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SUNDAY, Feb. 6, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Early diagnosis and care can often stop the progression of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which is the leading cause of vision loss in older Americans, the American Society of Retina Specialists (ASRS) says.As part of AMD Awareness Month in February, the society urges people to pay attention to their vision and learn more about AMD. Age is the main risk factor for AMD, and people with a family history have an increased risk. Other risk factors include: smoking, obesity, high blood pressure, excessive sun exposure, and a diet low in fruits and vegetables. It's important to be aware of the symptoms of AMD.Watch for altered or wavy lines that should be straight. Cover one eye at a time and look at a door frame or a checkerboard. If the...

SATURDAY, Feb. 5, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- If your baby has a cough, you might immediately think it's COVID-19, but coughing is a common wintertime symptom, a pediatrician says.Dr. Mona Patel of Children's Hospital Los Angeles offers some advice on what to do when your baby develops a cough.Congestion and postnasal drip will worsen the cough, especially during naps or at night during sleep, so try to keep nasal passages as clear as possible.A cool-mist humidifier in your child's bedroom will help moisten airways to reduce the coughing caused by postnasal drip.Give your child lots of liquids such as water or juice. Warm, decaffeinated tea may also help ease the tickle that triggers coughing. If your child doesn't want a drink, try a popsicle, Patel suggested in a hospital news release.A...

FRIDAY, Feb. 4, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday gave its full approval to Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine for use in people 18 and older. This follows a similar move made Jan. 31 by its sister agency, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.The vaccine, which had before been available for that age group only under emergency use authorization (EUA), will be marketed as Spikevax. It's not yet fully approved or authorized for use in people younger than 18.“We now have another fully approved COVID-19 vaccine,” CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in an agency statement. “If you have been waiting for approval before getting vaccinated, now is the time to join the nearly 212 million Americans who have already completed their primary...

FRIDAY, Feb. 4, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- It's less enchanting than reading tea leaves, but federal health officials announced Friday that they are expanding nationwide efforts to track COVID-19 by monitoring virus levels found in raw sewage.The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expects to add an additional 250 surveillance sites over the next few weeks to a list of more than 400 places that already regularly test their wastewater for bits of COVID-19 virus, Amy Kirby, program lead for the CDC's National Wastewater Surveillance System, said during a morning media briefing."Because increases in wastewater [virus] generally occur before corresponding increases in clinical cases, wastewater surveillance serves as an early warning system for the emergence of COVID-19 in a...