Health News
This section provides news about medical information that might be of interest for our community. Please use the information “as is” and research the topic yourself – we are not a qualified scientific research institute.
Water Is Still The Best
April 5, 2026
Scientists looked at a massive group of people and basically confirmed what your grandmother has been saying all along: if you stop drinking sugar by the gallon, your pants may fit better. Swap soda for diet drinks and you’ll probably lose a little weight. Swap it for water and … surprise .. you do even better.
Turns out removing liquid candy from your daily routine reduces calories. Groundbreaking stuff. But before you start baptizing yourself in diet cola, there’s a catch. Artificial sweeteners might help you step away from sugar, but they come with their own baggage: gut weirdness, possible cravings, and a lingering sense that your taste buds are being emotionally manipulated. Experts basically land on: water is boring, yes, but it doesn’t try to outsmart your metabolism.
Your Heart Wants a Bedtime
March 9, 2026
Apparently your heart is not just judging how long you sleep, but also your commitment issues with bedtime – because if you go to bed whenever you feel like it and clock under 8 hours, your risk of heart attack or stroke can nearly double over time . Scientists basically discovered that your heart prefers a routine like an old-school grandparent: same time every night, no nonsense, lights out. Start freelancing your sleep schedule and your body responds by cranking up stress hormones, messing with blood pressure, and quietly preparing a dramatic future event. So while you’re lying there at 2:13 AM thinking “one more episode,” your cardiovascular system is apparently taking notes and filing a complaint for later.
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Prescription against cancer: Marriage
January 14, 2026
Scientists at University of Miami have uncovered what may be the most unexpected cancer prevention strategy yet: legally binding paperwork.
According to the study, people who never married face a much higher cancer risk. Which raises some uncomfortable questions, like whether oncologists will soon start asking, “Have you tried… a registry and a reception?”
Men apparently see a 70% increase in risk, while women are at 85%. Statistically speaking, that makes “till death do us part” sound less like a vow and more like a preventative care plan.
Researchers say it’s about social factors – support systems, shared responsibilities, someone reminding you to go to the doctor. Which is a polite way of saying: Left alone long enough, humans will absolutely ignore symptoms, eat questionable leftovers, and convince themselves WebMD is being dramatic.
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Thoughts of a paramedic – Measles
January 14, 2026
I still remember the call – small child, high fever, trouble breathing. By the time we stepped into the house, you could feel the tension. The rash had already spread across the face and down the body, and the parents kept saying they thought it was just a cold at first. It wasn’t. It was Measles. We started oxygen, checked vitals, kept things moving, but there’s a moment on some calls when you realize this is going to get worse before it gets better. That was one of them. You don’t forget the sound of a parent asking if their child is going to be okay when you don’t have a simple answer.
Years ago, scenes like that were common. Before a vaccine existed, measles swept through communities in waves. Nearly every child got it. Many recovered, but not all. Some developed pneumonia, others swelling in the brain that could leave permanent damage or take their lives. Hospitals filled during outbreaks, and there wasn’t much anyone could do beyond supportive care.
What changed that story was the development of the measles vaccine in the 1960s, later combined into the MMR vaccine. The science behind it is straightforward but powerful: the vaccine shows the immune system a weakened form of the virus, enough for the body to recognize it and build a defense without causing the disease itself. After vaccination, the immune system “remembers” measles. If the real virus shows up later, the body responds quickly, often stopping it before it can take hold.
Measles spreads through the air and can linger long after someone has left a room. It doesn’t need close contact. That’s part of what makes it so difficult to control once it starts moving through a community. When enough people are vaccinated, the virus has nowhere to go. Transmission breaks down, and even those who can’t be vaccinated—infants, certain medical patients—are better protected because the disease struggles to reach them.
On calls now, I don’t see measles often. And that’s the point. The absence of those scenes—the ones with anxious parents, struggling kids, and very few good options—that’s what vaccination has given us. Every time a child is vaccinated, it quietly removes one more chance for a call like that to happen again.
Want some plastic with this?
October 7, 2025
If you’re a fan of single-use plastic bottles, brace yourself: every time you sip from a plastic bottle, you’re sprinkling your insides with the same plastic used in lawn chairs and sandwich bags. Research has found evidence of plastic particles in human blood, lungs, gut, feces, and reproductive tissues like the placenta and testes. Researchers found that, on average, a liter of bottled water included about 240,000 tiny pieces of plastic. About 90% of these plastic fragments were nanoplastics.
Shingles Vaccination protect brain?
September 24, 2025
A nationwide analysis of electronic health records from more than 100 million US patients found that shingles vaccination may be associated with lower dementia incidence, whereas recurrent shingles increased dementia risk.
