Fitness, Activity Boosts Kids' Mental Health, Too

Kids with good physical fitness are more likely to grow into teens with better mental health and brain function, a new study has found.

Children who performed better at shuttle sprints scored better on cognitive tests as teenagers, researchers found.

In addition, better cardio fitness in childhood added up to lower levels of stress a...

Global Study Finds PFAS 'Forever Chemicals' Common in Tap, Bottled Water

PFAS “forever chemicals” can be found in drinking water around the world, whether it comes from a tap or a bottle, a new study warns.

Ten specific PFAS chemicals were found in samples of bottled and tap water sourced from 15 countries around the world, researchers report.

For example, the chemicals PFOA and PFOS were dete...

Sports Concussion Outcomes Can Be Made Worse By Depression

Depression can make it tougher for athletes to recover from a concussion, and vice versa, a new study finds.

Student athletes who have both concussion and depression have significantly worse symptoms for both conditions, researchers reported recently in the journal Brain Research.

What's more, electrical signals in the brain...

An Ill Kitten in Nebraska Sparked Efforts to Stamp Out Rabies' Spread

The 2023 illness and death in Nebraska of a stray kitten infected with rabies set off a large-scale effort to discover how the feline became infected in the first place.

That's because the strain of rabies the 6-week old kitten carried had never been detected so far west: The nearest other cases of the Eastern raccoon rabies virus variant ...

Vaping Rates Hit Record Lows for U.S. High School Students

Is vaping finally losing its coolness for American teens?

The latest tally of federal data finds that 550,000 school kids, mostly high schoolers, quit using e-cigarettes in 2024.

Vaping rates fell from 10% of high school students in 2023 to 7.8% this year, "reaching the lowest level ever measured" by the National Youth Tobacco Survey...

New Drug Regimen Extends Survival for Cervical Cancer Patients

In some good news for women battling locally advanced cervical cancer, new research shows that adding six weeks of chemotherapy to standard treatment cuts the risk of death by 40 percent.

“This is the biggest improvement in outcome in this disease in over 20 years,” lead investigator Dr. Mary McCormack, from University College ...

Listeria Recall Expands to Include Nearly 12 Million Pounds of Meat, Poultry

A national recall of meat and poultry has been expanded to include close to 12 million pounds of products that may have been contaminated with listeria, U.S. health officials announced.

In addition, the updated recall noted that some of the affected products "were distributed to schools. A school distribution list is not available at ...

Weight-Loss Meds Like Wegovy Could Battle Alcoholism

Weight-loss and diabetes drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro or Zepbound appear to help people battle alcoholism and opioid addiction, a new study finds.

People taking this class of drugs, called glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1), have a 50% lower rate of drunkenness than people with addiction disorders not on the meds, re...

Older People More Prone to Relocating After Dementia Diagnosis

A new diagnosis of Alzheimer's or other dementia often spurs a person to move from their home, new research shows.

“One possible explanation is that individuals with dementia and their caregivers may choose to move closer to family or informal caregivers, either with independent housing arrangements or entering formal long-term care ...

Dad's Use of Diabetes Med Metformin Won't Raise Birth Defect Risk

A new, reassuring study finds that men can take the diabetes drug metformin without worrying that their offspring will suffer from birth defects.

Recent research raised concerns that metformin could promote birth defects in children by damaging the quality of a man’s sperm.

But this study of more than 3 million pregnancies, pu...

Are Stroke Survivors Getting Too Many Sedatives Like Xanax, Valium?

Doctors might be overprescribing sedatives to stroke survivors, a new study warns.

About 5% of people are prescribed a benzodiazepine following a stroke, to help calm anxiety and improve sleep, researchers found. Benzodiazepine meds include Valium, Ativan and Xanax.

But these prescriptions often are for pills that last longer than a ...

Silent Damage First: Alzheimer's Disease Could Have Two Phases

Alzheimer’s disease might damage the brain in two distinct phases, a new study suggests.

An early phase that occurs slowly and silently appears to lay the groundwork for a second, more widely destructive phase of Alzheimer’s, according to sophisticated brain scans.

“The results fundamentally alter scientists’ ...

What's the Best Clot-Buster Med After Stroke?

An off-label clot-busting drug appears to work slightly better in treating stroke patients than an approved medication, a new review finds.

The clot-buster tenecteplase is associated with a slightly higher likelihood of excellent recovery and reduced disability three months following a stroke, compared to the drug alteplase, researchers re...