Regular aspirin use may lower colorectal cancer risk
(Sukanya Charuchandra/ Cancer Health) — Frequent use of aspirin by people at least 70 years of age was linked to a lower risk of colorectal cancer compared with people who used aspirin more infrequently. However, this association was seen only among people who first used aspirin at an earlier age, according to findings …
The pandemic paradox: The crisis of loneliness
(Johanna Cheek/ Healthy Debate) — With the second wave forcing more people into isolation, we are now facing another public health crisis with deadly consequences: loneliness.
During this pandemic, we have stayed physically apart to keep our tribe alive. But it is staying in the tribe that has kept us safe as we have evolved. …
Breast cancer surpasses lung cancer as leading cancer diagnosis worldwide
(Robert Preidt/ Health Day) — Breast cancer has surpassed lung cancer as the world’s most commonly diagnosed cancer.
In 2020, there were an estimated 19.3 million new cancer cases and nearly 10 million cancer deaths worldwide, according to the Global Cancer Statistics 2020 report from the American Cancer Society …
The second COVID-19 shot Is a rude reawakening for immune cells
(Katherin J. Wu/ The Atlantic) — At about 2 a.m. on Thursday morning, I woke to find my husband shivering beside me. For hours, he had been tossing in bed, exhausted but unable to sleep, nursing chills, a fever, and an agonizingly sore left arm. His teeth chattered.
His forehead was freckled with sweat. And as I lay next to him, …
Can Exercise Make You More Creative?
(Gretchen Reynolds/ The New York Times) – If you often exercise, there’s a good chance you also tend to be more creative, according to an interesting new study of the links between physical activity and imagination. It finds that active people come up with more and better ideas during tests of their inventiveness than people who …
Anxious patients await surgery amidst COVID-19 backlog
(Leah Hendry/ CBC Health News) — Christian Dupont isn’t used to staying still.
Normally, he’d be playing hockey twice a week and taking advantage of all the snow by skiing or snowshoeing with his family.
But last fall, what he thought was persistent, painful acid reflux turned out to be blocked arteries.
The …
Can moms pass COVID-19 immunity to their newborns?
(Nicoletta Lanesse/ Live Science) — If a woman catches COVID-19 during pregnancy, can her baby pick up any immunity to the virus in the womb? Early data hint that the answer is yes, but many questions still remain.
In a new study, published Jan. 29 in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, scientists analyzed blood samples from …
Doctors call for systemic change to tackle burnout among health-care workers
(Kirsten Fenn/ CBC Health News) — As health-care workers feel the exhaustion of the pandemic setting in, some doctors say medical organizations must do more to prevent burnout among front-line employees.
“During the early phases [of the pandemic], we actually had a little bit of a galvanization and a calling that …
Montreal researcher’s work could identify children at risk for cancer
(CTV News) — The work of a Montreal researcher could lead to identifying which children have a genetic predisposition to cancer, allowing them to be closely monitored and, hopefully, lead to an early diagnosis of the disease.
There are believed to be more than 125 types of genetic predispositions to cancer in young people, …