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MONDAY, March 14, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- When people have both chronic dry eye and depression, their eye symptoms may be worse, a new study finds.Researchers said the exact nature of the link is not clear: Does depression affect the severity of dry eye disease? Or do particularly troublesome eye symptoms feed depression?But the gist, they say, is that depression and severe dry eye can be connected, and patients and health care providers should know that.Dry eye is very common, affecting around 16 million Americans, according to the U.S. National Eye Institute. But the condition ranges widely in its severity: Many people have milder dry eye -- from staring at computers all day, for example -- and it can be managed with over-the-counter eye drops and frequent screen breaks.Other people...

MONDAY, March 14, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- A recently identified hybrid of the Omicron and Delta coronavirus variants is unlikely to become a serious threat, scientists say.The new hybrid, first found in samples collected in France in January, is formally called the AY.4/BA.1 recombinant but has been nicknamed Deltacron by some.Thirty-three samples of the new variant have been found in France, eight in Denmark, one in Germany and one in the Netherlands as of March 10, according to an international database of viral sequences.The genetic sequencing company Helix has also identified two cases in the United States.While a hybrid of the highly contagious Delta and Omicron variants may sound like cause for alarm, it "is not a novel concern," Etienne Simon-Loriere, a virologist at the...

MONDAY, March 14, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- A number of COVID medications have proven their mettle against the "stealth" BA.2 Omicron variant in lab tests, but it's not clear how effective they would be in real-world use, researchers report. Some evidence suggests that BA.2 can spread more quickly than the already highly contagious earlier BA.1 variant. In lab experiments using non-human primate cells, researchers tested seven monoclonal antibodies, three combinations of antibodies, and three antiviral treatments against the BA.2 variant. Most approved antibody treatments are a combination of different antibodies.The antiviral therapies remdesivir, Merck's molnupiravir and the active ingredient in Pfizer’s Paxlovid pill (nirmatrelvir) worked against the BA.2 variant, according to the...

MONDAY, March 14, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- A spike in hospitalizations for a dangerous low-salt condition is the latest in a growing list of health threats linked to climate change.An average global temperature increase of 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit could lead to a 14% increase in hospitalizations for critically low sodium levels in the blood, a condition called hyponatremia, according to a Swedish study.Hyponatremia can be caused by diseases such as heart, kidney and liver failure, as well as from excessive sweating or fluid intake that dilutes sodium (salt) concentrations in the blood.Sodium is needed to maintain normal blood pressure, support nerve and muscle function and regulate fluid balance in and around cells. A significant drop in blood sodium levels can trigger nausea, dizziness,...