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Why did CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, MD, overrule the agency’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) regarding which populations should receive a third dose of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine? There was a “a lot of consensus” between her own views and those of other expert advisors, she said in a webcast interview at The Atlantic Festival

A new pill could soon provide a cure for COVID-19 and significantly slow the spread of the novel coronavirus all at once. Experts are now looking at the new pill treatment that is being developed and studied at the same time to ensure its efficiency in treating SARS-CoV-2 patients.  A Potential COVID-19 Cure Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research

Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. Two of the three late-breaking abstract sessions coming up this week at the Infectious Disease Week (IDWeek) 2021 Annual Meeting are filled with the most recent evidence on COVID-19 prevention and treatment. Adarsh Bhimraj, MD, a vice chair of the conference,

Severe cases of COVID-19 were very rare among Canadian children during the first waves of the pandemic, according to a new study by researchers who warn the findings should not be taken as a reason not to vaccinate youth. The study was published Monday by the Canadian Medical Association Journal and looked at 264 reported

Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. President Joe Biden rolled up his sleeve Monday to get a COVID-19 booster shot in his left arm, and he urged eligible Americans who were at least 6 months past their last dose of the Pfizer vaccine to do the same.

Treatment with methylphenidate (Ritalin), a stimulant approved for attention deficit-hyperactivity disorders (ADHD) and narcolepsy, led to a small to medium reduction in apathy in people with Alzheimer’s disease, the phase III ADMET 2 trial showed. At 6 months, methylphenidate 10 mg twice daily led to a larger decrease on the 12-point Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) apathy

Universal masking has been one of the primary tools that public health agencies and the medical community in general rely on to control the spread of the novel coronavirus. When the delta variant began causing spikes in cases across the country, medical authorities made it clear how important it is to mask up, especially when

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), took a prominent stand in the battle over abortion legislation by filing an amicus brief to the United States Supreme Court in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, according to a statement from ACOG issued on Sept. 21. The case, filed by Thomas E.

Ontario’s daily COVID-19 case counts are lower than what many experts had expected by now, and while they point to a number of factors for the relative relief, they say now is not the time to ease up on those measures. For much of the summer, the province’s top doctor warned of a September surge,

Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, MD, late Thursday overruled her agency’s advisory panel to make boosters available to front-line workers. But unless the unvaccinated get their shots, the extra protection will not be enough, she said at a Friday briefing. The CDC’s

The estimated cost to diagnose and treat women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) was $8 billion in the U.S. in 2020. “Although PCOS affects at least one in seven women and leads to over $8 billion in healthcare costs annually in the United States alone, it is frequently misunderstood or overlooked by clinicians and policymakers,”

As the delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 continues to wreak havoc in many parts of the country, many people are questioning the ability of cloth face coverings to provide protection against the fast-spreading coronavirus strain.  Face Coverings As Protection Against COVID-19 Since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, experts are torn on which type of face coverings

Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. Katalin Kariko, PhD, a senior vice president at BioNTech, and Drew Weissman, MD, PhD, a professor in vaccine research at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, made a breakthrough discovery by modifying messenger RNA (mRNA), which provides instructions to cells to

This is an excerpt from Second Opinion, a weekly roundup of health and medical science news emailed to subscribers every Saturday morning. If you haven’t subscribed yet, you can do that by clicking here. An inaccurate Canadian study suggesting an extremely high rate of heart inflammation after COVID-19 vaccines has been retracted due to a major mathematical

Federal efforts to improve the quality, safety, and efficacy of over-the-counter sunscreens took a step forward today with the release of two orders aimed at updating regulatory requirements for most sunscreen products in the United States. “We see it as a key public health priority and our regulatory obligation to make sure that marketed sunscreen

More than half of all practicing physicians show signs of burnout, studies show. Contemporary physicians face tremendous pressures due to a confluence of factors, including balancing heavy patient loads within constrained schedules, the increasing complexity of health problems, and burdensome COVID-related documentation requirements. These circumstances — and more — challenge physician empathy, and even to

Sweet treats, candy and chocolate. If you’re a parent, it can be very tempting to spoil your child with such treats and grandparents are just as guilty. But when does it become too much? Are there healthy alternatives? Why is Sugar Bad for Kids? Is sugar unhealthy? As an occasional treat, sugar from candies, chocolate and sweet

Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. Confusion continues to circulate in the wake of decisions on booster doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, all announced within 1 week. Many people — including those now eligible and those who officially have to wait for their shot at a

The head of emergency medicine for the Alberta Medical Association says major components of triage have already begun in Alberta. Dr. Paul Parks said that in recent days some critically ill COVID-19 patients who should be on ventilators are not getting them. That’s on top of previously announced mass cancellations of surgeries, along with patient

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved evolocumab (Repatha, Amgen), a PCSK9 inhibitor, for use as add-on treatment to diet alone or with other therapies for children 10 years of age and older with either heterozygous or homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (FH).  Approval was based on randomized trials of evolocumab in both types of

Assuming they survive an ongoing legal challenge and are as effective as advocates hope, the new graphic warnings to appear on cigarette packages beginning next year could prevent millions of deaths from smoking over the following 8 decades, researchers estimated. Modeling by Rafael Meza, PhD, of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and colleagues

More than being a basic human function, sleep is instrumental in our emotional, mental and physical wellbeing. It affects our everyday lives. Time and again, research has shown that sleep deprivation and poor sleep quality can affect our decision-making, concentration and memory, in addition to causing anxiety, impulsiveness and irritability. So how to sleep better? Start with