Pop music legend Elton John says that he can no longer see following an eye infection he battled last summer. The prolific singer-songwriter made the announcement Sunday at a charity gala performance of “The Devil Wears Prada: The Musical,” a theater production he scored. “I haven’t been able to come to many of the previews, because as you know, I’ve lost my eyesight, so it’s hard for me to see it, but I love to hear it — and boy, it sounded good tonight,” the artist said while speaking onstage, according to a video posted by Storyful. In November, John told “Good Morning America” co-anchor Robin Roberts about his struggles with his vision.”I unfortunately lost my eyesight in my right eye in July, because I had an infection in the south of France, and it’s been four months now since I haven’t been able to see,” he said at the time, adding that “my left eye is not the greatest.” “There’s hope and encouragement that it will be OK, but I’m kind of stuck at the moment,” he told Roberts. “I can do something like this, but going into the studio and recording, I don’t know.” John said he is trying whatever he can to improve his vision, but he still can’t see, watch or read anything. He added that despite his condition, he feels “lucky,” “grateful”…  read on >  read on >

Folks soon might have their brain activity scanned using a temporary tattoo, a new study suggests. This temporary scalp tattoo allowed researchers to track electrical brain activity much more easily than with conventional electrodes, researchers reported Dec. 2 in the journal Cell Biomaterials. Electronic tattoos, or e-tattoos, printed onto the scalps of five people performed just as well as electrodes at detecting brainwaves, researchers report. The e-tattoos also were easier to apply and lasted longer than an electrode array glued to the scalp, researchers found. “Our innovations in sensor design, biocompatible ink and high-speed printing pave the way for future on-body manufacturing of electronic tattoo sensors, with broad applications both within and beyond clinical settings,” said researcher Nanshu Lu, a professor of biomedical engineering with the University of Texas at Austin. Doctors use electroencephalography (EEG) to diagnose, track and treat a wide variety of illnesses, including seizures, cancer, epilepsy and brain injury. A traditional EEG test requires technicians to measure each patient’s scalp with rulers and pencils, marking more than a dozen spots where electrodes could be glued and wired, researchers said in background notes. It’s a time-consuming process, so Lu and her team decided to see whether such electrode arrays could be replaced with liquid ink e-tattoos. These tattoos contain sensors that can track electrical activity in the body. The team designed a liquid…  read on >  read on >

Blocking blood flow to the site of knee arthritis can reduce pain and potentially prevent the need for knee replacement surgery, a new study says. The procedure, called genicular artery embolization (GAE), improved patients’ quality of life by 87% and their pain by 71% at a one-year follow-up, researchers report. “Our study found that GAE can effectively reduce knee pain and improve quality of life early after the treatment, with these benefits being maintained over the long term, especially for people who haven’t had success with other treatments like physical therapy or pain medications,” said lead researcher Dr. Florian Nima Fleckenstein, an interventional radiologist at Charité – University Hospital Berlin in Germany. The genicular arteries are six leg arteries that meet to form a network around the knee joint, researchers said in background notes. These arteries are altered in patients with knee arthritis. Researchers reasoned that blocking blood flow from these arteries at the site of knee pain could help reduce inflammation, continual wear down of cartilage and the growth of new nerves that increase pain sensation. For the study, researchers performed GAE on more than 400 people ages 40 to 90 with moderate to severe knee arthritis that hadn’t responded to other treatments. The procedure involves injecting small particles into specific blood vessels to block blood flow, researchers said. Results showed that the procedure…  read on >  read on >

Folks might want to try timing their COVID-19 booster vaccine to coincide with a period of increased transmission in their area, a new study suggests. Doing so can improve protection against COVID infection as much as fourfold compared to getting the jab when the coronavirus isn’t spreading as much, researchers report in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases. “Timing is everything when it comes to COVID-19 boosters,” lead researcher Jeffrey Townsend, a professor of biostatistics at the Yale School of Public Health, said in a news release. “Our research shows that receiving your booster shot at the right time can make a significant difference in your protection against infection,” he said. “By tailoring booster schedules to local COVID-19 patterns, we can help ensure people are best protected when they need it most.” Results show that receiving a booster in September or October provides three to four times more protection against infection in the U.S., compared to shots given later in the year. For example, New Yorkers can get the best protection by getting their booster on Sept. 15, the study found. Waiting until January reduces its effectiveness by 3.6-fold. Ideally, booster shots should precede peak COVID periods by just under three months, the study found. That gives the shot a chance to maximize protection just as the virus starts to circulate, researchers said. Delaying booster shots…  read on >  read on >

Concussion-related brain damage can combine with a family history of mental illness to make some athletes and military personnel prone to aggression and violence in middle age, a new study says.  People with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) are at higher risk of mood changes and dementia, but this study shows that aggression is another risk posed by the condition. “This appears to be a case where together these risk factors add up to a greater risk for aggression than they each do on their own, where people with CTE and a family history of mental illness are much more likely to have aggressive behavior than those with just CTE or just the family history,” researcher Dr. Jesse Mez, an associate professor of neurology with the Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, said in a news release. Some individual cases have already highlighted the potential link between CTE and violence. For example, former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez hanged himself in jail at age 27 following his conviction for the murder of a friend. Autopsy of his brain revealed it was riddled with CTE damage, particularly in regions associated with decision-making and judgment. In this study, researchers looked at 845 men exposed to repetitive head impacts through contact sports or military service, including 329 who played professional football. All donated their brains…  read on >  read on >

The collected evidence is in, and drinking about eight cups of water per day is, in fact, good for you. So says a University of California San Francisco team who crunched the data from 18 randomized controlled trials. “For such a ubiquitous and simple intervention, the evidence hasn’t been clear and the benefits were not well-established, so we wanted to take a closer look,” explained study senior author Dr. Benjamin Breyer, chair of the university’s Department of Urology.   “To our knowledge, this is the first study assessing the benefits of water consumption on clinical outcomes broadly,” he said in a university news release. Breyer’s team published its findings Nov. 25 in JAMA Network Open. The best evidence that lots of water is good for you came from studies citing its power to prevent kidney stones, and to also help folks lose weight. If you’ve had a kidney stone, drinking eight cups of water each day can help prevent a recurrence, the evidence showed.  Drinking six or more cups of water per day also seemed to help adults shed excess pounds, studies showed, although eight cups per day didn’t help teens lose weight. Headaches seemed to ease in frequency if adults upped their water intake, and other trials found that lots of water could help prevent migraines and urinary tract infections. Having about four cups…  read on >  read on >

The outgoing Biden administration will propose that pricey GLP-1 obesity medications such as semaglutide (Wegovy), and tirzepatide (Zepbound) be covered by Medicare and Medicaid. However, the move would have to be approved by the new Trump administration.  Right now, a law passed by Congress two decades ago prevents the Medicare and Medicaid from covering any “weight loss” drug.  Under the Biden proposal, that rule would be circumvented by calling the medications treatments for the disease of obesity and its related health issues.  “We don’t want to see people having to wait until they have these additional diseases before they get treatment,” Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), told The New York Times. Under the proposed rule, every state Medicaid program would be required to cover the cost of the medications, which currently are priced at more than $1,200 per month before any drug company discounts. According to CMS estimates, passage of the rule would open access to the weight-loss medications to 3.4 million potential new patients under Medicare and another 4 million under Medicaid.  But the incoming Trump administration would need to sign off on the new legislation. The person tapped by the president-elect to head the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, has long been a skeptic of the drugs, asserting that weight…  read on >  read on >