Immediate skin-to-skin contact between newborns and their mothers offers a better start in life, improving a number of key health metrics, according to a newly-updated Cochrane review.

Antidepressants can differ widely in how they physically affect the body, including around a 4 kg difference in weight change between certain drugs (approximately 2.5 kg weight loss from agomelatine and 2kg weight gain from maprotiline), confirms a systematic review and meta-analysis published in The Lancet. The authors emphasise that these findings should not deter people from taking antidepressants, which remain vital and effective treatments for mental health conditions. Instead, they say the results highlight the importance of tailoring the treatment to each individual, taking into account their personal health and preferences.

Clocking up at least 4000 daily steps on just 1 or 2 days per week is linked to a lower risk of death and cardiovascular disease among older women, finds research published online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

Less than half of schoolchildren in England who are at risk of a serious and potentially life-threatening allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) to food were prescribed the antidote—an adrenaline [epinephrine] autoinjector, or AAI for short—finds an analysis of national prescribing data, published online in the Archives of Disease in Childhood.

A new study by investigators from Mass General Brigham examined 13,547 older women, comparing their step counts over a one week period against their mortality and cardiovascular disease rates over the next decade. They found that achieving just 4,000 steps one or two days per week was associated with lower risk of mortality and cardiovascular disease—and with more steps came even greater benefits, up to a point when risk reductions leveled.

About The Study: In this case-control study, risk factors for suicide attempt and suicide incompletely overlapped and may present distinct opportunities for prevention, risk prediction, and suicide-risk screening. 

A new Gerontological Society of America report, “Concentric Value of Vaccination: Intersecting Health, Economic, and Societal Benefits,” provides evidence on the advantages of immunization for individual and population health, economic outcomes, and societal well-being.