Latest Health News

27Jul
2022

Prostate Cancer Treatment May Raise Heart Risks

Prostate Cancer Treatment May Raise Heart RisksWEDNESDAY, July 27, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Hormone therapy is a common treatment option for prostate cancer, but it may increase the risk of death from heart disease, especially in older men, a new study finds.Dr. William Dahut, a prostate cancer researcher and chief scientific officer for the American Cancer Society, said the study from Lithuania provides more evidence that starting hormonal therapy requires careful thought, particularly if the patient is over 70 and has heart disease."There are some cases where it's clear men need hormonal therapy," Dahut said, citing prostate cancer that has spread. "But oftentimes it's used for patients that are newly diagnosed, that are receiving radiation or with men that have a rising PSA [prostate specific antigen] without cancer that we can...

Many Smokers Who Want to Quit Just End Up Vaping, Too

27 July 2022
Many Smokers Who Want to Quit Just End Up Vaping, TooWEDNESDAY, July 27, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Many smokers eager to quit embrace electronic cigarettes as a tool for kicking the habit, but a new study warns the move may raise the risk for becoming addicted to both cigarettes and vaping.The finding follows a look at the experience of nearly 112,000 smokers who sought outpatient care at a single hospital between 2018 and 2020.“Most smokers try to vape to quit smoking,” explained study author Dr. Li-Shiun Chen, an associate professor of psychiatry at the Washington University School of Medicine (WUSM) in St. Louis.Given that 40 million American smokers want to quit, that's a lot of potential vaping, the researchers noted.The problem? Like cigarettes, e-cigarettes contain nicotine. And that, Chen said, means that “vaping is as...

8/9 -- Study Casts Doubt on 'Chemical Imbalance' Theory...

27 July 2022
8/9 -- Study Casts Doubt on `Chemical Imbalance` Theory of DepressionTUESDAY, Aug. 9, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- The notion that depression is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain has become widespread among the general public.But there’s actually no hard evidence that the brain chemical serotonin – the main suspect in this theory – is linked in any way to depression, a new review finds.Studies involving more than 100,000 people which evaluated serotonin’s role in depression from many different angles discovered no real difference between healthy people and those with depression, said co-researcher Dr. Mark Horowitz, a psychiatric clinical research fellow with the University College London.“Overall, we found that in all the major areas of research, there was no evidence of low serotonin in depression compared to healthy volunteers,”...

'On Edge': Anxious Americans Line Up for Scarce...

27 July 2022
`On Edge`: Anxious Americans Line Up for Scarce Monkeypox VaccinesWEDNESDAY, July 27, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- With 19,000 cases now reported in 75 countries, the World Health Organization declared the monkeypox outbreak a global “public health emergency,” its highest level of health alert.The day after that announcement, New York City’s Bronx High School of Science opened its doors to temporarily serve as one of a handful of large-scale monkeypox vaccination sites throughout the city.It’s a public health effort that’s just now picking up steam, in a city that accounts for roughly one-third of the nearly 3,600 monkeypox cases that have been confirmed so far in the United States. Many of those on hand at the Bronx vaccination site were eager to get their jab.“At least among my batch of friends, everyone is concerned,” William McChriston,...

Two Studies Further Confirm COVID's Origins in Wuhan Market

27 July 2022
Two Studies Further Confirm COVID`s Origins in Wuhan MarketWEDNESDAY, July 27, 2022 (HealthDay News) – Two new studies strongly suggest that COVID-19 most likely began with a jump to humans from animals sold at the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan, China.It’s not clear from what type of animal the virus jumped to a human, but the first animal-to-human transmission appears to have happened around Nov. 18, 2019, one study found.According to the researchers, the Wuhan market contained a wide range of live wild animals, with badgers, birds, muskrats, snakes and other species sold for food. Two strains of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, were already present at the market by the fall of 2019, the studies found. “While I'm hesitant to call it proof, what we presented is the most comprehensive explanation for the SARS-CoV-2 genomic...

Could a Common Diabetes Drug Ease Bipolar Disorder?

27 July 2022
Could a Common Diabetes Drug Ease Bipolar Disorder?WEDNESDAY, July 27, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- A half-century-old diabetes drug appears to help treat bipolar disorder by reversing patients’ insulin resistance, according to a small-scale clinical trial.Bipolar patients who responded to the drug metformin experienced improvement in their mood disorder as their insulin resistance decreased, said lead researcher Dr. Cynthia Calkin, an associate professor of psychiatry at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada."We saw this improvement as early as week six in the study," she said. "Week 14 was the study endpoint, and patients remained significantly improved or in remission. And then we went on to follow them up to 26 weeks and these patients remained well."Calkin noted that some patients who started off in the trial are...

Alternative Medicine Popular Among Seniors, But Most Don't Tell Their Doctors About It

27 July 2022
Alternative Medicine Popular Among Seniors, But Most Don`t Tell Their Doctors About ItWEDNESDAY, July 27, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Lots of older folks are turning to alternative medicine to help them with the pains of aging – but they don’t necessarily think that’s any of their doctor’s business.About 40% of older adults use at least one alternative medicine practice to help with body aches or mental strains, be it chiropractic care, massage therapy, meditation, yoga or another non-conventional option, according to the University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging.But only 18% of those who’ve tried an alternative medicine practice have actually talked about it with their health care provider.The results suggest that primary care docs should bring up the topic during checkups, said Dr. Rachael Maciasz, a general internal medicine physician at Michigan...

PFAS 'Forever Chemicals' Cost the U.S. Billions

27 July 2022
PFAS `Forever Chemicals` Cost the U.S. BillionsWEDNESDAY, July 27, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- They are called "forever chemicals" because they linger in the human body and can contribute to the risk of everything from cancer to childhood obesity. Now, new research on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) finds they also exact a huge financial toll, costing the U.S. health system billions every year.“Our findings add to the substantial and still-mounting body of evidence suggesting that exposure to PFAS is harming our health and undermining the economy,” said study co-author Linda Kahn. She is an assistant professor in the departments of pediatrics and population health at NYU Langone Health, in New York City.While past research has found impacts of PFAS exposure including low birth weight, this study finds a much broader...

Getting Kids Out in Nature Boosts Lung Health, Study Finds

WEDNESDAY, July 27, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Living next to nature may improve the function of little lungs.Researchers studying kids’ exposure to green space found that those who had vegetation...

Have Leg Artery Disease? Walk Until It Hurts

WEDNESDAY, July 27, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- That phrase "no pain, no gain" might truly apply to people with peripheral artery disease (PAD), a new study finds.Researchers found that people with...
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