Latest Health News

MONDAY, July 25, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Monkeypox, which has now spread to 75 countries and sickened at least 16,000 people, has been declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO). The declaration came after WHO Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus overruled a panel of advisors that could not come to a consensus on whether the virus had reached that level of concern or not.“We have an outbreak that has spread around the world rapidly through new modes of transmission, about which we understand too little, and which meets the criteria” for a public health emergency, Tedros said during a media briefing on Saturday.The WHO panel was hesitant to make the declaration because the virus is still spreading mostly in the primary risk group, men who...

MONDAY, July 25, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Inner-city kids are known to be at greater risk for uncontrolled asthma. Now, new research suggests that violent crime and poor school achievement may be two reasons why.“Experiencing violent crime can result in toxic stress, and decreased educational attainment is associated with lower health literacy,” said study author Dr. Jordan Tyris, a hospitalist at Children's National Hospital in Washington, D.C. “Toxic stress and lower health literacy are associated with worse asthma health in children, so it is possible that this may explain our findings.”Health literacy refers to how well a person understands and processes the information needed to make appropriate choices about health care.Still, other factors not addressed in the new study...

MONDAY, July 25, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- With much of the United States baking in extreme heat this summer, older adults and the people caring for them need to take extra precautions.Seniors can decline rapidly, sometimes within minutes, when exposed to soaring temperatures, said Dr. Angela Catic, an assistant professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston."As we get older, our bodies don't self-regulate temperature as well as when we were younger," Catic said in a college news release. "This is due to physiological changes, medical issues and prescription medications, which can interfere with regulating our body temperature and prevent perspiring, which helps us cool down."In high temperatures, older adults are safest indoors in a place with air conditioning. If they don't have...

MONDAY, July 25, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Nearly half of American adults have high blood pressure — and that alone more than doubles their odds of being hospitalized if they are infected with the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, a new study revealed.This was true even in people who were fully vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19, according to researchers at the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.“The take-home message is that avoiding infection is extremely important — even when the circulating viral variant is presumed to cause mild disease in most people,” said study author Dr. Joseph Ebinger, a clinical cardiologist at the institute.People with high blood pressure (hypertension) who get COVID-19 should be aware of this heightened risk...