Latest Health News

4Nov
2022

Almost 20 Million Older Americans Live With Sight-Robbing Macular Degeneration

Almost 20 Million Older Americans Live With Sight-Robbing Macular DegenerationFRIDAY, Nov. 4, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- In a finding that suggests more Americans than ever are struggling with their sight as they get older, researchers report that nearly 20 million adults have age-related macular degeneration (AMD).Broken down, about 18.3 million people aged 40 and up had an early stage of the condition in 2019, while almost 1.5 million people had late-stage AMD. "There haven't been many new examination-based studies of the prevalence of AMD, and the only nationally representative data on AMD were last collected in 2008. So, this limits the ability of researchers to update the estimates," said study author David Rein, director of the public health analytics program at NORC at the University of Chicago. "I think a strength of our study is our use of other data...

AHA News: As Cardiac Arrest Deaths Fall, Black and Rural...

4 November 2022
AHA News: As Cardiac Arrest Deaths Fall, Black and Rural Communities LagFRIDAY, Nov. 4, 2022 (American Heart Association News) -- Cardiac arrest deaths have dropped significantly in the U.S., except in Black and rural communities, according to new research.Cardiac arrest is when the heart stops beating unexpectedly. A heart attack can trigger cardiac arrest, but so can other heart and non-heart issues. Higher bystander CPR rates and improved cardiovascular care have saved lives, but cardiac arrest was still a factor in more than 370,000 deaths in the United States in 2019.For the new study, researchers looked at trends to pinpoint who was most likely to die of cardiac arrest, both in and out of the hospital. Using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and adjusting the statistics for age, they found a steady overall drop of more than 40%...

New Type of Antibiotic Could Fight Tough-to-Treat UTIs

4 November 2022
New Type of Antibiotic Could Fight Tough-to-Treat UTIsFRIDAY, Nov. 4, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- The world desperately needs new antibiotics to fight infection as bacteria become resistant to existing options.GSK has developed a new antibiotic to treat urinary tract infections (UTIs) that appears to be so effective the pharmaceutical company stopped testing early on the recommendation of independent monitors and plans to submit data to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration soon, CNN reported.The new antibiotic, called gepotidacin, is the first developed in more than 20 years to treat UTIs. It works by blocking enzymes the bacteria need to start multiplying in the body. UTIs happen to people of all ages, but are common and especially dangerous for frail, elderly people. The new treatment appears to work at least as well as nitrofurantoin,...

AHA News: How a Middle-of-the-Night Heart Attack at 40...

4 November 2022
AHA News: How a Middle-of-the-Night Heart Attack at 40 Became Her Wake-Up CallFRIDAY, Nov. 4, 2022 (American Heart Association News) -- Intense chest pain awakened Natalie Latham from a deep sleep. Surely, she figured, it was from the spicy soup she'd eaten the night before.Natalie had worked a full day in her role as marketing director for a bank in Brandon, Mississippi, then took one of her sons to baseball practice. Afterward, they picked up dinner from one of their favorite restaurants.She expected her spicy meal and the late dinner hour to activate the acid reflux she'd battled for years. Knowing she had to be up early the next morning, Natalie took her nightly antacid and went to bed.When the pain jolted her awake, she took more antacids and started pacing the bedroom floor, hoping the discomfort would subside. But this felt different from her usual acid...

Low-Nicotine Cigarettes Won't Leave Smokers Agitated, Study Finds

4 November 2022
Low-Nicotine Cigarettes Won`t Leave Smokers Agitated, Study FindsFRIDAY, Nov. 4, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has proposed limiting the amount of nicotine in cigarettes to minimally addictive levels, but there's been concern that the drop in nicotine could exacerbate anxieties in smokers who might already battle mood issues.However, a new study shows that while cigarettes with nicotine at 5% of the normal dose can help anxious or depressed smokers quit, they do so without adding to mood or anxiety problems that led them to smoke in the first place."There do not appear to be any concerning, unintended consequences of having to switch to very low nicotine cigarettes," said lead researcher Jonathan Foulds, a professor of public health sciences and psychiatry at Penn State University School of Medicine. "On the...

Simple Nose Swab Test Might Gauge Severity of Child's RSV

4 November 2022
Simple Nose Swab Test Might Gauge Severity of Child`s RSVFRIDAY, Nov. 4, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- While it isn't possible to tell parents how long their child will need to remain in intensive care with a serious case of RSV, new research has unearthed clues that may make it easier to predict which kids will require a longer stay.To study the issue, researchers from the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago used nose swabs from children with RSV in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) within a few days after hospital admission. The team examined what genes turn on in response to RSV, also called respiratory syncytial virus. Despite the same quantity of RSV and the same clinical presentation, some children showed signs of greater damage to the cells lining the inside of the nostrils. This, researchers found, correlated to...

Common Blood Pressure Drug Might Prevent Alzheimer's in Black Patients

4 November 2022
Common Blood Pressure Drug Might Prevent Alzheimer`s in Black PatientsFRIDAY, Nov. 4, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- A new study has shown the blood pressure drug telmisartan may offer new hope as an Alzheimer's treatment in Black patients. It did not show the same benefit in white people.Learning how people from different ethnic groups respond to the same drug could be key in the fight against Alzheimer's disease, researchers say. Even though Black people are more likely than white folks to develop the disease, they are underrepresented in clinical trials."Considering race-specific drug responses holds potential for drastically improving patient care," said study author Feixiong Cheng, of the Cleveland Clinic Genomic Medicine Institute. "Identifying these candidate drugs can also reveal more information about the disease itself through referencing the...

Monkeypox Can Be Passed On Even Before Symptoms Appear

3 November 2022
Monkeypox Can Be Passed On Even Before Symptoms AppearTHURSDAY, Nov. 3, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Monkeypox spreads even before a person shows any telltale lesions or other symptoms, a new study suggests.More than half of monkeypox transmission in the United Kingdom occurred in the pre-symptomatic phase, the researchers said.The new findings — published online Nov. 2 in the BMJ — may explain why monkeypox spread so quickly. More than 70,000 cases have been identified worldwide since an international outbreak started in May, but cases do seem to be on the decline.Monkeypox is a cousin of the smallpox virus, and the smallpox vaccine can protect people from monkeypox.Monkeypox transmission was seen up to four days before symptoms started, and the researchers estimated that 53% of transmission occurred during this phase. Thomas Ward, head...

CDC Issues New Guidance on Prescribed Opioids for Pain

THURSDAY, Nov. 3, 2022 -- U.S. doctors prescribing opioids for pain relief now have a new -- and more nuanced -- set of guidelines from the federal government.Issued by the U.S. Centers for...

Monkeypox in Kids, Teens Is Rare and Seldom Severe: CDC

THURSDAY, Nov. 3, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Out of the more than 25,000 U.S. cases of monkeypox reviewed in a new study, just 0.3% occurred in people under the age of 18, new government data...
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