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THURSDAY, March 10, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- A healthy bank account pays dividends after a heart attack, with new research indicating severe financial strain increases survivors' risk of death.Researchers analyzed data from nearly 3,000 people, 75 and older, whose health was tracked after they suffered a heart attack."Our research indicates the importance of financial strain in predicting which patients will survive severe health conditions," study co-author Jason Falvey, of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, said in a school news release."Many of the participants in our study under severe financial strain were not living below the poverty line or enrolled in safety net options such as Medicaid," noted Falvey, an assistant professor of physical therapy and rehabilitation...

THURSDAY, March 10, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Want to breathe better air indoors? Go green.Houseplants can make your home or office air cleaner, according to British researchers.In lab tests, they found that three common houseplants -- peace lily (Spathiphyllum wallisii), corn plant (Dracaena fragrans), and ZZ plant or fern arum (Zamioculcas zamiifolia) -- could reduce levels of a common air pollutant called nitrogen dioxide (NO2) by as much as 20%."The plants we chose were all very different from each other, yet they all showed strikingly similar abilities to remove NO2 from the atmosphere," said lead author Christian Pfrang, of the University of Birmingham.The plants aren't costly and are easy to maintain, the researchers noted.For the study, a single plant of each variety was put...

THURSDAY, March 10, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- The often-used steroid spironolactone is not linked to any increased risk of a range of common cancers, according to a new study.The synthetic steroid is routinely used to manage heart failure, high blood pressure and edema, and also used off-label to treat acne, hair loss and excessive hair growth (hirsutism)."Though the U.S. Food and Drug Administration cautioned that 'unnecessary use of this drug should be avoided,' our data are reassuring that spironolactone is unlikely to be associated with a meaningful risk of cancer when prescribed at clinical doses," said senior author Dr. John Barbieri, a specialist in dermatology at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.Despite its widespread use, the drug's cancer-causing potential is poorly...

THURSDAY, March 10, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. National Guard soldiers are at heightened risk for problem drinking after military deployment, but less likely to receive help with their alcohol struggles than active-duty service members, a new study finds.Exposure to combat during deployment was the strongest risk factor for problem drinking among the reservists in the study, according to the report published online March 8 in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs."Combat events, such as having engaged in direct combat and experienced combat trauma, may precipitate a great deal of personal discomfort ('moral injury'), necessitating some form of self-soothing, such as excessive alcohol use," said study author James Griffith. He is a faculty member and research fellow at the...