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MONDAY, Oct. 24, 2022 (American Heart Association News) -- The good news is that fear can persuade us to avoid dangerous situations or help us flee from an angry bear.The bad news is that fear can lead to chronic stress, with serious health consequences.So should that affect your Halloween plans?Probably not, said Zachary Sikora, medical director of psychology at Northwestern Medicine in suburban Chicago – unless you think scary movies and haunted houses might trigger more serious anxiety, or if you have cardiovascular disease that could be exacerbated by a sudden and dramatic increase in heart rate and blood pressure."For most people, experiencing mild to moderate levels of fear in a safe context is good," he said. "We can embrace that and have fun."But whether it's frivolous fun or...

MONDAY, Oct. 24, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Training to become a doctor can be grueling, and now a new study finds a direct correlation between longer work hours and depression symptoms in first-year residents.Medical residency -- the training that new doctors undergo at hospitals or clinics -- is infamous for its demanding schedule, high pressure and relatively low pay. Research has shown that residents also have fairly high depression rates. The new study suggests that long work hours, specifically, take a toll on residents' mental health.Researchers found that among more than 17,000 first-year residents across the United States, average scores on a depression scale rose hand-in-hand with the number of hours worked each week.Of residents surpassing 90 hours on the clock a week,...

MONDAY, Oct. 24, 2022 (HealthDay News) – About 88 nursing homes in the United States are on a watch list for worrisome care that puts residents in danger, but now they will face tougher penalties for any future violation.Those tougher penalties could include the loss of federal funding if they receive more than one dangerous violation, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said Friday. The new penalties will apply to fewer than 0.5% of U.S. nursing homes that are already designated as a “special focus facility” because of a previous violation.“Let us be clear: We are cracking down on enforcement of our nation’s poorest-performing nursing homes,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement announcing the tougher penalties.The existing watchlist...

MONDAY, Oct. 24, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Getting into prescription or over-the-counter medicines at home is a major source of accidental poisoning for young children.Yet, nearly half of parents say they have leftover prescriptions at home, a new poll shows."We found that it's common for parents to keep medicines long after they are expired or no longer needed, which creates an unnecessary health risk for children," said Sarah Clark. She co-directs the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health at University of Michigan Health."Younger children getting into medicine in the home is a major source of unintentional poisonings. For older children, access to these medicines brings risk of experimentation, diversion to peers or other intentional misuse," Clark said in a...