Here you will find the health news of the week

Hi, Yahoo Life readers! I’m Kaitlin, your guide to the latest health headlines you may have missed.

Here’s what the team wrote about this week:

Here are three more stories you need to know this week.

New COVID vaccines are almost here

Americans may receive an updated COVID-19 vaccine sooner than expected. The new vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna will be available in doctor’s offices and pharmacies and have been updated based on KP.2, one of the commonly circulating FLiRT variants. The FDA gave these vaccines the green light earlier than expected to combat severe illness from the ongoing summer surge – the largest in two years.

Why it is important: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that everyone six months of age and older should get these booster shots, especially if they haven’t had a vaccine in a while. This is especially important for people over 65, who are at higher risk for serious illness, and anyone with underlying medical conditions such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer.

Although the CDC says you can get the shot right away, if you’re young and healthy, you may want to wait three months after a previous infection, some experts say, because antibodies from your most recent infection could potentially make the vaccine less effective.

Booster shots help reduce the risk of severe COVID disease. According to CDC data, as of May 11, only 22.5% of adults had received last year’s updated COVID vaccine, while only 14.4% of children ages 6 months to 17 years had been vaccinated.

This new vaccine doesn’t make you immune to COVID, which is still on the rise across the country. You can help stop the spread by getting tested if you’ve been exposed to the disease or have symptoms. (You’ll soon be able to order four tests per household for free from COVIDTests.gov.) As always, if you test positive, stay home and avoid others until you’re no longer contagious.

There is more plastic in our brains than ever before

Plastic… in our brains? This is actually happening: A new, not yet peer-reviewed preliminary study from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque collected autopsy samples from 2024 and found that they contained about 50% more plastic in the brain than samples from 2016. According to the preliminary study, the brains also contained 7 to 30% more tiny plastic fragments than samples from the kidneys and livers of the corpses.

Microplastics are plastic fragments larger than 5 millimeters, while nanoplastics are particles smaller than 1 nanometer. Researchers believe that plastic accumulates more in our brains because the brain contains a lot of fat, which attracts tiny plastic particles. Nanoplastics are so tiny that they can enter the brain via the blood, and the brain’s fat content appears to attract these particles more strongly than other organs, leading to higher plastic concentrations in brain tissue.

Why it is important: We know from previous research that microplastics and nanoplastics can enter the brain and other organs – but the exact health effects are still unknown. It is unclear whether the plastic itself is a problem or whether the problems are due to the chemicals it can transport into the body. Some research suggests that exposure to microplastics and nanoplastics can increase the risk of neurological diseases such as dementia and contribute to chronic problems such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity.

Unfortunately, it’s impossible to avoid plastic entirely – and again, the risks of exposure aren’t yet clear. However, if you want to limit your exposure to micro- and nanoplastics, avoid using plastic containers for food, drink tap water instead of water from plastic bottles, and don’t heat food in plastic. In addition, you can further reduce your risk by choosing fresh foods over packaged foods, limiting your seafood consumption (fish are at risk from ocean plastic pollution), and choosing plastic-free beauty products.

Baby food does not meet nutritional standards

According to a new study published in the journal Nutrients, most of the food we feed our little ones is not up to scratch. About 60% of baby food found on American grocery store shelves did not meet the World Health Organization’s nutritional guidelines, researchers found. Only about 30% of products met the agency’s protein recommendations. At the same time, 56% of products met sugar guidelines, 25% of foods did not meet calorie requirements, and 20% contained too much salt.

Why it is important: Baby food is a convenient way for time-poor parents to feed their children. However, many parents are unaware that these foods do not meet nutritional standards. Taste preferences and good eating habits develop during early childhood, which can even pave the way for “the development of chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes and some cancers later in life,” says Dr. Elizabeth Dunford, a professor of nutrition at the University of North Carolina who co-authored the study.

Many parents choose convenience foods and assume they are healthy, but they may not realize that their children are lacking certain nutrients – and therefore not being prepared for optimal health as they grow older.