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Latest Medical News from Doctor TV

Buying emergency contraception is legal but not always easy at small, mom-and-pop pharmacies

About 22 percent of women between the ages of 15 and 44 report having used emergency contraception. But even though the Food and Drug Administration approved levonorgestrel—more commonly known as Plan B—for over-the-counter use for women of all ages in 2013, it's not always easy to get—especially at local, mom-and-pop drug stores. [...]

More than 60 million Indians may have caught coronavirus: study

More than 60 million people in India—10 times the official figure—could have contracted the novel coronavirus, the country's lead pandemic agency said Tuesday, citing a nationwide study measuring antibodies. [...]

Social media use linked with depression, secondary trauma during COVID-19

Can't stop checking social media for the latest COVID-19 health information? You might want to take a break, according to researchers at Penn State and Jinan University who discovered that excessive use of social media for COVID-19 health information is related to both depression and secondary trauma. [...]

Do fasting diets really work? New study finds little benefit

(HealthDay)—More and more people are turning to 'intermittent fasting' to lose weight, but the jury is still out on whether the tactic works. [...]

Study reveals dietary fructose heightens inflammatory bowel disease

Diet remains an important part of disease prevention and management, and a new study suggests that consumption of fructose may worsen intestinal inflammation common to inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). Led by David Montrose, Ph.D., of the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University, the study is currently published early online in Cellular and Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology. [...]

Diabetes drug boosts survival in patients with type 2 diabetes and COVID-19 pneumonia

Sitagliptin, a drug to lower blood sugar in type 2 diabetes, also improves survival in diabetic patients hospitalized with COVID-19, suggests a multicenter observational study in Italy. Patients given sitagliptin in addition to insulin had a mortality rate of 18 percent as compared with 37 percent in matched patients receiving only insulin. Led by Paolo Fiorina, MD, Ph.D., of Boston Children's Hospital, the study involved seven Italian hospitals during the first surge of COVID cases last spring. [...]

Lockdown could worsen hearing woes for U.S. seniors

(HealthDay)—Isolation due to the pandemic and failure to get hearing aids checked has fueled anxiety, depression and more hearing loss for many seniors. [...]

Many ventilation systems may increase risk of COVID-19 exposure, study suggests

Ventilation systems in many modern office buildings, which are designed to keep temperatures comfortable and increase energy efficiency, may increase the risk of exposure to the coronavirus, particularly during the coming winter, according to research published in the Journal of Fluid Mechanics. [...]

Lab produces world's first 'pathoconnectome'

Scientists from the John A. Moran Eye Center at the University of Utah have achieved another first in the field of connectomics, which studies the synaptic connections between neurons. [...]

Vitamin D deficiency leads to obesity, stunted growth in zebrafish

Using a zebrafish model, researchers from North Carolina State University have found that vitamin D deficiency during early development can disrupt the metabolic balance between growth and fat accumulation. The results suggest a linkage between vitamin D and metabolic homeostasis, or equilibrium. [...]