The Trump administration Tuesday unveiled a plan to distribute HIV prevention medication free to individuals who do not have prescription drug insurance coverage. Called “Ready, Set, PrEP,” the federal program will provide patients at risk of contracting HIV one of the two pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) drugs. Those medications can reduce the chances of getting HIV...
Health
Fertilization Discovery Could Lead to New Male Contraceptive, Help Infertile Couples
An unexpected discovery about fertilization from the University of Virginia School of Medicine reveals new insights on how sperm and egg fuse and could have major implications for couples battling infertility – and may lead to a future male contraceptive. The finding has the potential both to boost the success rate of in-vitro fertilization and...
Majority U.S. Parents Cite Socioeconomic Factors Negatively Impact Their Families’ Health
Nearly two-thirds of American parents of children under 18 (65%) report at least one economic, environmental, or lifestyle factor that limits their family’s ability to live a healthy life, according to a new nationwide survey conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of Nemours Children’s Health System. Eighty percent of parents believe that they have...
Money Spent on Beer Ads Linked to Underage Drinking
Advertising budgets and strategies used by beer companies appear to influence underage drinking, according to new research from Iowa State University. The findings show that the amount of money spent on advertising strongly predicted the percentage of teens who had heard of, preferred and tried different beer brands. For example, 99% of middle school and...
Listening to music while driving reduces cardiac stress
Stress while driving is a risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease and sudden cardiac complications such as heart attack (myocardial infarction), according to studies published in recent years. Selecting suitable driving music may be one way to mitigate this risk. A study by researchers at São Paulo State University (UNESP) in Marília, Brazil,...
How Meditation Can Help You Make Fewer Mistakes
If you are forgetful or make mistakes when in a hurry, a new study from Michigan State University – the largest of its kind to-date – found that meditation could help you to become less error prone. The research, published in Brain Sciences, tested how open monitoring meditation – or, meditation that focuses awareness on...
Cannabis Could Help Alleviate Depression and Suicidality Among People With PTSD
Cannabis may be helping Canadians cope with the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), new research suggests. In an analysis of health survey data collected by Statistics Canada from more than 24,000 Canadians, researchers from the BC Centre on Substance Use (BCCSU) and University of British Columbia (UBC) found that people who have PTSD but...
Study Finds Racial Disparities in Culturally Competent Cancer Care
Many non-white minority cancer survivors place importance on seeing doctors who share or understand their culture, but are less likely than non-Hispanic whites to be able to see such physicians, according to a new study from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and University of Texas Southwestern. The study, which is one of the first nationally-representative studies to...
It Takes More Than a Catchy Headline for Health Awareness Campaigns to Inspire Action
A new study published in Lancet Oncology reveals that the internet popularity of health awareness campaigns may not always translate into a greater interest in related health behaviors. Researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of USC compared Pinktober and Movember, two monthlong cancer outreach campaigns with similar online popularity based on six years of search traffic data. They analyzed patterns...
Adults in Lower Walkability Neighborhoods Found to Have a Higher Predicted Cardiovascular Risk
A study led by researchers from St. Michael’s Hospital of Unity Health Toronto and ICES found that people living in neighbourhoods considered to be the least walkable were up to 33 per cent more likely to have a high predicted 10-year cardiovascular risk compared to individuals living in the most walkable neighbourhoods. The study, publishing...