Latest Health News

WEDNESDAY, May 24, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- A Dutch man with paralyzed legs can now stand and walk, thanks to a wireless brain-spine interface that responds to his thoughts by moving his legs.Gert-Jan Oskam, 40, suffered a spinal cord injury 11 years ago from a bike accident in China that left him unable to walk.Oskam now has a brain implant that picks up signals of movement that, in a healthy person, would travel down the spinal cord and cause the legs to move. Instead, that implant transmits those signals wirelessly to a second implant located in his lower spine, which then stimulates the muscles of the leg into action, researchers reportThis experimental high-tech “digital bridge” between the brain and spine allowed Oskam to pick up a paint brush just the other day and perform a...

WEDNESDAY, May 24, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Seizures of illicit ketamine by drug enforcement agents have surged throughout the United States, growing 349% from 2017 through 2022, a new study finds.Rising use of ketamine could increase the likelihood that people who use the drug recreationally may instead get a potentially harmful version of the substance, researchers say. “This dramatic rise in ketamine seizures by law enforcement may be indicative of rising nonmedical and recreational use,” said study co-author Joseph Palamar, a researcher in the Center for Drug Use and HIV/HCV Research at NYU School of Global Public Health. "Unlike illegal ketamine years ago, most illegally obtained ketamine today is not pharmaceutical grade and is sold in powder form, which may increase the risk...

WEDNESDAY, May 24, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Older Americans are increasingly likely to log into “patient portals” to access their health care information — but confidence levels vary. About 78% of people aged 50 to 80 now use at least one patient portal, according to the new University of Michigan (U-M) National Poll on Healthy Aging. Five years ago, just 51% in this age range used patient portals, the researchers said. The poll also found that 55% of those who used patient portals had done so in the past month. About 49% had accounts on more than one portal. This surge is partly due to the increase in use of telehealth visits, said Denise Anthony, the U-M School of Public Health professor who worked on the poll.“This change makes access to secure portals even more important...

WEDNESDAY, May 24, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Only 13% of American adults understand the purpose of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline nearly a year after its widely publicized launch, a new survey from the Pew Charitable Trusts shows.“There is an opportunity and a need for state and local leaders to launch inclusive awareness campaigns in the months ahead,” lead researcher and Pew senior manager Tracy Velázquez said in a statement, CNN reported. “The federal government’s most recent investment into 988 shows a commitment to building a strong crisis care infrastructure in the country — one that is critically important, given the many people experiencing mental health and substance use issues,” Velázquez added.The 988 line began last year after it was changed from...