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Biktarvy Is a Safe and Effective Option During Pregnancy
The Biktarvy single-tablet regimen is safe and well tolerated during pregnancy, maintains viral suppression during the second and third trimesters and postpartum, and protects babies from vertical transmission, according to updated label information approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This update makes Biktarvy the only second-generation integrase inhibitor...
Gut Bacteria May Reduce Cholesterol and Lower Heart Disease Risk
Different people have different resident microbes in and on their bodies. The trillions of microbes in the human intestines influence not just digestion and gut health, but how organs throughout the body function. Levels of certain microbes in the gut have been associated with the risk of health conditions like diabetes, liver disease, and cancer.
More Patients Are Losing Their Doctors — And Trust in the Primary Care System
First, her favorite doctor in Providence, Rhode Island, retired. Then her other doctor at a health center a few miles away left the practice. Now, Piedad Fred has developed a new chronic condition: distrust in the American medical system. “I don’t know,” she said, her eyes filling with tears. “To...
12-Year-Old Starts New Sickle Cell Treatment
Last week, at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, DC, a 12-year-old boy with sickle cell disease became the first patient to start a new treatment approved in December by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Physicians collected stem cells from Kendric Cromer in preparation for the first commercial infusion...
Researchers Review Findings and Clinical Messages From the Women’s Health Initiative 30 Years After Launch
A new review in JAMA highlights key findings and clinical messages from the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI), the largest women’s health study in the United States. The WHI is supported by the National Institutes of Health’s National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), and was created to study factors that may reduce risks for cardiovascular disease, cancer, hip fractures, and other conditions in postmenopausal women. More than 68,000 women enrolled in clinical trials between 1993 and 1998 and were followed for up to 20 years.
A Paramedic Was Skeptical About This Rx for Stopping Repeat Opioid Overdoses. Then He Saw It Help.
Fire Capt. Jesse Blaire steered his SUV through the mobile home park until he spotted the little beige house with white trim and radioed to let dispatchers know he’d arrived. There, Shawnice Slaughter waited on the steps, wiping sleep from her eyes. “Good morning, Shawnice,” Blaire said. “How are...
Free Hepatitis C Treatment Program Reduces Community Viral Load
In a rural Kentucky county, free medical care and direct-acting antiviral treatment for people with hepatitis C greatly reduced the proportion of people with hepatitis C virus (HCV) viremia, or detectable viral load, researchers reported at The Liver Meeting 2023. People with a sustained undetectable viral load after treatment are considered cured and do not transmit the virus.
Bird Flu Is Bad for Poultry and Dairy Cows. It’s Not a Dire Threat for Most of Us — Yet.
Headlines are flying after the Department of Agriculture confirmed that the H5N1 bird flu virus has infected dairy cows around the country. Tests have detected the virus among cattle in nine states, mainly in Texas and New Mexico, and most recently in Colorado, said Nirav Shah, principal deputy director at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at a May 1 event held by the Council on Foreign Relations.
Making an Impact: Results From NIAID-Funded Study of Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients
Why do some people hospitalized with COVID-19 succumb, while others—with apparently similar disease severity at the time of hospitalization—survive? Among older individuals, are there particular immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 virus infection that set the stage for the increased risk of severe COVID-19? These are among the questions addressed...
California Floats Extending Health Insurance Subsidies to All Adult Immigrants
Marisol Pantoja Toribio found a lump in her breast in early January. Uninsured and living in California without legal status and without her family, the usually happy-go-lucky 43-year-old quickly realized how limited her options were. “I said, ‘What am I going to do?’” she said in Spanish, quickly getting emotional....
Healthy Recipe: Chocolate Whipped Ice Cream
At Cook For Your Life, we believe the only thing better than having a pint of chocolate ice cream stashed in your freezer is having a pint of homemade chocolate ice cream in your freezer. Grocery store ice creams often contain additives, chemicals, and preservatives that you can avoid by making your own. Plus, doing it yourself leaves you in control of things like sweetness and chocolate intensity. Our ice cream is light and fluffy because it’s made by folding chocolate into whipped cream. A dash of instant coffee works to bring out the chocolate flavor and add depth. The only real downside is having to wait four hours to let it freeze!
Personalized Vaccines Show Promise for Hard-to-Treat Cancers
Custom-made vaccines continue to show promise for various types of hard-to-treat cancer, researchers reported at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting (AACR 2024) this month in San Diego. One early trial found that pancreatic cancer patients who responded well to a personalized messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine plus a...
Florida Passes Bill Allowing Pharmacists to Provide PEP to Prevent HIV
Florida pharmacists will soon be able to provide more HIV care to their clients, thanks to a bill signed by Republican governor Ron DeSantis. Specifically, pharmacists can screen for HIV and provide post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), which refers to medication people take to prevent HIV transmission shortly after a high-risk exposure.
Studies Offer Insight into HIV Reservoir and Viral Rebound
Several studies presented at the recent Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2024) shed more light on persistent HIV, viral rebound and strategies to bring about long-term remission after stopping antiretroviral treatment. Two studies analyzed post-treatment HIV control in a complex cure trial, one looked at sex-based differences in...
Lower Dose of Mpox Vaccine Is Safe and Generates 6-Week Antibody Response
A dose-sparing intradermal mpox (formerly monkeypox) vaccination regimen was safe and generated an antibody response equivalent to that induced by the standard regimen at six weeks (two weeks after the second dose), according to findings presented today at the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Global Congress in Barcelona. The results suggest that antibody responses contributed to the effectiveness of dose-sparing mpox vaccine regimens used during the 2022 U.S. outbreak.
Start Breast Cancer Screening at Age 40, Task Force Says
Women at average risk for breast cancer should begin mammogram screening at age 40 instead of 50, according to updated recommendations from the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF). This is the final adoption of draft guidance released last May. The recommendations and accompanying materials were published today in JAMA.
Black Women With Better Heart Health Have Less Cognitive Decline
For middle-aged Black women, better heart health may result in less cognitive decline compared with women who have poorer heart health, according to the American Heart Association (AHA). Published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, this study highlights the importance of heart health in supporting cognitive function. “Take...
At Least 3 Women Contracted HIV From Vampire Facials, Confirms CDC
A cluster of HIV cases from 2018 has been linked to vampire facials, a type of microneedling procedure, at a now-shuttered medical spa in Albuquerque. At least three women contracted HIV in what federal health researchers say is the first documented instance of HIV transmission through cosmetic injection, according to findings in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, a publication of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Cancer Advocates Applaud USDA Rule Revising School Nutrition Requirements
[On April 24], the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service finalized a new rule to revise the child nutrition program standards to ensure school meals are better aligned with the U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans and based on the latest nutritional science. School breakfast and school lunch programs offer students nutritious meals and may be the only meals many children eat during the day, especially those from families with limited incomes. Participation in school meal programs reduces food insecurity and improves the diet quality and academic performance of children. The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) supports policies that increase access to free school meals for all children and strengthens the nutrition standards for these meals.
American Cancer Society Supports Updated USPSTF Breast Cancer Screening Guidelines
The American Cancer Society (ACS) commends today’s updated recommendations for breast cancer screening from the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) for lowering the age to begin mammography screening to age 40, which is more consistent with ACS guidelines. Breast cancer is the second most common cancer and the second most common cause of cancer death for women in the United States. Mammography continues to be the best screening tool to detect breast cancer and save lives.
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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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