CNN – Health

By Madeline Holcombe, CNN Hearing aids might be an important tool in the effort to prevent cognitive decline and dementia, according to a new study. Research has established that hearing loss in an important risk factor in developing dementia, but whether intervening with the hearing loss will also treat the progression of cognitive decline has

By Jacqueline Howard, CNN Pfizer and BioNTech have submitted an application to the US Food and Drug Administration for their updated Covid-19 vaccine to be used as the third shot in the three-dose primary vaccine series for children ages 6 months through 4 years. The vaccine makers announced on Monday that if authorized for emergency

By Sandee LaMotte, CNN Some people suffering pain from cancer and other chronic diseases turn to marijuana to ease their suffering, but much of that relief may come from simply believing weed will help, a new study found. In research, the tendency to have positive expectations that a dummy pill, procedure or treatment will help

By Jen Christensen, CNN The brains of US teens have physically changed during the Covid-19 pandemic, aging faster than normal, a new study says. The young study participants also reported more severe symptoms of anxiety, depression and what scientists call internalized problems — meaning feelings of sadness, low self-esteem and fear and trouble regulating their

By Raenu Charles, CNN Organ donations and transplantations increase during major US motorcycle rallies due to crashes, according to a new study, signaling a need for increased safety measures. The researchers analyzed more than 10,000 organ donations and 35,000 transplantations from 2005 to 2021. In regions near where motorcycle rallies were held, there were 21%

By Madeline Holcombe, CNN A sniffle, a sneeze or a cough can set off alarm bells these days for families with young children. Mother of two Vickie Leon said her kids, ages 4 and 2, can sometimes go a month or two without bringing anything back from day care. Then there are times when it

By Jacqueline Howard, CNN The experimental drug lecanemab shows “potential” as an Alzheimer’s disease treatment, according to new Phase 3 trial results, but the findings raise some safety concerns because of its association with certain serious adverse events. Lecanemab has become one of the first experimental dementia drugs to appear to slow the progression of

By Deidre McPhillips, CNN Firearm deaths surged in the US during the Covid-19 pandemic, killing a record number of people in 2021. But as America’s gun epidemic gets worse, its burden is not equal. A new study published Tuesday in JAMA Network Open analyzed firearm deaths over the past three decades — a total of

By Meera Senthilingam, CNN A woman in Minnesota lost part of her vision and inadvertently put her entire household at risk of mercury poisoning, most likely from using beauty creams containing high levels of the toxic chemical, according to a case report shared exclusively with CNN. The report, shared by Dr. Erin Batdorff with the

By Deidre McPhillips, CNN Americans gathered for Thanksgiving last week amid a flu season that’s worse than any has been in more than a decade, and experts continue to urge caution as multiple respiratory viruses circulate at high levels nationwide. A growing number of US states — now 33 — are experiencing “high” or “very

By Sandee LaMotte, CNN Eating more flavonols, antioxidants found in many vegetables, fruits, tea and wine, may slow your rate of memory loss, a new study finds. The cognitive score of people in the study who ate the most flavonols declined 0.4 units per decade more slowly than those who ate the fewest flavonols. The

By Martha Shade, CNN Sebastian Junger is used to dodging bullets in war zones, so he didn’t expect to almost die in his own driveway. Junger was walking with his wife in the woods near his home in Massachusetts when he suddenly felt so ill he could barely move. By the time paramedics arrived, Junger

By Jacqueline Howard, CNN As the United States rolled back the clocks one hour this month to observe the end of Daylight Saving Time, many people got a bit more sleep than usual — but some not as much as others. Growing evidence shows that lack of sleep and sleep disorders, such as obstructive sleep

By Steve Almasy, CNN The Food and Drug Administration is advising people in 13 states not to eat certain raw oysters from South Korea after at least one person in Las Vegas got sick with a virus that can cause diarrhea and vomiting. The Southern Nevada Health District informed officials of two clusters of illnesses

By Deidre McPhillips, CNN The US Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved Hemgenix, a new drug to treat hemophilia. Manufacturer CSL Behring set the price at $3.5 million per treatment, making it the most expensive drug in the world. Hemgenix is a gene therapy to treat adults with hemophilia B, a genetic bleeding disorder

By Jen Christensen and Nadia Kounang, CNN In April 1992, Vanessa Williams’ “Save the Best for Last” topped the Billboard 100, Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton was running for the White House, “Who’s the Boss?” aired its final episode, and the babies born to Rachel and Philip Ridgeway a couple of weeks ago were frozen as

