RFK Jr. Fires Two Trump-Appointed Senior Officials in Ongoing HHS Restructuring

U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has removed two senior officials who were appointed by President Donald Trump.

Heather Flick Melanson, chief of staff, and Hannah Anderson, a top policy adviser, were both let go recently. The decision came as a surprise to several federal health officials.

Both wom...

Playing A Musical Instrument Might Help Aging Brains

Want to help maintain your brain health as you age?

Then pick up a guitar, start tickling a piano’s ivories or join a band.

Playing an instrument can promote a youthful pattern of brain activity, researchers reported July 15 in the journal PLOS Biology.

Specifically, older musicians were better able to understand...

Insomniacs With Inflammation Prone To Depression

Insomniacs have a much higher risk for depression if they have chronic inflammation, a new sleep lab experiment says.

Seniors with insomnia were three times as likely to report symptoms of depression if they’d been dosed with a substance that promotes inflammation, according to results published July 16 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Some Newer Antiseizure Meds Safer During Pregnancy

Some newer antiseizure medications appear to be safer for pregnant women to take without risk of birth defects, a new study says.

Second-generation antiseizure drugs like levetiracetam, oxcarbazepine, gabapentin and zonisamide did not show an increased risk for birth defects, researchers reported July 16 in the journal Neurology.<...

Belly Fat Increases Stress Incontinence Risk

Middle-aged women with more belly fat have a higher risk for stress urinary incontinence, a recent study says.

Fat around the waist and visceral organs increases by 33% a woman’s risk of leaking when she sneezes, coughs or exerts herself, researchers reported in the journal Menopause.

“Abdominal obesity may cause...

Few Babies Getting RSV Antibody Shot, Study Says

A new antibody shot that protects babies against RSV infection could be struggling to gain traction, researchers report.

Only about a third (35%) of babies eligible for nirsevimab got the injection during the 2023-24 RSV season, researchers reported today in the journal Pediatrics.

That was the first season that the monoclon...