HEALTH SECRET

As more evidence shows the potential health risks of alcohol consumption, public perception around drinking is shifting. Yulia Shaihudinova/Getty Images * A new study found that light to moderate drinking is associated with increased cancer- and disease-related mortality in older adults. * The findings corroborate mounting evidence showing the harmful effects of alcohol consumption, even for moderate drinkers. * Public perception around alcohol is shifting, especially for young people, as more people choose to limit their consumption or avoid it altogether to preserve their health. Everything in moderation — but with caveats.  As more research confirms the negative health effects of alcohol consumption, even in moderate amounts, long-held beliefs about the purported health benefits of the occasional drink or two are shifting. A large new study published August 12 in JAMA Network Open found that moderate-level alcohol consumption had no benefit for older ad...

Can GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic affect fertility and interfere with birth control? Maryna Auramchuk/Getty Images * Losing weight can increase the chance of pregnancy for those with overweight or obesity. * GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy can help people lose weight and, in turn, increase their likelihood of getting pregnant. * These medications may also interfere with the effectiveness of some forms of birth control. * The FDA states that no one should take GLP-1 drugs if they are trying to become pregnant. While taking GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Zepbound can help you lose weight and manage type 2 diabetes, if you are planning to become pregnant or trying to avoid conceiving, there are risks these medications may pose. Healthline spoke with experts who provided clear answers to some of the most common questions about the effects GLP-1 drugs can have on fertility and increased risks during pregnancy. Can drugs like Ozempic increase...

New research highlights which types of health insurance plans are paying for the majority of prescriptions for GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy in the United States. Natalia Lebedinskaia/Getty Images * The majority of prescriptions in the United States for GLP-1 drug semaglutide were paid with commercial insurance. * Semaglutide is the active ingredient in anti-diabetes drugs Ozempic and Rybelsus, and the weight loss drug Wegovy. * Smaller numbers of people paid for GLP-1 prescriptions with Medicaid and Medicare, and even fewer by cash. A new study shows that commercial health insurance paid for the majority of prescriptions in the United States for the anti-diabetes drugs Ozempic and Rybelsus and the anti-obesity drug Wegovy. This trend was especially true for Wegovy. In contrast, much smaller numbers of prescriptions for these drugs were filled using Medicare Part D or Medicaid, with a tiny fraction of people paying with cash. “Despite the disproporti...

Boar's Head announced Friday that it was recalling all of its liverwurst products because they could be tainted with dangerous Listeria monocytogenes bacteria. http://dlvr.it/TB795H

Could a short diet questionnaire encourage patients to make better food choices and improve heart health? In the past, your health care team had to rely on lengthy surveys to better understand what you were eating. But that's all changed with the Mini-EAT assessment tool. http://dlvr.it/TB6Vb2

Seven lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic about ventilation's crucial role in preventing the spread of airborne pathogens have been set out by world-leading air quality scientist Professor Lidia Morawska, Professor Yuguo Li from The University of Hong Kong and Professor Tunga Salthammer from the University of Surrey, UK. http://dlvr.it/TB684p

A new study published in Nature Genetics by the Lymphoid Development Group at the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences has reveals that the contribution of cells expressing maternal or paternal X chromosomes can be selectively skewed in different parts of the body. The study leverages human data from the 1000 Genomes Project combined with mouse models of human X chromosome-linked DNA sequence variation to advance our fundamental understanding of development in biologically female individuals who have two X chromosomes. http://dlvr.it/TB5lYr