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THURSDAY, April 6, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- A "morning after" dose of a common antibiotic can greatly lower the chances of sexually transmitted bacterial infections in high-risk people, a new clinical trial has found.Researchers discovered that taking the antibiotic doxycycline within 72 hours of unprotected sex slashed the risk of gonorrhea, chlamydia and syphilis by two-thirds among gay and bisexual men and transgender women who either had HIV or were taking medication to help prevent HIV.The benefits at the one-year mark were considered so convincing that the trial was stopped early.Experts said the findings, published April 6 in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed that the approach to prevention is "highly effective."And that's needed at a time when sexually transmitted...

THURSDAY, April 6, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- It’s well known that being overweight or obese can increase health risks. But a new study finds that the reasons why a person is obese may have some impact on heart disease risk. Specifically, being obese because of lifestyle carried higher risks than it did if the extra weight was due to genetic predisposition, researchers found. “The link between obesity and cardiovascular disease was twice as strong in those with a genetic predisposition to a low BMI as it was in those with obesity driven by genetic factors,” said study author Ida Karlsson, an assistant professor at the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the Karolinska Institute in Solna, Sweden.To study this, her team used data from more than 15,000 twins from...

THURSDAY, April 6, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Sleep problems — from snoring to sleeping too much or too little — may be associated with elevated stroke risk, researchers say.Snorting during sleep, having poor quality of sleep and sleep apnea may also be linked with greater risk of stroke, according to study findings published online April 5 in the journal Neurology.“Not only do our results suggest that individual sleep problems may increase a person’s risk of stroke, but having more than five of these symptoms may lead to five times the risk of stroke compared to those who do not have any sleep problems,” said study author Dr. Christine McCarthy, of University of Galway in Ireland.“Our results suggest that sleep problems should be an area of focus for stroke prevention,”...

WEDNESDAY, April 5, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Medicaid reimbursement for mental health services varies widely across the United States, making it hard for many folks who need help to get it, a new study finds.Researchers found as much as a fivefold difference among states in Medicaid reimbursement rates. Even though Medicaid, the governmental health care program for low-income Americans, serves a population that is disproportionately affected by mental illness, many providers choose not to care for Medicaid patients due to low reimbursement rates.At the same time, a growing demand for help with depression, anxiety and substance use means many psychologists are unable to take on new patients, according to a 2022 American Psychological Association survey.Medicare, the federal health...