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[ad_1] Moderna Covid-19 Vaccine mRNA 2024-2025 formula. Courtesy: Moderna A version of this article first appeared in CNBC's Healthy Returns newsletter, which brings the latest health-care news straight to your inbox. Subscribe here to receive future editions. It's that time of the year again. A new round of Covid shots is on its way to Americans.  The Food and Drug Administration last week approved updated mRNA-based vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna amid a relatively large summer surge of the virus. Here's what you need to know, including how the shots are different this time around, who is eligible, where to get a vaccine and more.  What makes these shots different? U.S. health officials have long told patients to expect annual updates to Covid shots as the virus mutates into new strains that can dodge the immunity people develop from previous vaccinations or infections. It's similar to how the U.S. rolls out new flu shots each year.  This time, the shots fro...

[ad_1] The newly FDA approved Alzheimer's treatment Leqembi is prepared at Abington Neurological Associates in Abington, PA., on Tuesday, November 7, 2023.  Hannah Yoon | The Washington Post | Getty Images The breakthrough Alzheimer's drug Leqembi slowed disease progression in patients over three years, demonstrating the need for them to stay on the treatment long term, according to new data released Tuesday by Japanese drugmaker Eisai .  The study results on Leqembi, which Eisai shares with Biogen , also found that a patient's Alzheimer's disease worsens after they stop treatment. Rates of adverse side effects associated with Leqembi, including brain bleeding and swelling, dropped after six months of treatment, Dr. Lynn Kramer, Eisai's chief clinical officer of deep human biology learning, told CNBC.  That decline is critical: Those side effects in the brain have raised concerns among some doctors and are the main reason a European drug regulator recommend...

[ad_1] The world is aging rapidly, and there are more and more ways to invest in this theme. Shams Afzal, managing director at Carnegie Investment Counsel, noted that 17% of the U.S. population is now over the age of 65, and that proportion is expected to grow higher. And the demographics of that age group is changing. There's been a "marked jump" in education levels — just 5% of those aged above 65 were degree holders in 1950, much lower than the 29% in 2018, Afzal said, citing Population Reference Bureau statistics. The gender gap in terms of mortality has also narrowed, from seven years in 1990 to five years in 2017, he said. "The aging population discussion in recent years has mostly revolved around future challenges to labor productivity and its economic growth implications," he said. "We see meaningful efforts by companies large and small, working to enhance the quality of life for individuals in this age group," Afzal, also a portfolio mana...

[ad_1] Sam Altman, chief executive officer and co-founder of OpenAI, speaks during a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, May 16, 2023. Congress is debating the potential and pitfalls of artificial intelligence as products like ChatGPT raise questions about the future of creative industries and the ability to tell fact from fiction.  Eric Lee | Bloomberg | Getty Images This past week, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman charmed a room full of politicians in Washington, D.C., over dinner, then testified for about nearly three hours about potential risks of artificial intelligence at a Senate hearing. After the hearing, he summed up his stance on AI regulation, using terms that are not widely known among the general public. "AGI safety is really important, and frontier models should be regulated," Altman tweeted. "Regulatory capture is bad, and we shouldn't mess with models below the threshold." In this case, "AGI" refers to ...

[ad_1] Children and teenagers in Utah are to lose access to social media apps such as TikTok if they don't have parental consent and would face other restrictions under a first-in-the-nation law designed to shield young people from the addictive apps. The two bills Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed into law also prohibit kids under 18 from using social media between the hours of 10:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m., require age verification for anyone who wants to use social media in the state and seek to prevent tech companies from luring kids to their apps using addictive features. The laws passed through Utah's GOP-supermajority Legislature reflect changing perceptions of both Democrats and Republicans toward technology companies. Tech giants like Facebook and Google have enjoyed unbridled growth for over a decade, but amid concerns over user privacy, hate speech, misinformation and harmful effects on teens' mental health, lawmakers have...

[ad_1] A new implant targeting Parkinson's disease has restored one man's ability to walk after 25 years of suffering from the disease, according to a study published in the journal  Nature Medicine on Monday. Marc Gauthier, 63, was diagnosed with Parkinson's at age 36 and experienced decreased locomotive functioning as the illness progressed. With help from the experimental, surgically implanted device, he is now able to walk over three miles without stopping, according to the study. "Getting into an elevator ... sounds simple. For me, before, it was impossible," Gauthier said in an interview with NeuroRestore , a Swiss research and treatment center that works to restore neurological functions. "I was skating, I was freezing. Now ... I have no problem," he added. Interview provided by .NeuroRestore. by NPG Press on YouTube Parkinson's is a brain disorder that results in degeneration of the nervous syst...

