CNN – Health

By Maggie Fox, CNN A study published Monday confirms that the pandemic hit Black Americans, Native Americans and Latinos far harder than Whites early on, killing greater proportions of these groups. People from these groups were more likely to die from all causes — Covid-19 and others — than were Whites and Asians, the National

By Megan Marples, CNN High blood pressure in young adults is linked to smaller brain size and increased risk of dementia, a new study has found. Adults who were diagnosed with hypertension between ages 35 to 44 had smaller brain sizes and were more likely to be diagnosed with dementia compared to adults their age

By Maggie Fox, CNN After years of suffering, a patient with severe and untreatable depression has finally found relief with an experimental brain implant originally developed to help people with epilepsy, researchers in California reported Monday. It’s only a single patient, but the team at the University of California San Francisco says it has seen

By James Frater and Lindsay Isaac, CNN The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has concluded that a booster shot of the BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna coronavirus vaccines “may be given to people with severely weakened immune systems, at least 28 days after their second dose,” according to a statement Monday. The regulator said it had come to

By Elizabeth Cohen, CNN Senior Medical Correspondent Despite hopes that full approval of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine would convince large numbers of vaccine-hesitant Americans to roll up their sleeves, a federal government analysis provided to CNN suggests approval was not a silver bullet. After the US Food and Drug Administration granted full approval to Pfizer’s shot

By Holly Yan and Susannah Cullinane, CNN As Covid-19 numbers gradually improve, health experts have an urgent message: Don’t get cocky and let your guard down. “We can’t get overconfident. Every time we do and we put our guard down … we get another surge with another variant,” said Dr. Jorge Rodriguez, a viral researcher

By Sandee LaMotte, CNN Is falling asleep when your head hits the pillow what you’re dreaming of? A fast fall into the land of nod may seem like nirvana, but it’s not a sign of a healthy sleeper. “The well-rested person does not fall asleep immediately,” said sleep specialist Rebecca Robbins, an instructor in the

By Travis Caldwell, CNN With a first-of-its-kind antiviral pill against Covid-19 potentially headed towards distribution, the health care community may soon have another tool to combat a virus that has claimed the lives of more than 700,000 Americans. Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics said Friday that they created an antiviral pill that can reduce risk of

By Virginia Langmaid, CNN Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics announced on Friday early result that indicate their experimental oral antiviral drug molnupiravir might halve the risk of death or hospitalization from Covid-19. In a news release, the company said 7.3% of 385 patients who received the antiviral were either hospitalized or died from Covid-19, compared with

By Aya Elamroussi, CNN A pill that could potentially treat Covid-19 is a “game-changer,” but experts are emphasizing that it’s not an alternative to vaccinations — which remain the most effective path to ending the coronavirus pandemic if enough people get their shots. Yet, the average number of people getting vaccinated — at 270,531 —

By Ada Wood, CNN There is nothing like wrapping yourself up in a fluffy, warm towel after a hot shower or bath. After drying yourself, however, the towel also gets wet. Now it’s the perfect home for germs. Hopefully you’re hanging it up to dry, but that doesn’t keep your towel clean. That’s why CNN

By Jen Christensen, CNN Being a nurse means everything to Andrea Babinski, but she is willing to risk it all — the connections to colleagues she likes, the patients she cares for, not to mention the steady paycheck — for a simple belief. Babinski believes that the decision of whether she should get vaccinated against

By Maggie Fox, CNN More than 2 million US teens say they use e-cigarettes, with a quarter of them saying they vape daily, a new national survey finds. Even with many middle and high school students home because of the pandemic, the survey found, they found ways to get hold of e-cigarettes and other vape

By Sandee LaMotte, CNN Over half of people with chronic depression who attempted to stop their antidepressant medication relapsed into depression by the end of a year, compared to those who did not stop medicating, according to a randomized, double-blinded clinical trial released Wednesday. The research, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found

By Stephanie Mansour, CNN Does your back feel sore as you lie down in bed, or do your hips feel tight as you turn onto your side before falling asleep? Or perhaps aches and pains in your lower body wake you up in the middle of the night? With the weather turning cooler and the

By Sandee LaMotte, CNN Gerber and Beech-Nut failed to properly test and remove baby foods with dangerous levels of inorganic arsenic from the market, while Sprout Foods Inc., Walmart’s Parent’s Choice and Campbell’s Plum Organics baby food were lax in testing and controlling for heavy metals such as lead, mercury and cadmium, according to a

By Maggie Fox, CNN The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an urgent recommendation Wednesday for pregnant women and those who have recently given birth to get vaccinated against coronavirus. Women trying or planning to become pregnant and those who are breastfeeding should also be vaccinated — but only 31% of pregnant people

By Jen Christensen, CNN New data suggests booster doses of Covid-19 vaccines were well-tolerated, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Tuesday. “The frequency and type of side effects were similar to those seen after the second vaccine doses and were mostly mild or moderate and short-lived,” Walensky said during

By John Duffy, CNN I walk by a grammar school on my way to work. The first day tends to be a big deal, moms parading to the school with kids in tow, cameras flashing to capture the moment. I noticed the first day this year was a bit more celebratory than years past, no

By Madeline Holcombe and Holly Yan, CNN Once heralded as a leader in vaccinations, West Virginia now has one of the lowest rates in the country. And it’s losing dozens of residents every day to Covid-19. “We’re gonna lose a bunch more people, West Virginia, no question about that,” said Gov. Jim Justice said Wednesday.

By Nadia Kounang, CNN The US Drug Enforcement Administration on Monday issued a public safety alert about a sharp increase of fake prescription pills laced with fentanyl and methamphetamine. This is the first such alert issued by the DEA in six years. According to the agency, more than 9.5 million counterfeit pills have been seized

By Jamie Gumbrecht, CNN Pfizer and BioNTech said Tuesday they have submitted Covid-19 vaccine data on children ages 5 to 11 to the US Food and Drug Administration for initial review, but are not yet seeking emergency use authorization. A formal submission to request EUA for the vaccine is expected to follow in the coming

By Megan Marples, CNN Someone cut you off as you drove to work. Your boss passed over you for the latest promotion. A close relative with young children refuses to get a Covid-19 vaccine. Nearly everyone has encountered a situation that left them simmering in anger. To get rid of the fiery feeling, people will

By Virginia Langmaid, CNN A new Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) poll found that the highly transmissible Delta variant, overburdened hospitals and knowing someone who has died or become seriously ill from Covid-19 drove recent increases in vaccination. Among those vaccinated since June 1, 39% said they were motivated by transmission of the Delta variant, 38%