• Smoking in Pregnancy Has Declined by a Third Since 2016

    There’s good news for American mothers-to-be and their newborns: Rates of smoking during pregnancy have fallen by 36% since 2016, a new report finds. The percentage of pregnant women who smoked was already low in 2016 compared...

    • Posted January 31, 2023
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  • Is Oxytocin Really the ‘Love Hormone’? Rodent Research Raises Doubt

    The “love hormone” oxytocin might not play the critical role in forming social bonds that scientists have long believed, a new animal study suggests. Prairie voles bred without receptors for oxytocin display the same monogamous mating, attachment...

    • Posted January 31, 2023
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  • People With Autism May Feel Pain More Intensely: Study

    People who have autism feel pain at a higher intensity than others, which is the opposite of what many believe to be true, new research suggests. The prevailing belief is that those with autism are indifferent to...

    • Posted January 31, 2023
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  • Health Highlights: Jan. 31, 2023

    Marriage could be a buffer against dementia. Compared to married folk, divorced and unmarried adults were 50% to 73% more likely to be diagnosed with dementia, a new study has found. Read more Is oxytocin really the...

    • Posted January 31, 2023
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  • Legalizing Marijuana Doesn’t Raise Drug, Alcohol Abuse: Study

    Living in a U.S. state where recreational weed is legal does not appear to increase the average adult’s risk of succumbing to “reefer madness,” a new study of twins has determined. An adult living in a “legal”...

    • Posted January 30, 2023
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  • Pandemic at a Tipping Point: WHO

    The pandemic has reached a “transition point,” the World Health Organization (WHO) said Monday. Still, that doesn’t mean the public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) designation declared by the WHO in January 2020 is over yet....

    • Posted January 30, 2023
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  • Stuck in Traffic? Diesel Fumes May Be Harming Your Brain

    If you find yourself stuck in a traffic jam and you start to feel fuzzy-headed, the diesel exhaust from the truck in front of you might be to blame. New research found that just two hours of...

    • Posted January 30, 2023
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  • Smoking in Pregnancy Greatly Raises Odds for SIDS in Newborns

    Infants exposed to maternal smoking during pregnancy are more than five times more likely to die unexpectedly compared to babies of nonsmokers, a new study says. “The message is simple. Smoking greatly elevates the risk of sudden...

    • Posted January 30, 2023
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  • Utah Becomes First State to Ban Transgender Health Care for Minors

    Transgender youth in Utah are now blocked from receiving gender-affirming surgery and hormone therapy after Gov. Spencer Cox signed a bill Saturday that largely bans such care for youth. Cox said that the ban was necessary until...

    • Posted January 30, 2023
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  • How Many Daily Steps Do You Need to Lose Weight?

    It’s clear that staying active is key to being healthy, and fitness trackers and smartwatches have become popular tools for tracking activity. But just how many steps does someone need to take to lose weight? That’s not...

    • Posted January 30, 2023
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