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THURSDAY, Feb. 17, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- While getting a COVID-19 vaccine protects against infection, new research confirms that it can also help ease pandemic-triggered stress."Our study documents important psychological benefits of vaccination beyond reducing the risk of severe illness and death associated with COVID-19," said lead investigator Jonathan Koltai, from the University of New Hampshire's department of sociology.There was a sharp jump in mental distress and anxiety among Americans during the pandemic due to factors such as job and income loss, social isolation, food insecurity, caregiving obligations, racial discrimination and substance abuse.It was believed that getting vaccinated might have some mental health benefits. To find out if that's true, researchers examined...

THURSDAY, Feb. 17, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- A person's memory and thinking abilities can still be affected a year after suffering a concussion, a new study finds.The results suggest that poor mental ("cognitive") outcomes may be more common than once thought, said study author Dr. Raquel Gardner of the University of California, San Francisco.The findings also "highlight the need to better understand the mechanisms underlying poor cognitive outcome, even after relatively mild brain injuries, to improve therapy for recovery," she said.The study included 656 people (average age 40) admitted to emergency departments with concussions and 156 people without concussions.The concussion patients had neurological evaluations two weeks, six months and one year after their concussion (also called...

THURSDAY, Feb. 17, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Soccer headers are a staple of scoring in any match, but new research suggests that the practice can harm what experts called "signaling pathways" in the brain.The findings are based on analyses of blood samples from 89 professional soccer players, aged 18 to 35, in Norway.The blood samples were taken when the players were at rest and one hour and 12 hours after three situations: repetitive headers during practice; accidental head impacts during a game (any situation where a player appeared to be hit in the head, face or neck, the match was interrupted by the referee and the player remained lying on the ground for more than 15 seconds); and high-intensity exercise.The blood samples were analyzed for levels of biomarkers called microRNAs,...

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 16, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Here's yet another consequence of America's childhood obesity epidemic: New research shows that girls with type 2 diabetes can set themselves up for developing a condition known as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).PCOS occurs when a woman's ovaries or adrenal glands produce more male hormones than normal, and its many symptoms include painful cysts on the ovaries, irregular periods, excessive hair growth, acne, weight gain and infertility.Exactly how type 2 diabetes and PCOS are linked isn’t fully understood yet."There's more work to be done to explore the genetic, epigenetic and environmental factors that can explain this association," said study author Dr. M. Constantine Samaan. He's an associate professor of pediatrics at McMaster...