Lisa O'Mary

North Carolina

Freelance Journalist at WebMD

Writer at Freelance

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Articles

New Science Reveals How to Quit Vaping - and Stick With It

1 day ago | webmd.com | Lisa O'Mary

April 23, 2025 – If you're one of the hundreds of thousands of young people trying to quit vaping, here's some good news: New research reveals the strategies that work – and can help you quit for good. Using three tools instead of one can boost your odds of success by as much as tenfold, according to a compelling new study published today in TheJournal of the American Medical Association. It marks the first clinical trial to examine how well medication works at helping youths quit nicotine vaping.
Tick Season Is Back, but New Lyme Treatment Is on the Horizon

1 day ago | webmd.com | Lisa O'Mary

April 23, 2025 – Tick season is back, and so is the threat of Lyme disease, with cases expected to climb yet again as climate change fuels tick activity. But two new studies point to new treatment options on the horizon: Researchers have identified new strategies that could make it easier to stop infection early and also reduce the risk of developing a long-term complication called Lyme arthritis. Here’s what to know.
New Study Links Cannabis and Dementia. Here’s What That Means

3 days ago | webmd.com | Lisa O'Mary

April 21, 2025 – Add cannabis to the list of things now linked to a heightened risk of dementia. Cannabis users who visited the emergency room or were hospitalized were up to four times as likely as people in the general population to be diagnosed with dementia within five years, according to a large new study.
Parkinson's Disease May Soon Outpace Dementia: What to Know

1 week ago | webmd.com | Lisa O'Mary

April 11, 2025 – Two incurable diseases loom over our aging populace: Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. Right now, Alzheimer's is more common and seems a more widespread concern than the relatively narrow shadow cast by Parkinson's. That may change, as revealed by a surprising new study. North American cases of Parkinson's disease are projected to increase 30% by 2050, and will double globally, according to the study, published last month in the journal The BMJ.
How to Get the Breastfeeding Help You Need for Better Health

2 weeks ago | webmd.com | Lisa O'Mary

April 9, 2024 – Breastfeeding is hard, and most new moms need more help than they're getting. At stake is their babies' health, and their own. That's the message from an influential federal advisory group that is renewing its call for more breastfeeding support for new mothers. More than 90% of moms-to-be say they intend to breast feed, yet less than 60% are doing so when their babies reach 6 months old. Even fewer – just 27% – exclusively breastfeed at that point.
Can Enjoying Food Help You Lose Weight? Research Says Yes

4 weeks ago | webmd.com | Lisa O'Mary

March 26, 2025 – Here's something that might surprise you: People with obesity aren't driven to eat more because they find junk foods especially pleasurable. It's actually the opposite. They tend to enjoy food less than people within a healthy weight range do. But what if helping people enjoy eating more could lead them to lose weight? That's exactly what researchers are exploring. Over time, eating a consistently high-fat diet trains the brain to see indulgent foods as less satisfying.
Why Depression Hits Girls Harder Than Boys

1 month ago | webmd.com | Lisa O'Mary

March 25, 2025 – Girls are twice as likely as boys to be diagnosed with depression, and researchers in London have now uncovered clues as to why. Girls' brains are more likely to use a common dietary amino acid called tryptophan in a way that is neurotoxic, or harmful to nerves, even though most people's brains use it to make a compound that is neuroprotective, or helpful to nerves.
High-Risk Plaque: The Hidden Killer That Has Doctors Divided

1 month ago | webmd.com | Lisa O'Mary

March 20, 2025 -- More people are likely to be diagnosed with a condition that heightens the risk of heart attack and stroke, thanks to a controversial broadening of the definition that has cardiologists sharply divided. The condition is “high-risk” plaque, once narrowly defined as plaque built up in the arteries that is likely to rupture, possibly leading to an acute heart attack or sudden cardiac death. It was rarely diagnosed due to the need for complex imaging tests.
Breakthrough Study Shows Babies Can Form Memories at Age 1

1 month ago | webmd.com | Lisa O'Mary

March 20, 2025 – For the first time, scientists have found that babies are able to store memories in the brain region called the hippocampus. The ability appears to start around 1 year old. What still remains a mystery is why these early memories elude us, unable to be retrieved or recalled. Our earliest childhood memories emerge around 3½ to 4 years old, a phenomenon that has long drawn popular and scientific fascination.
Cannabis May Harm Your Heart: Key Data From Two New Studies

1 month ago | webmd.com | Lisa O'Mary

March 18, 2025 – Don't be surprised if your doctor specifically asks during your next checkup whether you use marijuana. It's not just that it's so common now (1 in 5 people use cannabis). They want to warn you about heart attack risk. Until recently, there hasn't been a lot of conclusive evidence about the drug's health impacts.