Health

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has green-lit the first-ever non-antipsychotic drug treatment for agitation in Alzheimer’s disease patients.The drug, Auvelity, was originally FDA-approved in 2022 for treating adults with major depressive disorder. Most recently, its use has been expanded for agitation associated with dementia.Agitation is a common and "distressing" symptom in adults with Alzheimer’s, according to the agency. The condition is characterized by excessive motor activity, or verbal or […]

Polycystic-ovarian syndrome (PCOS) – a common women’s hormonal condition – has been renamed to polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS).The revised name was introduced in a paper penned by women’s health experts from around the globe, which was then published in The Lancet medical journal. The name change was reportedly presented at the European Congress of Endocrinology today in Prague.The authors stated that the term PCOS is "inaccurate," as it implies […]

A major Cochrane review recently cast doubt on the safety and effectiveness of amyloid-targeting Alzheimer’s drugs, although some experts and drugmakers have disputed the researchers' conclusions.These types of monoclonal antibodies are designed to reduce or remove amyloid-beta, a naturally occurring protein that can accumulate into sticky plaques in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease.In the review, researchers analyzed results from 17 clinical trials involving 20,342 participants who had mild […]

Two Maryland residents are being monitored for potential hantavirus exposure, according to the Maryland Department of Health.Health officials said the Maryland residents were on a flight that included a passenger from the MV Hondius cruise ship who was infected with hantavirus.Health authorities said they are taking these steps out of an abundance of caution. At this time, the risk to the public in Maryland remains "very low," state health officials […]

As health officials track the hantavirus outbreak that began on the MV Hondius cruise ship, attention is turning to the Andes virus, a rare strain from South America that is causing concern.The virus stemming from the cruise ship, which has caused around eight cases and three deaths as of May 11, was identified by the World Health Organization as the Andes strain.Unlike most forms of hantavirus, which spread from rodents […]

The cruise ship passengers being monitored for hantavirus in Nebraska will be allowed to leave the medical facility before the end of a 42-day period if certain conditions are met, a public health official indicated Monday.The individuals will remain at the facility in Nebraska for at least a few days during assessments, Brendan Jackson, acting director of the Division of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology at the Centers for Disease Control […]

Recess may look like downtime, but pediatricians say cutting it could cost kids far more than a few minutes on the playground.The American Academy of Pediatrics released updated guidance for the first time in more than a decade that urges schools to protect recess, highlighting that the unstructured break delivers major benefits for kids' health, learning and behavior."It has a very powerful benefit if it’s used to the fullest," said […]

Exercise is widely known to benefit the brain, and researchers at Penn State recently uncovered a surprisingly mechanical reason: Each time the body moves, the brain gets a kind of "rinse."According to a study published in Nature Neuroscience, the secret to this internal wash cycle may lie in the abdominal muscles.In mice models, the researchers found that the brain is mechanically linked to the abdomen through a network of blood […]

One of the American citizens evacuated from the MV Hondius cruise ship and flown back to the U.S. tested positive for hantavirus without symptoms, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and another person had mild symptoms.Those two Americans traveled "in the plane's biocontainment units out of an abundance of caution," HHS noted in a Sunday night post on X. Seventeen Americans and one dual U.S.-U.K citizen from […]