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TUESDAY, Sept. 27, 2022 (American Heart Association News) -- At 26, Melody Hickman of Raleigh, North Carolina, was crestfallen. A routine physical detected a problem with her mitral valve. Fixing it required open-heart surgery."I knew I would have to be on a heart-lung machine, and the idea of having the incision really bothered me," she said, noting she often wore V-neck tops. "It was a lot to digest."The surgery and recovery went well. Then, 14 years later, the valve needed to be replaced again. That meant a second open-heart surgery.In the aftermath of that surgery, she often felt weak and sick to her stomach. Feeling hot and sweaty at work one day, she locked her office door, closed the blinds and threw up into a wastebasket. "My legs were so weak that I couldn't even get up off...

TUESDAY, Sept. 27, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Five years back, “Nugget” the Jack-A-Poo was in serious need of some tender loving veterinary care.“He needed vaccinations and a few other things,” Seattle native Grace Stroklund recalled of her sidekick, a Jack Russell Terrier/Toy Poodle mix. “But I was just not in the wheelhouse financially to do any of that.”At 23, Stroklund was struggling with her own challenges. Homeless and in need of medical care herself, she was regularly showering and eating at a drop-in homeless center run by a local church. Even so, it was Nugget’s needs that were top of mind. “I guarantee you that having Nugget and wanting to make sure he was healthy and was getting what he needed motivated me to seek care and preventive care for myself that I...

TUESDAY, Sept. 27, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- While many older Americans are experiencing sticker shock when they shop for food, lower-income and less-healthy adults are hurting the most, a new poll reveals.Three-quarters of respondents in the latest University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging said the price of groceries has affected them somewhat or a lot. About a third said their diet is less healthy because of it.More than one-third of the 50- to 80-year-olds surveyed said rising food costs have had a substantial impact on them. That included 46% of those who said their physical health was fair or poor, and 58% of those who described their mental health that way. About 48% of respondents with a high school education or less said prices were having a substantial impact on...

TUESDAY, Sept. 27, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Too much anxiety isn't good for anyone, but a new study suggests it is particularly perilous for pregnant women because it can raise the chances of their child being born early.Given that finding, the researchers recommended that doctors screen for anxiety during the first and third trimesters of pregnancy.“Anxiety about a current pregnancy is a potent psychosocial state that may affect birth outcomes,” said lead study author Dr. Christine Dunkel Schetter, of the University of California, Los Angeles. “These days, depressive symptoms are assessed in many clinic settings around the world to prevent complications of postpartum depression for mothers and children. This and other studies suggest that we should also be assessing anxiety in...