday, June 12 at ENDO 2022, the Endocrine Society's annual meeting in Atlanta, Ga. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-long-term-weight-loss-anti-obesity-medications.html

A longer duration of treatment with puberty-delaying medications among transgender youth is associated with lower bone mineral density, according to a new study that will be presented Sunday at ENDO 2022, the Endocrine Society's annual meeting in Atlanta, Ga. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-longer-treatment-puberty-delaying-medication-transgender.html

On a hillside overlooking the azure blue waters of Greece's Leros island harbor, a small group of workers in protective gear are busy smoking beehives. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-soul-relief-bees-mentally-ill.html

Most children in Beijing will not return to school next week as originally planned, Chinese officials said on Saturday, after an emerging COVID-19 outbreak prompted authorities to partly reverse a decision to resume in-person teaching. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-beijing-school-reopenings-covid-outbreak.html

Iraq's death toll from tick-borne Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever has increased to 27 this year, according to the latest figures released Saturday by authorities struggling to contain an outbreak. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-iraq-congo-fever-death-toll.html

Fezolinetant significantly reduced the frequency and severity of moderate-to-severe vasomotor symptoms (VMS), or hot flashes, associated with menopause, according to a Phase 3 industry-sponsored study being presented Saturday at ENDO 2022, the Endocrine Society's annual meeting in Atlanta, Ga. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-phase-fezolinetant-frequency-severity-menopausal.html

Women with obesity, even those with regular menstrual cycles, have suppressed ovarian follicle development and reduced production of reproductive hormones, which may underlie reduced fertility, according to a new study being presented Saturday at ENDO 2022, the Endocrine Society's annual meeting in Atlanta, Ga. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-suppressed-ovarian-follicle-women-obesity.html

US health experts said Friday that cases of monkeypox that are being detected at the moment do not necessarily display the usual symptoms, making the disease more difficult to diagnose. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-health-experts-monkeypox-cases-harder.html

Canada is poised to become the first country in the world to require that a warning be printed on every cigarette. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-canada-require-cigarette.html

Shanghai will impose fresh lockdowns on residents in several city districts this weekend during a mass testing drive, officials said Friday, as President Xi Jinping called for China to stick "unswervingly" to its strict zero-COVID strategy. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-swathes-shanghai-lockdown.html

The Human Genome Project was an ambitious initiative to sequence every piece of human DNA. The project drew together collaborators from research institutions around the world, including MIT's Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, and was finally completed in 2003. Now, over two decades later, MIT Professor Jonathan Weissman and colleagues have gone beyond the sequence to present the first comprehensive functional map of genes that are expressed in human cells. The data from this project, published online June 9 in Cell, ties each gene to its job in the cell, and is the culmination of years of collaboration on the single-cell sequencing method Perturb-seq. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-crispr-based-ties-human-gene-function.html

Brazil has confirmed its first case of monkeypox in a 41-year-old man who had traveled to Europe, the health ministry announced Thursday. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-brazil-monkeypox-case.html

When Megumi Ota needed the morning-after pill in Japan, she couldn't get a prescription in time under a policy activists call an attempt to "control" women's reproductive rights. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-japan-morning-after-pill-debate.html

Male sex hormones interfere with the body's ability to fight bladder cancer, likely explaining why males experience higher cancer rates and more deadly disease, according to a new study co-led by a Cedars-Sinai Cancer investigator. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-hormones-contribute-sex-disparities-bladder.html

Recognizing the urgent need for contemporary and comprehensive indicators of quality in aged care in Australia, a new type of 'Quality of Life' (QOL) assessment tool developed by Flinders University has been put to the test and passed with flying colors. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-quality-life-tool.html

McMaster University scientists who compared respiratory vaccine delivery systems have confirmed that inhaled aerosol vaccines provide far better protection and stronger immunity than nasal sprays. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-scientists-inhaled-vaccines-immunity-nasal.html

Men with higher intakes of dairy foods, especially milk, face a significantly higher risk of prostate cancer compared to men with lower intakes, according to a new study conducted by researchers at Loma Linda University Health. The study found no such associations between increased prostate cancer risk and intake of non-dairy calcium, suggesting substances other than calcium play a role in the risk dairy foods poses for prostate cancer. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-associates-intake-dairy-greater-prostate.html

Eating higher levels of fish, including tuna and non-fried fish, appears to be associated with a greater risk of malignant melanoma, suggests a large study of US adults published in Cancer Causes & Control. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-higher-fish-consumption-melanoma.html

Moderate drinkers who binge alcohol are at a significantly higher risk of developing alcohol problems than those who drink the same amount overall but don't binge, according to a new study from researchers at The University of Texas at Austin appearing in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-binge-alcohol-problems-moderate-drinkers.html

Unvaccinated children mount a rapid immune response to SARS-CoV-2 which may contribute to less severe symptoms, but which may also limit the development of an immune "memory" response to ward off future infections, a study led by the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity (Doherty Institute) has found. source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-unvaccinated-children-mount-covid-immune.html