The results of an online questionnaire of 609 breast cancer survivors in the U.S. suggest that nearly half of patients experienced delays in care during the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study, by researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago, is published in the journal Breast Cancer Research and Treatment. “The motivation for…
WASHINGTON, DC — In response to the coronavirus pandemic, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) has approved $22.6 million in funding for seven studies assessing various health care approaches to improve outcomes among people infected by the novel coronavirus and lessen the effects of COVID-19 on patients, health care workers and communities. These latest studies…
Opioid use among women trying to conceive may be associated with a lower chance of pregnancy, suggests a National Institutes of Health study. Moreover, opioid use in early pregnancy may be associated with a greater chance of pregnancy loss. The study appears in Epidemiology. “Our findings indicate that women who are pregnant or planning a…
New research from the CHILD Cohort Study has shed light on the influence of vitamin D supplementation on a baby’s developing gut microbiome. The study, published in the journal Gut Microbes, found that vitamin D supplementation is associated with compositional changes in a baby’s microbiome–notably a lower abundance of the bacteria Megamonas–at three months of…
WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Monday blocked an effort by the Trump administration to erase protections for transgender patients against discrimination by doctors, hospitals and health insurance companies, dealing a blow to the broader legal reasoning it has used to try to roll back transgender rights across the government. Judge Frederic Block of the…
Here’s what you need to know: ImageAn elementary school classroom in Royal City, Wash., last week. Officials around the world are facing the challenges of educating during the pandemic.Credit…Ruth Fremson/The New York Times Around the world, education officials move on with plans despite fears and outbreaks. As teachers and students look ahead to the start…
We’ve known from the beginning how the end will arrive. Eventually, the coronavirus will be unable to find enough susceptible hosts to survive, fading out wherever it briefly emerges. To achieve so-called herd immunity — the point at which the virus can no longer spread widely because there are not enough vulnerable humans — scientists…
Wearing bifocal contact lenses may slow the progression of nearsightedness in children, a new study in JAMA suggests. Researchers randomly assigned 294 myopic children, average age 10, to one of three groups: the first wore high-power bifocal contact lenses, the second medium-power bifocal lenses and the third regular single-vision contacts. The researchers gave them eye…
An emergency room doctor in Illinois was accused in April of profiting from naming coronavirus as the cause of a patient’s death, a rumor spreading online. An internist in New York treated a vomiting patient in May who drank a bleach mixture as part of a fake virus cure found on YouTube. And in June…
The shutdowns and fears provoked by the Covid-19 pandemic threw a monkey wrench into many aspects of routine medical care, especially for older people justifiably wary about being exposed to the virus in a medical setting. While many facilities have now created “safe spaces” to resume in-person exams, some of the resulting postponements of routine…