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TUESDAY, Oct. 18, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Actress Selma Blair made one last waltz through the “Dancing with the Stars" ballroom on Monday night.The actress, who has multiple sclerosis, announced during the show that it would be her last turn on the dance floor because of the impact on her health."With a chronic illness, you do have special considerations and my body is definitely taking a hit. It's way too much for the safety of my bones," Blair said."There's just intensive bone trauma and inflammation, among rips and tears, and so I could do extensive damage that, of course, I do not want," she continued.Blair, whose movie and TV career includes 2001's “Legally Blonde,” made her diagnosis public in 2018. She and her health were featured in the 2021 documentary "Introducing,...

TUESDAY, Oct. 18, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- When you are getting chemotherapy, exercise may be the last thing on your mind. Now, new research suggests it should be the first.Exercising during chemotherapy is safe, improves long-term cardiac and respiratory function and may help ease some of the ravages of treatment, Dutch researchers report. If you can't exercise during chemotherapy, then you should start after treatment to get your heart function back to normal, they added."These findings suggest that the most optimal timing of physical exercise is during chemotherapy," said senior study author Dr. Annemiek Walenkamp, a medical oncologist at the University Medical Center Groningen in the Netherlands. "However, initiating an exercise program after chemotherapy is a viable alternative...

TUESDAY, Oct. 18, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- The federal government is pumping millions more dollars into an effort to expand the United States' network of community mental health centers.Up to 15 states now can apply for $1 million grants to help plan new Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHC) in their region, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced Tuesday. Funding for the grants was included in the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, passed earlier this year.These crisis centers are available around the clock to help anyone with mental health or substance abuse problems, regardless of their ability to pay.The $15 million in additional planning funds is in addition to nearly $300 million awarded in September for new and existing CCBHCs, the agency...

TUESDAY, Oct. 18, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- It's a troubling equation: Many Americans with the highest rates of hospitalization for influenza have the lowest uptake of the annual flu vaccine.That's why the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is stepping up outreach to minority communities, including Black, Hispanic and American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) groups, and working to reduce barriers to vaccination.“Flu vaccines are the best way to protect against flu and its potentially serious complications,” said Dr. Debra Houry, the CDC's acting principal deputy director. “Improving access to and trust in flu vaccines among people is critical to help reduce inequities.”Since 2010, flu vaccination rates have been consistently lower among Black, Hispanic and AI/AN adults...