Health & Fitness

Photo: Keith Bedford/The Boston Globe (Getty Images) A single shot may be enough to provide highly effective protection against the human papillomavirus (HPV) and its long-term cancer risks, new clinical research from Africa has found. The study found that one dose of the vaccine was around 90% or more effective at preventing infection from several cancer-causing types of HPV up to 18 months later. The findings support the adoption of a single-shot strategy for HPV prevention, the authors and other experts say, which could substantially increase vaccine uptake worldwide. In 2006, the U.S. approved the world’s first HPV vaccine: Gardasil, developed by Merck & Co. A few years later, it would approve GlaxoSmithKline’s Cervarix. These first-generation vaccines both offered protection ...

A separate, smaller experiment that was included in the Nature Medicine paper appeared to support the notion that psilocybin therapy could provide enduring benefits. In that trial, 16 patients were recruited with the knowledge that they would receive psilocybin for their treatment-resistant depression. Brain scans taken a day after the final doses were administered showed similar results to the other study. And when the researchers followed up six months later, many participants reported that the improvements to their depression had not subsided. “These results are very promising, but obviously no one should go out and try and procure psychedelics without speaking to a doctor or a therapist,” Dr. Daws said. The field of psychedelic medicine is still in its infancy following a decades-long...

Story at a glance For the study, researchers analyzed data from 1,954 participants in the Rush Memory and Aging Project. Participants agreed to annual assessments of their cognitive abilities following their initial evaluation. The team focused on the role of conscientiousness, neuroticism, and extraversion played on cognitive function later in life.  People who are prone to mood swings and low emotional stability are more likely to experience cognitive decline later in life, a new study suggests.   “Personality traits reflect relatively enduring patterns of thinking and behaving, which may cumulatively affect engagement in healthy and unhealthy behaviors and thought patterns across the lifespan,” said the study’s lead author Tomiko Yoneda.    “The accu...

The Florida Department of Health is warning people out about an outbreak of meningitis cases across the state that is mostly impacting men who have sex with men and college students. Now, the state and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are encouraging people in high risk groups to get vaccinated.The specific illness is called the meningococcal disease and is caused by the Neisseria meningitidis bacteria. Jill Roberts, a USF associate professor teaching global communicable diseases, said this particular strain is worrisome. “It’s very dangerous,” she said. “If you do not treat Neisseria meningitidis, in about 70% of cases, it’s actually fatal. Even with treatment, one in five people will have prolonged illness.”In some cases, Roberts said people have lost their hearing, suffe...

Jacob Marquez, a clinical research coordinator at Oregon Health & Science University's Knight Cancer Institute in Portland, Ore., draws blood from clinical study participant David Parker on March 14. Parker is one of hundreds of people participating in a trial for a new liquid biopsy technology that could detect early signs of cancer in a person's blood. (Gillian Flaccus, Associated Press) Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes CANBY, Oregon — Joyce Ares had just turned 74 and was feeling fine when she agreed to give a blood sample for research. So she was surprised when the screening test came back positive for signs of cancer. After a repeat blood test,...

Scientists believe they may have found out why some smokers, against the odds, manage to avoid lung cancer. Make no mistake: smoking tobacco is utterly terrible for you. Along with upping the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and strokes, the overwhelming majority of lung cancer cases are directly linked to smoking. Despite this risk, though, only 10 to 20 percent of lifelong smokers will actually develop lung cancer. Some people manage to smoke pack after pack of cigarettes for decades and somehow avoid lung cancer.  While this is influenced by sex, smoking status, and wider health, the ability of some smokers to dodge lung cancer might not just be a matter of sheer luck, according to the latest research. I...

Photo: Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis (Getty Images) New research continues to find evidence that psilocybin—the active ingredient in psychedelic mushrooms—can uniquely help people with depression. The study found that people undergoing psilocybin-assisted therapy experienced noticeable changes in brain patterns associated with depression, including when compared to a control group. People also reported a reduction in their depression symptoms alongside these brain changes. Some researchers have been studying the potential mental health benefits of psychedelic substances like psilocybin since the 1970s. But it’s only in recent years that health authorities and governments have been more permissive of this research, following decades of harsh regulations. Large-scale research into this fie...

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is urging gay and bisexual men to get the meningococcal vaccine after an outbreak in Florida has led to an increase in cases.  Multiple meningitis cases have been reported across the state in the past few months, and some involved college students and those living with HIV, according to a news release from the CDC.  "Anyone who has been exposed or develops symptoms should be evaluated by a health care provider right away," the release from the Florida Department of Health of Leon County said. "This is a rare but potentially devastating infection." For every 100 people who contract meningococcal disease, 10 to 15 will die, according to the CDC. One in 5 people who recover can suffer from long-term disabilities such as loss of limbs, brain...

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a chronic gastrointestinal disorder that affects around 11% of adults worldwide. Symptoms include: abdominal pain excess gas bloating sudden, urgent need to use the bathroom changing bowel habits. While relatively common, IBS is often misunderstood. To help us dispel some prevalent myths about this condition, we spoke with Dr. Ashkan Farhadi, a gastroenterologist at MemorialCare Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, CA, and Dr. Mollie J. Jackson, a gastroenterologist at the University of Kansas Health System. Dr. Farhadi told Medical News Today that although research is uncovering more about IBS, we still do not know what causes it. While certain foods such as dairy products or spicy foods may trigger symptoms, they do not cause th...

Joyce Ares had just turned 74 and was feeling fine when she agreed to give a blood sample for research. So she was surprised when the screening test came back positive for signs of cancer. After a repeat blood test, a PET scan and a needle biopsy, she was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma. “I cried,” the retired real estate broker said. “Just a couple of tears and thought, ‘OK, now what do we do?’” The Canby, Oregon, resident had volunteered to take a blood test that is being billed as a new frontier in cancer screening for healthy people. It looks for cancer by checking for DNA fragments shed by tumor cells. Such blood tests, called liquid biopsies, are already used in patients with cancer to tailor their treatment and check to see if tumors come back. Now, one company is promoting its blo...