Latest Health News

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 2, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- A newly discovered genetic variant might explain why some people of African ancestry have naturally lower viral loads of HIV, an international team of researchers reports.This variant, carried by an estimated 4% to 13% of people of African origin, reduces their risk of transmitting the virus and slows the progress of their own illness.It’s the first new genetic variant related to HIV infection discovered in nearly 30 years of research, according to the report, published Aug. 2 in the journal Nature.This discovery could boost development of new treatments for people living with HIV, said co-lead researcher Harriet Groom, an infectious disease research fellow with the University of Cambridge's department of medicine, in the United...

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 2, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Millions of American smokers suffer from a potentially serious lung disease that's not technically chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a new study finds. They would benefit from a clear diagnosis, though, and the new findings demonstrate a major gap in care for people with a history of tobacco use, the researchers said. Among folks who smoked at least one pack of cigarettes a day for 20 or more years, half had persistently high respiratory symptoms, including shortness of breath, daily cough and phlegm, and decreased ability to exercise, although they did well in the breathing tests used to spot COPD. The researchers call the condition "tobacco exposure preserved spirometry" (TEPS)."We first described TEPS in 2016. What we're...

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 2, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- All eyes are on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration this week as the agency weighs approval of a new pill that may quickly treat and ease severe postpartum depression. Approval of the drug could help millions of women regain their emotional equilibrium following childbirth. The FDA's decision is expected by Friday.Taken as a pill once a day for two weeks, zuranolone showed “rapid, significant and sustained” reductions in depressive symptoms when compared to a placebo, or dummy pill, according to a recent study of nearly 200 women.These improvements occurred in as few as three days and were still evident 28 and 45 days later, said study author Dr. Kristina Deligiannidis. She is a professor at the Institute of Behavioral Science at the...

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 2, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- The President’s Emergency Program for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a program that's long successfully provided relief to people with AIDS around the world, will now be housed within the U.S. State Department. The move comes after years of pressure by anti-abortion groups and some Republican members of Congress to attach abortion-related limits on U.S. health support overseas, including PEPFAR. The program was started by President George W. Bush in 2003, and has received about $100 billion in U.S. funding over the past two decades. But PEPFAR will now be included within the new Bureau of Global Health Security and Diplomacy, part of the State Department, the Associated Press reported.The newly created bureau is meant to make health security a...