By Susan Puckett, CNN For most Americans, planning the Thanksgiving menu is easy. It’s a given that turkey — whether purchased raw or fully cooked — will be the centerpiece, even if half the guests have gone vegetarian. Certain family-approved sides and desserts are required to avoid a revolt. And overly generous invitees can be

By Brenda Goodman, CNN Over the past 50 years, human sperm counts appear to have fallen by more than 50% around the globe, according to an updated review of medical literature. If the findings are confirmed and the decline continues, it could have important implications for human reproduction. Researchers say it would also be a

By Melanie Radzicki McManus, CNN When people think about improving their physical fitness, they often overlook the issue of balance. That’s a critical oversight. Good balance is an integral part of being physically fit and key to living a long life, according to research. It’s an important issue for everyone, no matter your age. Older

By Deidre McPhillips, CNN Seasonal flu activity is “elevated across the country,” with “high” or “very high” respiratory virus activity in more than half of US states, according to an update published Friday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And health care systems nationwide continue to feel the strain of a respiratory

By Jacqueline Howard, CNN A growing measles outbreak in Columbus, Ohio, has sickened more than a dozen unvaccinated children and hospitalized nine of them, and local public health officials are seeking assistance from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “We asked the CDC for assistance and they will be sending two epidemiologists at

By Brenda Goodman, CNN The US Food and Drug Administration is charting a plan to enhance its surveillance of infant formula for Cronobacter bacteria. The agency said in a statement Tuesday that it would like to see Cronobacter infections added to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s list of national notifiable diseases, which

By Katie Hunt, CNN The US Food and Drug Administration has given a safety clearance to lab-grown meat for the first time. Upside Foods, a California-based company that makes meat from cultured chicken cells, will be able to begin selling its products once its facilities have been inspected by the US Department of Agriculture. The

By Dana Santas, CNN For many people, travel is a necessary part of celebrating the holidays with loved ones. This means enduring all the stressful hiccups that can come with traveling and spending time away from the comforts of your own home. Every year, my family kicks off the season by watching the classic comedy

By Carma Hassan, CNN There were more than 50,000 home births in the United States in 2021, an increase of 12% over the year before and the highest level since at least 1990, according to a report released Thursday from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics. This follows

By Elizabeth Cohen and John Bonifield, CNN Another woman has come forward with the harrowing details of how the Supreme Court’s decision four months ago to overturn Roe v. Wade put her life in danger. CNN has told the stories of several women — including one from Houston, one from central Texas and one from

By Meron Moges-Gerbi, CNN A growing percentage of Indigenous and Black parents in the United States reported that their children have faced racist experiences, according to a study published in the Journal of Osteopathic Medicine. The study looked at parental reporting of racist experiences their children faced between 2016 and 2020. Data came from the

By Sandee LaMotte, CNN Smoking weed while being a tobacco smoker may increase damage to the respiratory system, a new study found. “There’s a public perception that marijuana is safer than tobacco, and this study raises concern this may not be true,” said lead study author Dr. Giselle Revah, an assistant professor in the department

By Deidre McPhillips, CNN Higher Covid-19 vaccination rates among US children could prevent thousands of pediatric hospitalizations and millions of missed school days, according to an analysis published Tuesday by the Commonwealth Fund and the Yale School of Public Health. If school-age children were vaccinated with the updated Covid-19 booster shot at the same rate

By Brenda Goodman, CNN An experimental treatment, gantenerumab, failed to help people at high risk of memory loss from Alzheimer’s or those who were in the early phases of the disease, the manufacturer said Monday. Gantenerumab is part of a class of injected drugs that are designed to remove sticky protein pieces called beta amyloid

By Nadia Kounang, CNN Moderna said on Monday its updated Covid-19 booster generated “significantly higher” neutralizing antibodies against the Omicron BA.4/BA.5 subvariants than its earlier shot. The bivalent booster used in the United States is known as mRNA-1273.222; it contains Moderna’s original vaccine and a vaccine specifically designed against the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants. The

By Jen Christensen, CNN There has been a steady increase in the number of children who are seen in emergency rooms for suicidal thoughts, according to a new study — and the increase started even before the Covid-19 pandemic, which brought record high demand for psychological services for children. The pandemic’s effects drew renewed attention