Health Highlights: Dec. 5, 2022​

Shingles ups odds for heart attack, stroke by almost 30%. Luckily, getting a shingles vaccine guards against the condition and thereby may also protect against heart issues. Read more

Vicious cycle: Epilepsy seizures can prompt more epilepsy seizures. Mouse studies show that seizures cause the brain to change the structure of myelin, the insulating sheath that covers nerve cells. These changes predispose the brain to have more seizures, researchers said. Read more

'COVID-somnia' may be easing as Americans report better sleep. A new survey finds a 25% decrease in troubled sleep compared to 2021, when a prior poll found 56% of people were experiencing pandemic-linked insomnia. Read more

U.S. to end mpox public health emergency in January. Cases of the infection are down significantly, leading the federal government to not renew an emergency designation for the virus when it expires late next month. Read more

There are now no monoclonal antibody treatments that work against new COVID variants. The last of six such treatments lost its FDA authorization this past week because, like the others, it no longer worked against the new Omicron subvariants. Read more