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MONDAY, May 24, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Leslie Maier lost her son, Chris, to meningococcal meningitis more than 15 years ago, but by telling his story she hopes to educate other parents about this rare but potentially deadly illness that a vaccine can prevent.Soon after Chris passed away in 2005, Maier joined the board of the National Meningitis Foundation. Now she leads the foundation's new initiative, called the 16 Vaccine campaign, to spread the word that the first shot of the meningococcal vaccine, given at age 11 or 12, needs to be followed with a booster shot at age 16. Estimates suggest that nearly half of American teens do not receive that crucial second shot.In the campaign, Maier has a powerful ally -- actress and mom of three, Molly Ringwald."I was approached about being a...

MONDAY, May 24, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- The robot hand extends toward a small cube, guided by signals from electrodes implanted in the brain of partially paralyzed patient Nathan Copeland.In surprisingly smooth fashion, Copeland's mind directs the robot hand to pick up the cube and move it to another part of the table.The process works so well -- at speeds approaching those of average folks -- because for the first time, a patient guiding a robot arm can feel the object they are picking up.Copeland, 34, is the first human to have electrodes implanted in the sensory cortex of his brain. The robot hand delivers tactile feedback to his brain, informing him whether he's got a good grip on whatever object he's trying to manipulate."I could see the hand was touching the object, but I also...

MONDAY, May 24, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- People with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) had milder symptoms during the COVID-19 lockdown, possibly due to reduced stress levels and more control over their diet, Argentine researchers report."We think the results have something to do with people staying at home," said study author Dr. Juan Pablo Stefanolo. "They were not exposed to outside stress, and at home they were able to avoid food triggers."His team used on online survey to re-assess 129 IBS patients in Argentina while they were under pandemic lockdown. Pre-pandemic data from the patients had been collected in an earlier research project.Argentina had one of the world's longest lockdowns. The number of patients who reported severe IBS fell from 65 before it began to 39.On a 500-point...

MONDAY, May 24, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Studies that can't be verified and may be untrue are much more likely to be cited in the media because they tend to be more interesting, researchers report.They looked at studies in top psychology, economic and nature/science journals and found that only 39% of 100 psychology papers were successfully replicated. The replication rates were 61% for 18 economic studies, and 62% among 21 nature/science studies.But papers whose findings couldn't be replicated later on got a lot of attention at the time they were released: They were cited 153 times more often than those whose findings could be repeated. The largest gap was in nature/science papers, where those that could not be replicated were cited 300 times more often than replicable ones, according...