Author: healthadmin

Bob covers medical expenses, focusing on health insurance and hospitals. His story delves into Medicare Advantage, opaque prescription drug benefits, and what executives actually earn. He is also the author of the Health Care Inc. newsletter. You can reach Bob at Signal at bobjherman.09.More and more adults are working hard at jobs they don’t like just because they don’t want to lose their health insurance. This phenomenon, known as “job lock,” has existed in the U.S. workforce for decades. Fear of losing health benefits can prevent people from changing jobs or careers, especially those with more health problems or complex…

Researchers working in freshwater streams may or may not deploy traceable bottles that travel to the Neuse River, Pamlico Sound, and ultimately the Atlantic Ocean. Photo: North Carolina Sea Grant Tatiana the Trash was carried by water about 110 miles downstream from where Tatiana the Trash and dozens of other reusable bottles were released into a northeast Raleigh creek more than a year ago. It looks like Dan the Debris won’t be far from where it was placed in Marsh Creek in the spring of 2025. There are now 60 cheekily named bottles that can be traced from the freshwater…

The use of newer GLP-1 receptor agonists (semaglutide or tirzepatide) for obesity or diabetes by people with alcohol use disorder was associated with fewer alcohol-related hospitalizations, a study published online in an open access journal found BMJ Open. The findings suggest a potential role for the drugs semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro) in the treatment of alcohol use disorder. GLP-1 receptor agonists are primarily used to treat type 2 diabetes and obesity, but reports of decreased alcohol consumption in patients taking the drugs have prompted the authors to investigate their potential impact on alcohol-related hospitalizations in adults with alcohol…

Researchers outline how low-dose lithium could be tested as a carefully monitored approach to preserving cholinergic function and brain networks before Alzheimer’s disease progresses. Perspective: Revisiting the cognitive abilities of lithium in Alzheimer’s disease: The role of cholinergic systems and brain connections. Image credit: Nanzeeba / Shutterstock With a new perspective that can be used as a “press article” in a journal translational psychiatryresearchers discuss the cognitive benefits of lithium in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). A recent Nature study reported that levels of endogenous lithium in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) are significantly reduced.…

People around the world are living longer than ever before, but are spending many of those extra years in poor health, according to a new Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study published today. lancet public health. The researchers found that global incidence disparities widened in nearly every country and region analyzed between 1990 and 2023. Globally, the proportion of lifetimes spent in poor health increased, but trends varied by country, with a decline in this proportion in a minority of countries. Within one generation, the global incidence gap widened by nearly two years, increasing from 8.8 years in 1990 to…

Caffeine is the most widely used stimulant and psychoactive substance in the world, and coffee is where most people consume caffeine. Most adults can safely consume up to 400 mg of caffeine per day (or up to five 8-ounce cups of caffeinated coffee per day), according to a new scientific statement from the American Heart Association. For some people, moderate coffee consumption may also be associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease. The situation changes as the dose increases. Energy drinks that contain concentrated sources of caffeine, especially energy shots, can increase your risk of cardiovascular problems. The study…

Female rats exposed prenatally to the main psychoactive compound in cannabis have an increased vulnerability to binge drinking during early adolescence. Male rats that receive exactly the same prenatal exposure initially avoid alcohol, but their drinking habits eventually escalate over time. A small study published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology outlines how fetal drug exposure biologically alters brain pathways that govern reward and behavior. The brain relies on an internal network of chemical signals called the endocannabinoid system. These naturally produced chemicals tightly control how early fetal brain cells grow, move, and connect. The naturally occurring chemical shares a similar…

A child’s socio-economic environment shares measurable relationships with physical brain structure and cognitive test scores. A large-scale study of elementary school students found that biological sex fundamentally changes these relationships, while socially constructed categories such as race do not. The findings suggest that unequal access to resources is the true cause of most observed racial differences in brain development. This study Developmental cognitive neuroscience. A child’s socio-economic status includes more than just household income. This includes a variety of environmental factors such as parental education, food security, neighborhood safety, and the emotional environment at home. Researchers know that children from…

Wistar scientists have developed a new type of bispecific T-cell engager (BTE) that is effective against ovarian cancer in preclinical studies. This is a major advance for this type of immunotherapy, which has been used successfully against blood cancers, but has so far been less effective against solid tumors. Researchers have developed a new “knob-in-to-hole” platform for delivering BTE. This manipulates the antibody’s “knob” to force it to match the antibody’s “hole”, resulting in a perfect locking of the two puzzle pieces for a precise fit. They showed that DNA-based technology can be used to deliver BTE. This is a…

An Australian study is the first to show that a swimming program is clinically effective in reducing disability caused by chronic low back pain. today, British Journal of Sports Medicinethe EduSwim clinical trial found that an eight-week individualized program that combined swimming and education under the guidance of a physical therapist improved function and pain in people with lower back pain to a greater extent than education alone. Swimming is commonly recommended as an exercise for people with chronic back pain, but there has been a complete lack of evidence as to whether it actually helps. We undertook this study…