Latest Health News

MONDAY, Feb. 28, 2022 (American Heart Association News) -- A few months before the pandemic, Chris Mathews was 20 miles into a 32-mile ride with his bicycle club when he lost all strength in his legs and body.Chris, then 72, moved over and signaled for others to pass. Then his mind became a "complete fog." He stopped pedaling, slumped over his handlebars and crashed into his wife, Natalie.Chris landed face down on the pavement, breaking his collarbone. Natalie fractured her kneecap."I know what happened because the whole event was being videoed by the ride leader with his action camera," said Chris, who lives in Plano, Texas. "I got to see it many, many times. It was pretty gruesome."A pacemaker in his chest also recorded the episode and showed he'd experienced ventricular tachycardia,...

MONDAY, Feb. 28, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- First-time moms and new mothers of twins may be among those at greatest risk of postpartum depression symptoms, a large new study suggests.Postpartum depression is a common illness. In the United States alone, about one in eight women report depression symptoms soon after giving birth, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Research suggests there is a genetic component to postpartum depression, and the hormonal changes of pregnancy may help trigger a depressive episode in vulnerable women, said Dr. Jennifer Payne, who directs the Reproductive Psychiatry Research Program at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, in Charlottesville.But additional factors can sway postpartum depression risk. And in the new study...

MONDAY, Feb. 28, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- People tend to have a specific image when they think of eating disorders -- a disturbingly skinny white girl with reed-thin arms, her ribs and shoulder blades prominent.You don't think of a ripped, beefy muscle man chugging a protein shake and fretting about carbs between weightlifting sessions. But maybe you should.Men and some minority groups have been drastically underrepresented in clinical trials that research treatment options for eating disorders, a new study reports.The percentage of men who participated in clinical trials for eating disorders during the past decade was "less than half of the proportion we would hope to see," said study co-author Helen Burton Murray, director of the GI Behavioral Health Program at Massachusetts General...

MONDAY, Feb. 28, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- As coronavirus cases across the United States drop, nearly half of the 500 million free COVID tests offered by the federal government have gone unused, according to the White House.It said Americans have placed 68 million orders for packages of four free rapid tests per family, but about 46% of the tests are still up for grabs, the Associated Press reported.On the first day that the free tests were available in January, the COVIDtests.gov website received more than 45 million orders, but fewer than 100,000 orders a day are coming in now, officials said.Even though demand has declined, the White House will keep the program in place.“We totally intend to sustain this market,” Dr. Tom Inglesby, testing adviser to the COVID-19 response team,...