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FRIDAY, Sept. 17, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Pfizer is expanding the recall of its anti-smoking drug Chantix (varenicline), the company announced Friday.The nationwide recall of all Chantix 0.5 mg and 1 mg tablets was prompted because they may contain levels of a nitrosamine, N-nitroso-varenicline, that are at or above levels approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.Long-term ingestion of N-nitroso-varenicline may be linked to a "theoretical potential increased cancer risk in humans," the company said, adding that no immediate risk to patients taking Chantix exists. "The health benefits of stopping smoking outweigh the theoretical potential cancer risk from the nitrosamine impurity in varenicline," Pfizer said in its statement.Nitrosamines are common in water and foods —...

FRIDAY, Sept. 17, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- In kids and teens, symptoms of long COVID rarely last more than 12 weeks, a new international study reports.The researchers also found that exposure to the highly contagious Delta variant did not result in more serious disease in children compared to earlier variants, and that most cases of COVID-19 were asymptomatic or mild.Despite those reassurances, the study did include a troubling finding: Young people with pre-existing conditions — such as obesity, chronic kidney disease, heart disease or immune disorders — are 25 times more likely to get severe COVID-19 than kids without pre-existing conditions. A recent review found that severe COVID-19 occurred in 5% of those with pre-existing conditions and less than 1% of others, the researchers...

FRIDAY, Sept. 17, 2021 (American Heart Association News) -- About a month into the COVID-19 pandemic, LeCount Holmes saw on television that Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan was within a mile of his house for a big announcement.Because Prince George's County was one of the areas hardest hit by the coronavirus, a former regional hospital was being reopened earlier than planned to provide treatment to another 135 patients.Holmes hopped on his bike, hoping to catch a glimpse of the governor. By the time he arrived, only news trucks remained, but at least he'd gotten some exercise.Although he was 70, Holmes' attitude toward the virus was, "Being in such good shape, it's not going to get me."Holmes was 4 when his father taught him how to ride a bicycle. He's been active ever since.Growing up in...

FRIDAY, Sept. 17, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisors will meet Friday to consider whether it is safe and effective for Americans to receive a third "booster" dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. The FDA posted the materials it intends to use in the review on Wednesday. The advisory panel will review a variety of evidence, including new data from Israel, the Associated Press reported. Israel began offering boosters to its citizens this summer. In the Israeli study, published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, one million people aged 60 and older got a third dose. The data shows they were much less likely to become infected soon afterward when the contagious Delta variant was spreading, achieving what Pfizer called "roughly 95%...