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TUESDAY, April 5, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Gun violence can cause significant, long-lasting mental harm to survivors and their families, according to a new study.In the year after their injury, survivors are at increased risk for pain, mental health and substance use disorders. Their family members also have higher likelihood for mental health issues. Both victim and loved ones have the added burden of higher health care costs, researchers found.About 40,000 people in the United States are killed by guns each year, while an estimated 85,000 survive gun injuries."Understanding how firearm injuries reverberate across peoples' lives and families provides insights that we can use to provide better care for patients," said lead author Dr. Zirui Song, an associate professor of health care...

TUESDAY, April 5, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- If you have heart failure, there's good news and bad news on how much it would help you to cut back on salt.New research finds that while it doesn't prevent death or hospitalization among patients, it does appear to improve their quality of life.Patients with heart failure have been told for years to reduce the salt in their diet as a way to help prolong life, but among more than 800 patients from six countries, reducing salt intake didn't prevent deaths, visits to the emergency room or hospitalizations, the researchers found. Still, "we do think that there is a small amount to be gained by reducing the amount of sodium in the diet," said researcher Dr. Justin Ezekowitz, a professor in the division of cardiology at the University of Alberta in...

TUESDAY, April 5, 2022 (American Heart Association News) -- For more than two years, COVID-19's direct harm has been visible in overflowing intensive care wards and grim statistics. Now, some of its indirect effects are coming into focus.Studies are linking the pandemic to higher rates of fatal heart disease and stroke, deaths from addiction-related problems and more. The exact causes of these connections are still being determined, experts say, but the effects may be long-lasting.With heart health, part of the problem is that people often avoided or delayed treatment because of COVID-19 fears, said Dr. Donald Lloyd-Jones, a cardiologist, epidemiologist and chair of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago."People lost touch with their usual...

TUESDAY, April 5, 2022 (American Heart Association News) -- Life has not slowed for Patricia Harden of Oakland, California, since she sold her public relations company in 2020 or since retiring from her remaining consulting work the following year. Now 73, she's serving on the board of nonprofits, taking part in a writing group and doing Pilates."At first, I was sort of overwhelmed with all the choices," she said. "But it's been exciting."On an August afternoon in 2021, Harden was pumping iron at her gym when she felt fatigued. She just wanted the workout to be finished, which was very unlike her. She attributed the feeling to the fact she hadn't been lifting weights regularly and to the afternoon heat.Finishing, however, provided little relief. She felt a tightness across her chest...