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WEDNESDAY, Dec. 8, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- People who get cochlear implants to treat severe hearing loss may develop new bone growth in the ear — and it may lessen any hearing they have left, a new study hints.The researchers found that among 100-plus adults with cochlear implants, two-thirds showed evidence of new bone formation near the implant within four years. And of patients who still had some hearing when they received the implant, those with new bone growth showed more hearing loss over time.However, no one with a cochlear implant should be alarmed by the findings, stressed researcher Dr. Floris Heutink, of Radboud University Medical Center, in the Netherlands."Cochlear implantation allows most candidates to tremendously improve speech perception compared to their hearing...

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 8, 2021 (American Heart Association News) -- When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down New York City in March 2020, Jose Montanez, like millions of others in the service industry, lost his source of income. A hair stylist who also ran karaoke drag shows, he made his money closely interacting with people. Even his third business – wedding planning – had to close shop. And then his husband, David Tingle, got laid off from his decades-long job as a retail architect.These could have been enormously stress-inducing events for both of them. But the couple shared something else that made a difference: experience adapting to challenges and a positive outlook toward change."You have two choices: Give up, or go on and see what the next chapter is," said Tingle, who quickly decided...

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 8, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- First, the COVID-19 pandemic brought panic, with successive waves of infection and death, including the emergence this year of the Delta variant. Then vaccines offered the promise of a recovery, with a speed -- and on a scale -- never before seen.But now, the Omicron variant is sending Americans on another emotional roller-coaster ride that mental health experts say is the last things folks need."I think the thing I am feeling and seeing the most is that many people are kind of getting worn out and fatigued," said counselor and psychology expert Robert Hayes. Hayes' take stems from years spent working as a mental health officer for the American Red Cross, where he offered psychological guidance to victims of some of the nation's worst...

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 8, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Pfizer/BioNTech said Wednesday that while two doses of their coronavirus vaccine may not offer good protection against the Omicron variant, adding a booster shot does the trick.According to a statement from the companies, blood tests from people who had only two doses of the vaccine showed a 25-fold reduction in antibody levels generated against the Omicron variant, compared to earlier SARS-CoV-2 variants. But adding in a booster shot saw antibody responses return to robust numbers. In fact, blood samples obtained from people a month after they'd gotten their booster shots showed a level of antibodies against Omicron that were equal to those seen against other variants after two doses.“Although two doses of the vaccine may still offer...