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Fear of childbirth may affect duration of breastfeeding

The duration of breastfeeding is shorter than average among mothers with a fear of childbirth - regardless of the mode of delivery, a new study from Finland shows.

7 Oct 2024

FDA’s promised rules on pulse oximeters unlikely to end decades of racial bias

The patient was in his 60s, an African American man with emphysema. The oximeter placed on his fingertip registered well above the 88% blood oxygen saturation level that signals an urgent risk of organ failure and death.

7 Oct 2024

Even political rivals agree that medical debt is an urgent issue

While hot-button health care issues such as abortion and the Affordable Care Act roil the presidential race, Democrats and Republicans in statehouses around the country have been quietly working together to tackle the nation's medical debt crisis.

7 Oct 2024

Catholic hospital offered bucket, towels to woman it denied an abortion, California AG said

When Anna Nusslock showed up at her local hospital 15 weeks pregnant and in severe pain earlier this year, she said, a doctor delivered devastating news: The twins she and her husband had so desperately wanted were not viable.

7 Oct 2024

Women who inject drugs are vulnerable to endocarditis, study shows

People who inject drugs are dying at an alarming rate from endocarditis, a serious but treatable heart-valve infection.

4 Oct 2024

New analysis raises concerns over Medicare Advantage spending for veterans

From 2011 to 2020, the Veterans Health Administration spent $78 billion to care for U.S. military veterans enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans, raising questions about federal overpayments to those private plans.

4 Oct 2024

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': The health of the campaign

When it comes to health care, this year's presidential campaign is increasingly a matter of which candidate voters choose to believe.

4 Oct 2024

Innovative study captures real-time data on balance loss in older adults

Researchers at Virginia Tech are using wrist-worn voice recorders to capture real-world data to better understand what happens when people lose their balance.

4 Oct 2024

A decade of CCBHCs enhances access to mental health care across the U.S.

A decade after the establishment of the certified community behavioral health clinic (CCBHC) model, more than 60 percent of the US population has access to such facilities and the mental health and substance use disorder treatment services they provide, according to a new study led by researchers at the NYU School of Global Public Health.

4 Oct 2024

Stroke remains a leading cause of death globally, with increased risk linked to lifestyle factors

The Lancet Neurology study provides updated estimates on stroke burden and risks, emphasizing the need for targeted interventions in high-risk regions.

4 Oct 2024

New research highlights ultra-processed food consumption in young children

Toddlers in the UK obtain nearly half (47%) of their calories from ultra-processed foods (UPFs), and this rises to 59% by the age of seven, according to a new study led by UCL researchers.

4 Oct 2024

NIH supports research on non-opioid pain relief for oral cancer patients

The School of Dentistry at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio) earned the first National Institutes of Health grant under its new Center for Pain Therapeutics and Addiction Research, addressing pain in patients with head and neck carcinoma.

4 Oct 2024

Wake Forest University receives NIH grant to investigate medical misinformation

Researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine have received a five-year, $3.4 million grant from the National Institute on Aging, part of the National Institutes of Health, to study medical misinformation.

3 Oct 2024

Rice University leads development of innovative bioelectronic implant for obesity and diabetes

Rice University is part of a multiuniversity research team that has secured an award of up to $34.9 million from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) to accelerate the development of a bioelectronic implant designed to improve adherence for obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D) treatment while reducing development and manufacturing costs.

3 Oct 2024

Health care delivery site- and patient-level characteristics associated with COVID-19 vaccination rates

The COVID-19 vaccine, introduced in December 2022, played a critical role in reducing mortality and morbidity related to the pandemic globally.

3 Oct 2024

Doctors urging conference boycotts over abortion bans face uphill battle

Soon after the U.S. Supreme Court issued its Roe v. Wade abortion ruling in 1973, Laura Esserman used her high school graduation speech to urge her classmates to vote for the Equal Rights Amendment to expand women's access to property, divorce, and abortion.

3 Oct 2024

More restrooms have adult-size changing tables to help people with disabilities

The blue-and-white highway sign for the eastbound rest stop near here displays more than the standard icon of a person in a wheelchair, indicating facilities are accessible to people who can't walk.

3 Oct 2024

Low-dose lithium fails in long COVID trial, but higher doses show potential

A small University at Buffalo clinical trial has found that at low doses, lithium aspartate is ineffective in treating the fatigue and brain fog that is often a persistent feature of long COVID; however, a supplemental dose-finding study found some evidence that higher doses may be effective.

3 Oct 2024

Enhancing the adoption of pragmatic clinical trial results in healthcare systems

A new thought piece led by the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute with collaborators from Duke University and Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute highlights the challenges facing healthcare researchers and decision makers in the quest to improve population health in a constantly evolving healthcare landscape.

3 Oct 2024