Over 65? Here's what Massachusetts recommends for flu and COVID vaccines - Cape Cod Times

High blood pressure is a major risk factor for heart disease, so it’s important to keep it in check. It’s possible to lower blood pressure without medication by losing weight, exercising and eating a healthier diet. One vegetable in particular stands out, says Dr. Annapoorna Kini, a cardiologist at the Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital in New York. Heart Health Tip of the Day: Add Beets to Your Diet“If you really want to know what decreases blood pressure, it is beet — beet root,” Kini tells TODAY.com. Beets contain nitrates, which get converted to nitric oxide in the body, and “plays an essential role in cardiovascular health,” researchers note. It’s a natural vasodilator, meaning it opens blood vessels, allowing greater blood flow. “It works on the (blood) vessel wall — dilates the smooth muscle of the vessel wall. That way, your vessel remains pliable,” Kini adds. Why It MattersBlood vessels become more rigid as people get older and start building up plaque in their arteries, Kini notes; and when the arteries get stiff, that’s how you develop high blood pressure.

Continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) could transform diabetes management for millions of Americans with type 2 diabetes who don't take insulin, according to findings published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The clinical trial found that adults using CGMs spent approximately five additional hours each day within their target blood sugar range compared with those receiving routine care. Nearly twice as many CGM users also achieved an A1c level below 7%, a common treatment goal for people with diabetes.

Patients who wore noise-canceling headphones during minimally invasive gynecological surgery were significantly less likely to experience postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV), suggest findings from a randomized clinical trial presented at the Anesthesiology 2026 annual meeting.

“Beyond Detecting Cancer Recurrence: Can Whole-Genome Sequencing-Based ctDNA Monitoring Help Personalize Adjuvant Treatment? An exciting new study published in The Oncologist highlights the clinical potential of Signatera Genome, a whole-genome sequencing (WGS)-based, tumor-informed circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) assay, not only for detecting molecular residual disease (MRD), but also for potentially informing adjuvant treatment decisions.