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TUESDAY, May 24, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Cancer patients who use medical marijuana experience less pain and a better quality of life, Israeli researchers report.And, their new study found, these patients were able to rely less on opioid painkillers, with minimal side effects."I hope people pay attention to the results of this study and use cannabis when appropriate for patients who need it," said Dr. Alex Bekker, professor and chairman of the department of anesthesiology at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, in Newark.Many doctors are still reluctant to prescribe marijuana for chronic pain, he said. "Physicians have a difficult time using cannabis, simply because of historical perspective, and it's still federally not authorized," said Bekker, who reviewed the study findings.A...

TUESDAY, May 24, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- COVID-19 can make a comeback after an infected person has gone through a round of Paxlovid, the antiviral used to minimize a bout with the coronavirus, according to an advisory issued Tuesday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."Recent case reports document that some patients with normal immune response who have completed a five-day course of Paxlovid for laboratory-confirmed infection and have recovered can experience recurrent illness two to eight days later, including patients who have been vaccinated and/or boosted," the CDC advisory said.In these cases of "COVID-19 rebound," the illness improved or resolved within an average three days, without additional anti-COVID treatment, the CDC said.A relapse after Paxlovid...

TUESDAY, May 24, 2022 (American Heart Association News) -- Congenital heart defects may be much more common among children of women with heart defects than of men with heart defects, according to new research.Smaller studies had already reported a higher offspring risk for mothers with congenital heart defects, or CHDs. But researchers wanted to confirm those findings in a larger population and also delve into specific cardiac defects.They looked at public records of more than 2 million children born in Denmark from 1977-2011 and compared the risk of congenital heart defects in children with and without a parent with a CHD.The study, published Tuesday in the American Heart Association journal Circulation: Genomic and Precision Medicine, found the risk of congenital heart defects was...

TUESDAY, May 24, 2022 (American Heart Association News) -- Lisa Abbott scrolled through the online auction offerings of the American Alpine Club's fundraiser. As a rock climber, ice climber, scuba diver and marathon runner, she enjoyed daydreaming about the various trips up for grabs.One offering stood out: a guided two-week trek through the Khumbu Valley in Nepal to the base camp of Mount Everest.As senior vice president of human resources and community affairs at Lifespan, Rhode Island's largest health system and employer, Lisa could not take a few months off to climb Mount Everest. But reaching base camp, at 17,598 feet, fit her schedule."You think I should do this?" she asked her father, Gary."That's a terrible idea," he said playfully.A retired mental health worker, Gary Abbott...