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MONDAY, Feb. 27, 2023 (American Heart Association News) -- Mark Wangrin and his wife, Barbara, put on their athletic gear and drove to their Austin, Texas, fitness center for an early morning Sunday workout. Mark hopped on treadmill No. 1. Barbara climbed onto a nearby rower. Then she switched to weights.While running, Mark glanced at the digital board in the front of the room that tracked people's workout statistics. His heart rate was registering at 240 beats per minute. He thought it was a technology glitch and kept going.Soon after, he collapsed."We need a doctor or nurse at treadmill one!" a coach yelled.Barbara was the first to reach Mark. He lay on the ground beside the equipment. His face had turned Smurf blue.A certified physical therapy assistant who's taken annual CPR...

MONDAY, Feb. 27, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Many women experience blinding migraine headaches around their monthly period, and now researchers have a clue about why.Levels of the female hormone estrogen fluctuate during menstruation, which may lead to increases in calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP). This protein widens blood vessels in the brain, which is part of the cascade of events that cause migraines.“Women with migraine had higher CGRP levels in the blood and tear fluid during menstruation than women without migraine,” said study leader Dr. Bianca Raffaelli, a neurology resident at Charité–University Medicine Berlin in Germany. She is also a fellow with the Clinician Scientist Program jointly operated by Charité and the Berlin Institute of Health at Charité.More...

MONDAY, Feb. 27, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Certain gene mutations put women at high risk of breast cancer, and now an early study hints that obesity might make matters worse.The findings come from a study of breast tissue samples from women who carried particular mutations in genes called BRCA1 and BRCA2 — which convey much higher-than-normal risks of both breast and ovarian cancers.The researchers found that among women who were obese, healthy breast tissue showed more signs of DNA damage that can promote cancer.The findings, published Feb. 22 in the journal Science Translational Medicine, do not prove that obesity exacerbates the already high breast cancer risk in women who carry BRCA mutations.But they do raise that possibility, according to senior researcher Kristy Brown, an...

MONDAY, Feb. 27, 2023 (HealthDay News) – A new at-home test will help people struggling with upper respiratory symptoms figure out whether they have COVID-19 or the flu.The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Lucira under an emergency use authorization (EUA) on Friday. “Today’s authorization of the first OTC [over-the-counter] test that can detect influenza A and B, along with SARS-CoV-2, is a major milestone in bringing greater consumer access to diagnostic tests that can be performed entirely at home,” Dr. Jeff Shuren, director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, said in an agency news release. “The FDA strongly supports innovation in test development, and we are eager to continue advancing greater access to at-home infectious disease testing...