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MONDAY, May 16, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Emphysema is missed more often in Black Americans than in white Americans, and now researchers report they have figured out why. The investigators found that many Black men who were considered to have normal results after race-specific interpretations of a common lung function test called spirometry actually had emphysema when assessed using computed tomography (CT). Emphysema involves the gradual destruction of lung tissue and is often associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Spirometry measures how much air a person can exhale and inhale. It's standard practice to interpret spirometry results using race-specific norms, resulting in a predicted lower limit of normal for FEV1 and FVC for Black patients, the study authors...

SUNDAY, May 15, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- College basketball player Joey Liedel suffered years of debilitating hip pain that limited his ability to play.As a freshman at University of Detroit-Mercy, he was in constant discomfort. Eventually, the Erie, Mich., athlete underwent hip surgery and took some time off to get comfortable on the court again.The 6-foot-1 guard had arthroscopy -- a type of minimally invasive surgery -- on both hips last fall to relieve so-called hip impingement. The condition is characterized by abnormal wear between the ball and socket of the hip joint."He's doing fantastic," said Dr. T. Sean Lynch, an orthopedics and sports medicine surgeon at Henry Ford Health System. "I think he is a great example of a young athlete who, from diagnosis to treatment, has come...

SATURDAY, May 14, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- If heading back into the water this summer has you concerned about flesh-eating bacteria, an expert offers some advice. "Flesh-eating bacteria refers to an infection that spreads so rapidly that the skin and surrounding soft tissue starts to die," explained Dr. Stacey Rose, an assistant professor of infectious diseases at Baylor College of Medicine, in Houston. "This is still a rare condition but can be quite serious, especially for individuals who have a compromised immune system," Rose explained in a college news release. The most common cause of flesh-eating disease ("necrotizing fasciitis") is group A strep, a common type of bacteria that also causes strep throat. Strep produces toxins that break down the skin. Staph infection is another...

FRIDAY, May 13, 2022 (American Heart Association News) -- Justin Ballard of Prairie Grove, Arkansas, stared at the photos in disbelief."Do I really look that big?" he thought.The pictures came from a joyous occasion – Christmas Day 2019, when Kelsey, the oldest of his three children, had gotten engaged.The couple set a wedding date in October 2021. Justin vowed to be in much better shape by then.At 6 feet tall, he often topped 250 pounds, sometimes 260.He'd usually drop about 25 pounds in the spring and summer simply by playing softball and keeping busy in his yard, but he struggled to keep it off. Working a stressful desk job, he fueled himself with sodas and junk food. Lunches often came from drive-thru windows.His weight also had caused health problems. Since 2015, he'd been on...