Latest Health News

FRIDAY, March 27, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- The United States passed China as the country with the most coronavirus cases in the world late Thursday, as the U.S. House appeared poised to pass a $2 trillion stimulus package to bolster America's sagging economy. The unprecedented legislation would send $1,200 checks to many Americans, create a $367 billion loan program for small businesses and set up a $500 billion fund for industries, cities and states, the Washington Post reported. The help cannot come too soon, as more than 100 million Americans -- nearly 1 in 3 -- have been ordered by their state's governors to stay home. Nearly 86,000 U.S. COVID-19 cases have been confirmed, with 1,296 deaths, the Associated Press reported Thursday. New York is the epicenter of the U.S....

THURSDAY, March 26, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- For people very sick with COVID-19, access to a mechanical ventilator can mean life or death. Trouble is, they're in short supply in the United Sates and around the world. Now, research suggests that a widely used clot-busting stroke drug might help COVID-19 patients who can't access a ventilator or who fail to improve even when they do gain access. The research focuses on a drug called tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), which is normally used to quickly dissolve blood clots that cause strokes or heart attacks. New data from China and Italy suggest that people with COVID-19 have a significant blood-clotting disorder. Patients in respiratory failure develop blood clots in the lungs and tiny blockages in the lung's blood vessels. These...

THURSDAY, March 26, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- PTSD can cause severe psychic distress, but it may also raise heart risks for female veterans in particular, a new study suggests. "The association we found was incredibly strong," said lead author Dr. Ramin Ebrahimi, a cardiologist affiliated with the Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System. "We have a rising number of women veterans, and a large proportion of them -- nearly 1 in 5 -- have PTSD," Ebrahimi said in an American College of Cardiology news release. "These women are at high risk for heart disease, and what's more, they appear to be getting it at a younger age -- even in their 40s. This is not something we can ignore." Researchers analyzed U.S. Veterans Affairs data on more than 835,000 female veterans who...

THURSDAY, March 26, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Methamphetamine use is soaring again, with nearly one million Americans hooked on it, according to federal health officials. Between 2015 and 2018, about 53% of the 1.6 million meth users were addicted to it and slightly more than 22% said they injected the drug, according to a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC noted that mental illness and use of other drugs were common among meth users. "Identifying characteristics associated with past-year methamphetamine use provides insights into populations to prioritize for prevention and response efforts, such as males, middle-aged adults and people living in rural areas," said lead researcher Dr. Christopher Jones. He's associate director of the Office...