Latest Health News

TUESDAY, Sept. 20, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- As opioid overdose deaths continue to soar, a Canadian program points to one way to save lives: providing "safer" opioids to people at high risk of overdose.That's the conclusion of a study evaluating Canada's first formal "safer opioid supply," or SOS, program. Such programs aim to prevent overdoses by giving vulnerable people an alternative to the increasingly dangerous street supply of opioids. In this case, the London, Ontario-based program provided clients with a daily dose of prescription opioid tablets, as well as basic health care, counseling and social services.The result was a rapid drop in emergency department trips and hospitalizations among the 82 clients studied, the researchers found. And over six years, there was not a single...

TUESDAY, Sept. 20, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- People with heart disease should be screened for sleep apnea, the authors of a new study suggest. They found that consistent use of a CPAP machine lowered the chances of winding up back in the hospital for heart issues."Cardiovascular disease is the No. 1 killer of older adults in the world," said study author Jennifer Albrecht, an associate professor of epidemiology and public health at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. "Older adults with co-morbid cardiovascular disease and obstructive sleep apnea are a vulnerable population at high risk for hospital readmission," Albrecht said. "Our data show that successful treatment of obstructive sleep apnea can greatly reduce the risk of 30-day hospital readmission."Sleep apnea is found in...

TUESDAY, Sept. 20, 2022 (HealthDay News) – Soaring numbers of sexually transmitted disease (STD) cases have prompted U.S. public health experts to call for more prevention and treatment. This includes rising rates of syphilis and gonorrhea and HIV."It is imperative that we... work to rebuild, innovate, and expand [STD] prevention in the U.S.," Dr. Leandro Mena, director of the Division of STD Prevention at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a speech Monday at a medical conference on sexually transmitted diseases, the Associated Press reported.Solutions include home test kits for some STDs that will make it easier for people to learn they are infected and to take steps to prevent spreading it to others, said Mena.But Dr. Mike Saag, an infectious disease...

TUESDAY, Sept. 20, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Sudden severe chest or upper back pain are possible signs of an aortic dissection. Your first thought might be "heart attack" but an aortic dissection is very different. Vascular and cardiac surgeons are well aware of the dangers associated with an aortic dissection, a tear in the main artery of the heart. "The [death] rate for an aortic dissection is about 1% an hour for the first 48 hours, making every second count," said Dr. Ali Azizzadeh, director of vascular surgery at Cedars-Sinai Smidt Heart Institute in Los Angeles. "Equally as important is seeking care, whenever possible, at a medical center with specialized, comprehensive services in treating aortic dissections."Even some physicians and nurses frequently mistake an aortic...