Health

Fitbit remains one of the most recognizable brands in health and fitness wearables, and it just launched its first new hardware product for more than six months: the GPS-enabled, Spotify-ready Fitbit Charge 4.

The WHO is standing by its recommendation healthy members of the population need not wear face masks to protect against COVID-19. However, some experts are suggesting broad implementation of masks may be useful in curbing viral transmission.

Billions of people are currently confined to their homes, many are asking how long will this lockdown last, and what happens when we re-emerge? New models are suggesting this wave of social distancing is just the first phase of a war that may last until 2022.

Wearables continue to get smaller, cheaper, and more capable, and the latest to enter the fray is the Wyze Band. For a mere US$25 you get just about everything you could want from a compact fitness tracker.

After a decade of legal and political battles, the FDA finally issued a conclusive new ruling for warnings on cigarette packs. The 11 new labels will fill 50 percent of the package with text and graphic imagery depicting the consequences of smoking.

A new report, from the world’s leading epidemic modeling group at Imperial College London, is suggesting intensive active suppression may be the best intervention to reduce mortality and healthcare demand as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread.

A new report from a WHO infectious disease team is estimating about two-thirds of Covid-19 cases worldwide have gone undetected. The analysis suggests the global spread of the novel coronavirus is greater than the current volume of confirmed cases.

Research from a team of US scientists is again raising doubt over the safety of “BPA-free” plastic products. The animal studies described in a new article suggest bisphenol S (BPS) “causes almost identical changes in gene expression” compared to BPA.

A newly published study from the Chinese CDC is offering a massive epidemiological insight into the ongoing novel coronavirus outbreak. The paper examines more than 44,000 confirmed patients finding over 80 percent of cases are only mild in severity.

Two new studies are offering insights into diet, gut bacteria, and health. One finds a Mediterranean diet can reconfigure gut bacteria to promote healthy aging, while another finds gut bacteria producing a metabolite that increases heart disease risk.

Couples trying to conceive often feel like they're racing the clock, as the quality and number of eggs declines in women. Now, this egg aging process has been reversed in mice using a metabolic compound, possibly leading to new fertility drugs.

Atherosclerosis is a disease where fatty plaques build up in the arteries, increasing risk of heart attack or stroke. But now, researchers at Oxford have found a protein that could be targeted in new prevention drugs for these deadly buildups.