Health

My cousin Iman, who lives in Cairo, Egypt, called me earlier this week to tell me that she had just been offered the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine. I congratulated her upon hearing the news; vaccines are, of course, one of the best available tools to defeat this pandemic and Egypt, like many countries in the Global

The coronavirus pandemic almost didn’t happen, a new study shows. Researchers working to show when and how the virus first emerged in China calculate that it probably did not infect the first human being until October 2019 at the very earliest. And their models showed something else: It almost didn’t make it as a pandemic

Several more states on Thursday announced Covid-19 vaccines would be available to more people, news that came as the nation’s top infectious disease expert said we might need to inoculate children to reach herd immunity. But, Dr. Anthony Fauci said people are too focused on the thought of herd immunity — the point at which

The US may be on the cusp of another Covid-19 case surge, one expert says — but the mass vaccination of the most vulnerable Americans is likely to limit its human cost. “I think we are going to see a surge in the number of infections,” emergency physician Dr. Leana Wen told CNN on Wednesday

What’s your favorite bedtime jam? Do you doze off to jazz, a babbling brook, a crackling fire or a whirling fan of white noise? Or maybe you’re a sound aficionado, and have replaced your white noise machine with one that provides the more fashionable pink or brown noise? Whatever your pleasure, know this: While continuously

Low-dose aspirin may help protect the lungs and reduce the need to put patients on ventilators, researchers reported Wednesday. The cheap and widely available pills also keep patients out of ICUs and can reduce the risk of death, probably by preventing tiny blood clots, a team at George Washington University reported in a study published

Experts say there’s a tough race between Covid-19 vaccinations and a contagious variant that’s rapidly spreading across the US, threatening another dangerous surge — and the eased restrictions only further complicate things. “It’s going to be a close call,” Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health told CNN on Tuesday.

Coronavirus reinfections are relatively rare, but it’s more common for people 65 and older to get infected more than once, according to a study published Wednesday in the Lancet medical journal. A team of scientists, including some from Denmark’s Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Prevention, noted that most people who have had Covid-19 seemed

US Education Secretary Miguel Cardona on Wednesday projected optimism that the fall will bring a school year that looks “more like what it was before Covid,” but stressed that his focus remains on resuming in-person learning this spring. “My focus really right now is getting as many schools open — pre-K through eight schools —

With obesity a factor in Covid-19 vaccine eligibility, many Americans are scrambling to find out their body mass index, or BMI. But experts say the meaning behind those numbers — and how to lower them — isn’t always so clear-cut. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists obesity as an underlying medical condition,

Within the space of a few days, the rollout of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine has ground to a standstill in virtually all of western Europe. France, Spain, Germany, Italy and more than a dozen other countries have paused rollout of the shot, calling it a precautionary measure following concerns that it could be linked to

Guinness, like other Irish stouts, enjoys a seasonal popularity every St. Patrick’s Day. It has also been touted as being “good for you,” at least by its own advertising posters decades ago. But can this creamy, rich and filling beer really be added to a list of healthy beverages? Or is its reputation just good

The birds are chirping, the crocuses are sprouting and we have one extra hour of daylight upon us. Spring is within spitting distance (no germs, please) and in this pandemic year, we understand perhaps better than ever how precious our time is. This extra hour of daylight may be more meaningful than ever before, particularly

We’re one year, or roughly 31,536,000 seconds, into this new, strange pandemic life. We’ve missed loved ones and weddings and funerals, dance recitals and baseball playoffs, more “firsts” and simple pleasures than we can even count at this point. We’ve learned how to laugh with our eyes, through masks, from 6 feet away. We’ve learned

Food choices can make all the difference when it comes to getting a good night’s rest. If you struggle with falling and staying asleep, or wake up feeling tired, it might be time to take inventory of what you’re eating and when. These eight diet habits can cause you to toss and turn, so avoid

Canada has expanded its rollout of Oxford-AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine, reversing an earlier recommendation that it not to be given to seniors, even as more European nations moved to suspend its use. Citing recent real-world evidence from the United Kingdom, a Canadian expert advisory panel on Tuesday updated its recommendation on the vaccine to now include