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TUESDAY, Sept. 28, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Pfizer Inc. announced Tuesday that it has submitted initial data to federal regulators on the efficacy of its COVID-19 vaccine among younger children.The company is also expected to submit the same data on kids aged 5 to 11 to the European Medicines Agency and other regulatory authorities in the next few weeks, CNN reported. Last week, Pfizer released trial data that showed that the vaccine was safe and effective for children aged 5 to 11. That trial included nearly 2,300 participants who were given two doses of the vaccine 21 days apart. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has said that it could authorize a vaccine for younger children in a matter of weeks after the agency receives trial data. The FDA is expected to vet the vaccine through...

TUESDAY, Sept. 28, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- A drug widely used to treat osteoporosis might reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, a new study suggests.Taking the drug alendronate (Fosamax) for at least eight years could potentially reduce a person's risk of type 2 diabetes by more than half, compared to people never prescribed the drug, according to findings presented Sunday at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes.The study, by Rikke Viggers of Aalborg University Hospital in Denmark and colleagues, provides more insight into the links between osteoporosis and type 2 diabetes, although experts caution against using alendronate as a diabetes medication until more is known."I'm a little hesitant to get all excited about the notion this may be a preventive...

TUESDAY, Sept. 28, 2021 (American Heart Association News) -- COVID-19 can be bad for anyone. For pregnant women, scientific research shows it can be worse: The disease significantly raises their odds of needing ICU care, giving birth prematurely and of dying.Vaccines offer protection. But despite reassurances and encouragement from a wide array of health groups, vaccination rates for pregnant women remain stubbornly low. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only 31% of pregnant women were vaccinated as of mid-September. The rate was only 25.3% for Hispanic women and 15.6% for Black women.Doctors who treat COVID-stricken women during pregnancy have confronted old misconceptions and fresh disinformation about vaccines and what's best for mother and child."I've...

TUESDAY, Sept. 28, 2021 (American Heart Association News) -- Black women with high blood pressure may benefit from classes where they learn and practice skills to manage the condition, a small study finds.In the United States, nearly 58% of Black women have high blood pressure compared to about 41% of white and Hispanic women, according to American Heart Association statistics. For Black women, death rates from high blood pressure-related causes are nearly double that of white women and more than twice the rate for Hispanic women.Looking for innovative ways to help change those statistics, researchers enrolled 90 Black women who, on average, were 54 years old and had been dealing with high blood pressure for more than a decade. All participants were offered a six-week program that...