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WEDNESDAY, March 8, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Opioids pose the greatest poison risk to children in the United States, accounting for more than half of poisoning deaths in infants and toddlers, a new study reports.About 52% of poisoning deaths of children aged 5 and younger in 2018 involved the ingestion of an opioid, according to findings published online March 8 in the journal Pediatrics.“In fact, it has doubled since 2005, when about 24% of all poisoning deaths were attributable to opioids,” said lead researcher Dr. Christopher Gaw, a pediatric emergency physician at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.Experts chalk the rise in these child poisonings up to the United States’ continuing opioid epidemic.“This confirms what we know, which is there are more opioids available in...

WEDNESDAY, March 8, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- A water heater set to 120 degrees Fahrenheit can release water from the tap hot enough to cause a second-degree burn in about nine minutes. Turned up to 130 degrees, that injury happens in just 25 seconds. At 140 degrees, it only takes three seconds, according to a new study that tallied the personal and financial costs of scalding injuries in the United States.Researchers led by Wendy Shields, a senior scientist from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, recommend a potential solution to help prevent these serious accidents. Mandating thermostatic mixing valves that add cold water to tap water before it comes out of the faucet could make a difference, they said.“Scald burns are actually something that's fairly...

WEDNESDAY, March 8, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Add gastrointestinal problems to the long list of lingering conditions that can follow COVID-19.New research has found that people who have had COVID-19 are at an increased risk of gastrointestinal disorders within a year of their infection — including liver problems, acute pancreatitis, irritable bowel syndrome, acid reflux and ulcers in the lining of the stomach or upper intestine.They may also have an increased likelihood of constipation, diarrhea, abdominal pain, bloating and vomiting, according to researchers from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Mo., and the Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care system.“Gastrointestinal problems were among the first that were reported by the patient community,” senior...

WEDNESDAY, March 8, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Women are more likely than men to die after coronary artery bypass surgery, according to a large new study.Researchers still don’t understand why women have these poorer outcomes.“This should be a ‘wake-up call’ for cardiothoracic surgeons — women still have a higher risk of adverse outcomes following coronary artery bypass surgery, and there doesn’t seem to have been any change in this trend over the past decade,” said study leader Dr. Mario Gaudino. He is a cardiothoracic surgeon at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City.The study found that, compared with men, women have a roughly 30% to 40% higher risk of death after bypass surgery. Women had a 2.8% death rate during or soon after surgery,...