Assessing the risk of excess folic acid intake
It is well established that folic acid supplementation can significantly reduce the risk of birth defects, including neural tube defects like spina bifida, the most common birth defect of the central nervous system and the second most common of all structural birth defects. More than 80 nations, including the U.S. 25 years ago, have established […]
Women With Hypertension During Pregnancy Face Higher CVD Risks
Women with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) were at a significant risk for developing new cardiovascular disease (CVD) within a couple of years of giving birth, a researcher reported. Within 2 years postpartum, patients with HDP had almost two times the risk for cerebrovascular disease, nearly three times the risk for cardiomyopathy and heart failure […]
Ultra-processed foods may be linked to increased risk of cancer
Higher consumption of ultra-processed foods may be linked to an increased risk of developing and dying from cancer, an Imperial College London-led observational study suggests. Researchers from Imperial’s School of Public Health have produced the most comprehensive assessment to date of the association between ultra-processed foods and the risk of developing cancers. Ultra-processed foods are […]
Moderna Booster Vaccine Singled Out for Chronic Hives
The monovalent Moderna COVID-19 booster vaccine may be associated with an elevated risk for new-onset chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU), or hives lasting more than 6 weeks, according to a Swiss study. Among people who got an mRNA COVID vaccine booster and had new-onset hives reported to local allergists, 90% had vaccination precede CSU in the […]
CDC, FDA Flag Early Signal of Stroke Risk With Bivalent COVID Vaccine
An early signal of stroke risk was detected in older adults who received Pfizer-BioNTech’s bivalent COVID-19 vaccine, the FDA and CDC announced in a joint statement late on Friday, yet the agencies found no link in further analyses and are not recommending a change in COVID-19 vaccination practice. According to the agencies, incidence of ischemic […]
IBD Risk Higher After Antibiotics
Antibiotics were linked with increased risk for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), especially among individuals 40 or older, in a population-based study conducted in Denmark. Of more than 6 million individuals followed for approximately 19 years, antibiotic use was associated with nearly 50% increased incidence of IBD in people ages 40 to 60 (IRR 1.48, 95% […]
Dementia Accompanying Cardiometabolic Disease: Does It Come Down to Genetics?
There may be a limit to how much reducing cardiometabolic disease would lower the risk of dementia in older people genetically predisposed to both conditions, a twin study suggested. Twins over age 60 developed dementia at an incidence of 16.9% over a median 15.4 years of follow-up in a cohort counting over 17,000 individuals in […]
Drinking 2 or more cups of coffee daily may double risk of heart death in people with severe hypertension: Green tea, in contrast, did not increase mortality risk at any blood pressure level
Drinking two or more cups of coffee a day may double the risk of death from cardiovascular disease among people with severe high blood pressure (160/100 mm Hg or higher) but not people with high blood pressure not considered severe, according to research published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open […]
COVID-19 Tied to Doubled Risk of Endocarditis in Substance Use Disorder Patients
Patients with cocaine or opioid use disorder (OUD) had a higher risk of endocarditis if they also contracted COVID-19, a retrospective study showed. COVID-19 infection was associated with an increased risk of newly diagnosed cases of endocarditis among patients with opioid use disorder (HR 2.23, 95% CI 1.92-2.60) and with cocaine use disorder (HR 2.24, […]
Not Just a Miner’s Problem: Workplace Fumes, Dust Tied to RA
Adding to previous studies implicating on-the-job exposure to silica dust as a risk factor for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), new research now finds dozens of other occupational inhalants that also appear to contribute to RA development. Comparison of 4,033 cases of new-onset RA with 6,485 matched controls in Swedish registries indicated that exposure to any of […]