Benadryl linked to increased dementia risk
July 27, 2025
When University of Washington’s School of Pharmacy researchers examined the use of anticholinergic drugs (like diphenhydramin, Benadryl), they found that people who used these drugs were more likely to have developed dementia as those who didn’t use them. Moreover, dementia risk increased along with the cumulative dose. Taking an anticholinergic for the equivalent of three years or more was associated with a 54% higher dementia risk than taking the same dose for three months or less.
Another study sees potential danger of Erythritol
July 19, 2025
Erythritol, a widely used sugar substitute found in many low-carb and sugar-free products, may not be as harmless as once believed. New research from the University of Colorado Boulder reveals that even small amounts of erythritol can harm brain blood vessel cells, promoting constriction, clotting, and inflammation—all of which may raise the risk of stroke.
There’s MEASLES in the water
June 13, 2025
The New Mexico Department of Health reports finding a positive measles sample via wastewater testing in Roswell. The sample, taken on June 3, is part of a wastewater testing initiative the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) is conducting in 11 treatment facilities around the state since mid-March. “While wastewater testing cannot tell us the timing, location or number of people infected with measles, this detection tells us there was at least one person infectious with measles in Roswell around June 3 and puts us on notice there may be more cases in Chaves County in the coming days,” said Dr. Daniel Sosin, NMDOH Medical Epidemiologist.
CDC and FDA investigate multistate salmonella outbreak
June 9, 2025
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are investigating a multistate Salmonella outbreak linked to at least 1.7 million eggs, according to a news release issued on Saturday. The brown cage-free and brown certified organic eggs were distributed by the August Egg Company from Feb. 3 through May 15 to retailers in nine states — California, Nevada, Washington, Arizona, Nebraska, New Mexico, Illinois, Indiana and Wyoming, per the FDA.
Eat beans to improve your health
June 4, 2025
Eating a daily cup of beans significantly improved the health of a small group of people with prediabetes – a condition in which elevated blood sugar levels have nearly caused type 2 diabetes. The study found that bean consumption helped significantly lower cholesterol and reduce inflammation in people with prediabetes, although glucose levels were not changed. Chickpeas and black beans caused people’s total cholesterol to significantly decrease, results show.
Common Energy Drink Ingredient Boosting Cancer?
June 2, 2025
Recent studies suggest that taurine, a common ingredient in energy drinks and supplements, may be linked to the growth of certain cancers, particularly leukemia. However, research is still ongoing, and more data is needed to definitively link taurine intake to cancer risk in humans. Some studies indicate that taurine might even have antitumor properties, but the research is not conclusive.
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Yes – Hand Sanitizer Kills Measles Viruses.
May 19, 2025
The measles virus is a highly contagious, airborne virus that causes a febrile rash illness. It’s spread through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes, and the virus can stay in the air for up to two hours. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers with at least 60% alcohol can kill the measles virus. According to the Columbia School of Nursing, a 15-second application of such sanitizer can kill germs, including the measles virus. The University Health System notes that good hand hygiene, including the use of alcohol-based hand rubs, is effective against the measles virus
Ibuprofen and Heart Attack – Is There A Link?
May 10, 2025
Yes. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) can increase the risk of heart attack and stroke. These medicines most often treat pain, swelling and irritation, called inflammation, and fever. The increase in risk affects people who have heart disease and those who don’t. But the risk is greater in those who have heart disease. So it’s best for people with heart disease not to use NSAIDs if possible. Examples of NSAIDs include ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB, others), naproxen sodium (Aleve, Anaprox DS, others), diclofenac sodium and celecoxib (Celebrex, Elyxyb).
Sugary Drinks and Diabetes 2 Risks
April 18, 2025
When it comes to managing the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, there is no safe level of sugar-sweetened beverage consumption, according to a new study. At the same time, the study finds that moderate consumption of sugars contained in solid foods or eaten with them may actually lower the risk of developing diabetes. The study supports a beneficial role of sugar in a balanced, healthy diet, as long as it does not include sweetened liquids such as soft drinks or fruit drinks.
Good News for Coffee Drinkers – You May Live Longer
April 5, 2025
Many studies have linked drinking coffee regularly to a lower risk of early death. In a study of more than 46,000 U.S. adults published in May, researchers found that those who consumed one to three cups of coffee per day were about 15 percent less likely to die within the next nine to 11 years than those who didn’t drink coffee. That benefit disappeared, though, for people who said they typically added more than about a half teaspoon of sugar to their coffee and for people who added more than one gram of saturated fat (equivalent to about one tablespoon of half-and-half or 3.5 tablespoons of whole milk) per cup of coffee.