[ad_1] Eli Lilly headquarters in Indianapolis, Indiana, US, on Wednesday, May 3, 2023. Eli Lilly & Co.'s shares climbed in early US trading after its experimental drug for Alzheimer's slowed the progress of the disease in a final-stage trial, paving the way for the company to apply for US approval. AJ Mast | Bloomberg | Getty Images Eli Lilly said Friday that the Food and Drug Administration has pushed back its approval decision deadline for the drugmaker's experimental Alzheimer's treatment donanemab in a surprise move. The agency plans to call a last-minute meeting of its outside advisors to further review the treatment's safety and efficacy in a late-stage trial, Eli Lilly said. The FDA has not disclosed the date of that meeting, so a potential approval would likely come after this month. The FDA was expected to decide whether to greenlight the medicine by the end of the first quarter. That deadline was already delayed from an expected approval last ye...

[ad_1] A study published in the medical journal Nature on Monday found that targeted electrical pulses delivered to the spinal cord can help improve arm and hand movement after a stroke. Two patients were able to regain additional motion in their arm and hand through a device implanted at the base of the spine, which delivered pulses in areas responsible for hand and arm function. The patients were able to regain temporarily the ability to grab and move objects, when they had been previously unable to do so, by strengthening signals to the brain that enable movement. Figure A Nature Medicine "We're not bypassing their control. We're enhancing their capabilities to move their own arm," Marco Capogrosso, one of the researchers who worked alongside a team at Carnegie Mellon University, told the Associated Press. ...

[ad_1] A nurse prepares doses of the Pfizer vaccine during a COVID-19 vaccination event at Josephine's Southern Cooking in Chatham, Illinois, Dec. 30, 2021. Brian Cassella | Tribune News Service | Getty Images A new round of Covid vaccines is finally here in the U.S. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cleared single-strain shots from Pfizer and Moderna for all Americans six months and up on Tuesday, following approvals from the Food and Drug Administration on Monday. Those mRNA vaccines are designed to target a relatively new omicron subvariant called XBB.1.5 .  The first doses of the new shots will be available at some pharmacies and other vaccine distribution locations within 48 hours of the CDC's recommendation, agency staff said Tuesday during a meeting of independent advisors to the CDC. That means jabs could reach Americans as soon as Thursday. Meanwhile, the FDA is still reviewing a third updated vaccine from Novavax for people ages 12 and up.  Th...

[ad_1] Emotionally resilient people are deliberate in their response to painful experiences. They allow themselves to grieve, remind themselves of what they are grateful for, and focus on what they can control in the moment. But as a Harvard-trained psychologist , I've seen so many people struggle with this. It takes effort, practice and mental strength. If you use any of these phrases every day, you are more emotionally resilient than most: 1. "I can get through this." Emotional resilience is associated with grit and mental toughness. There is an understanding that we have to be strong and overcome adversity without letting it break us. Similar phrase: "As much as I hate this, I can survive it." 2. "I'm not going to let myself be a victim." Being resilient means that when you experience the pain of mistreatment, you shift your perspective from "I'm a victim and powerless to help myself" to "How can I grow from this?" ...

[ad_1] The Alzheimer's drug Leqembi is seen in this undated handout image obtained by Reuters on January 20, 2023. Eisai | via Reuters Medicare has agreed to pay for the Alzheimer's treatment Leqembi , a major turning point for patients who are diagnosed with the early stages of the disease. Leqembi is the only drug on the market right now that has demonstrated the ability to slow the progression of early stages of Alzheimer's disease in a clinical trial. The monoclonal antibody, administered twice monthly through intravenous means, slowed cognitive decline by 27% over 18 months in the trial. Leqembi is made by Japanese drugmaker Eisai and its partner Biogen , which is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Medicare's decision to cover Leqembi, which came moments after the Food and Drug Administration fully approved the drug Thursday, promises to make the treatment more accessible to patients. Medicare coverage is crucial for most patients to have any hope of being...