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FDA Authorizes New COVID-19 Prevention for Immunocompromised People
On March 22, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted emergency use authorization for Pemgarda (pemivibart), a new monoclonal antibody that lowers the risk of COVID-19 in immunocompromised people. Recombinent monoclonal antibodies are manufactured proteins that resemble the natural antibodies the immune system produces to fight infection. Pemgarda, from the...
How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Pits Parental Rights Against Public Health
Gayle Borne has fostered more than 300 children in Springfield, Tennessee. She’s cared for kids who have rarely seen a doctor — kids so neglected that they cannot speak. Such children are now even more vulnerable because of a law Tennessee passed last year that requires the direct consent of birth parents or legal guardians for every routine childhood vaccination. Foster parents, social workers, and other caregivers cannot provide permission.
$25M Grant to Morehouse Researchers Addressing Cancer Disparities
A global team of researchers led by Melissa Davis, PhD, of Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) has been awarded a $25 million grant through Cancer Grand Challenges to address cancer disparities in people of African ancestry. Located in Atlanta, Morehouse is the first historically Black medical school to receive this...
GoFundMe Has Become a Health Care Utility
GoFundMe started as a crowdfunding site for underwriting “ideas and dreams,” and, as GoFundMe’s co-founders, Andrew Ballester and Brad Damphousse, once put it, “for life’s important moments.” In the early years, it funded honeymoon trips, graduation gifts, and church missions to overseas hospitals in need. Now GoFundMe has become a go-to platform for patients trying to escape medical billing nightmares.
At Stake in Mifepristone Case: Abortion, FDA’s Authority, and Return to 1873 Obscenity Law
Lawyers from the conservative Christian group that won the case to overturn Roe v. Wade are returning to the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday in pursuit of an urgent priority: shutting down access to abortion pills for women across the country. The case challenges the FDA’s regulation of mifepristone, a...
Black Men Less Likely to Receive Heart Transplant
Indiana University (IU) School of Medicine researchers found that Black adults in need of a heart transplant may be less likely to receive one compared with white patients. Published in JAMA, the study utilized information from the United Network for Organ Sharing regarding people on the waiting list to receive a heart transplant in the United States from 2018 to 2023. Researchers analyzed data from 14,890 heart transplant candidates. About 31% of individuals were non-Hispanic Black, 69% were non-Hispanic white and 26% were women, according to an IU news release.
Diagnosed With Stage 4 Kidney Cancer, a Woman Is Disease-Free After Immunotherapy
In the midst of the pandemic, Suzzanne Lacey’s mom was diagnosed with dementia and her dad succumbed to a rare cancer. It was such a trying time that Lacey brushed off the concerns of her closest friend, who urged her to see a doctor because, she told Lacey, “You don’t seem like yourself. Something’s off.”
Bathroom Bills Are Back—Broader and Stricter—in Several States
Republican lawmakers in several states have resurrected and expanded the fight over whether transgender people may use bathrooms and other facilities that do not match their sex assigned at birth. At least one bill goes so far as making it a crime for a transgender person to enter a facility...
Studies Find Severe Symptoms of “Havana Syndrome,” but no Evidence of Brain Injury or Biological Abnormalities
Using advanced imaging techniques and in-depth clinical assessments, a research team at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) found no significant evidence of MRI-detectable brain injury, nor differences in most clinical measures compared to controls, among a group of federal employees who experienced anomalous health incidents (AHIs). These incidents, including...
Daily Aspirin Reduces Liver Fat in People With MASLD
Taking daily low-dose aspirin over a six-month period lowered the amount of liver fat in people with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), according to new study findings published in JAMA. Arising from the accumulation of fat in the liver, MASLD (the new name for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, or...
Early Detection May Help Kentucky Tamp Down Its Lung Cancer Crisis
Anthony Stumbo’s heart sank after the doctor shared his mother’s chest X-ray. “I remember that drive home, bringing her back home, and we basically cried,” said the internal medicine physician, who had started practicing in eastern Kentucky near his childhood home shortly before his mother began feeling ill. “Nobody wants to get told they’ve got inoperable lung cancer. I cried because I knew what this meant for her.”
More Than Half of American Indian Youth May Have Abnormal or High Cholesterol
More than 70% of American Indian young adults aged 20-39 and 50% of American Indian teens have cholesterol levels or elevated fat in the blood that put them at risk for cardiovascular disease, suggests a study supported by the National Institutes of Health. In some cases, these levels — specifically high low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, often thought of as “bad cholesterol,” — were linked to plaque buildup and cardiovascular events, such as heart attack and stroke.
Severe Lung Infection During COVID-19 Can Cause Damage to the Heart
SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, can damage the heart even without directly infecting the heart tissue, a National Institutes of Health-supported study has found. The research, published in the journal Circulation, specifically looked at damage to the hearts of people with SARS-CoV2-associated acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), a serious lung condition that can be fatal. But researchers said the findings could have relevance to organs beyond the heart and also to viruses other than SARS-CoV-2.
Healthy Recipe: Potato, Leek & Gruyere Pizza
Leeks and potatoes are a match made in heaven. Usually they are found together in creamy Vichyssoise soup, but they are also a great savory topping for pizza. The mix of thinly sliced potatoes, mild oniony leeks, and nutty-tasting Gruyere is the perfect indulgence when you’re looking for some healthy comfort during treatment. And if you think that potatoes and pizza don’t go together, think again. Try this pizza and see for yourself.
What’s Driving Early Onset Colon Cancer? A Study Poinpoints Two Factors.
An international team of researchers co-led by Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center’s genetic epidemiologist Ulrike (Riki) Peters, PhD, has pinpointed what’s likely driving many colorectal cancers in people under age 50. Over the past two decades, multiple studies show that colorectal cancers have increased in young adults, often in...
Cancer Advocates Celebrate Anniversary of the Affordable Care Act
As one of the leading patient advocacy groups that advocated for the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) is celebrating the impact of the historic law ahead of its 14th anniversary on Saturday, March 23. ACS CAN is marking the milestone by urging Congress, state lawmakers and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to protect and strengthen the critical patient protections of the ACA.
Innovative Use of Long-Acting Injectables Holds Promise for People with Adherence Challenges
Antiretroviral treatment using cabotegravir and rilpivirine injections (Cabenuva) can be an effective HIV treatment option for people who have trouble maintaining viral suppression on daily pills due to adherence challenges, according to studies presented at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2024) in Denver. One trial gave people...
Reducing Kidney Disease in Higher-Risk Black Adults
In observance of National Kidney Month, observed annually in March, Black Health Matters (BHM) and the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) have partnered to spread awareness about kidney health equity and the impact of kidney disease on Black Americans. “Kidney health has become a silent epidemic in our community,” said BHM...
For Childhood Cancer Survivors, Inherited Genetic Factors Influence Risk of Cancers Later in Life
Common inherited genetic factors that predict cancer risk in the general population may also predict elevated risk of new cancers among childhood cancer survivors, according to a study led by researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health. The findings, published in Nature Medicine,...
When Co-Pay Assistance Backfires on Patients
In early 2019, Jennifer Hepworth and her husband were stunned by a large bill they unexpectedly received for their daughter’s prescription cystic fibrosis medication. Their payment had risen to $3,500 from the usual $30 for a month’s supply. That must be a mistake, she told the pharmacy. But...
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Real Health is the leading health magazine for African Americans in the United States. Launched in 2004, the goal of Real Health is to help African Americans of all ages achieve optimum health and wellness—physically, mentally and emotionally—by offering readers current, accurate information based on the latest science through well-researched stories that educate, entertain, uplift and motivate members of the community at large to be their best selves.
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