Latest Health News

TUESDAY, Feb. 1, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Enforcement of a rule limiting power plant emissions of mercury and other hazardous pollutants will be resumed, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Monday.It's the latest move by the Biden administration to reinstate environmental protections lifted by the Trump administration."The science is clear: we must limit mercury and toxic air pollution to protect our kids and vulnerable communities," EPA Administrator Michael Regan said on Twitter. "We are reaffirming these standards to reduce pollution from power plants, so everyone – no matter their zip code or money in their pocket – can breathe clean air."The power plant rule was first enacted in 2012 and credited with a range of public health benefits, including reducing...

TUESDAY, Feb. 1, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. drug epidemic continues its death march, with new research showing American teens and young adults have lost nearly 1.5 million years of life due to drug overdose deaths in recent years. For the study, the researchers examined years of life lost — the difference between a person's expected lifespan and when they actually die — among nearly 3,300 adolescents aged 10 to 19 and nearly 21,700 young people aged 10 to 24 who died from unintentional drug overdoses between 2015 and 2019. During this time, U.S. teens lost nearly 200,000 years of life due to drug overdoses, while young people lost more than 1.25 million years, according to the Ohio State University team. "Adolescents and young adults dying of overdose are deprived of many...

TUESDAY, Feb. 1, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Telling people to isolate in a bedroom when COVID-19 strikes may not be enough to keep the virus from spreading to others in the household, a new study suggests.Airborne coronavirus particles were found both inside and outside the rooms of people with COVID-19 who were supposed to be self-isolating at home, according to researchers from Rutgers University in New Jersey."Our indoor air sampling data clearly demonstrated that measurable airborne SARS-CoV-2 RNA was present in the air in the homes of most infected people, not only in the isolation room, but, importantly, elsewhere in the home," said study lead author Howard Kipen, a professor in the Rutgers School of Public Health. SARS-CoV-2 is the virus that causes COVID-19.Compounding the...

TUESDAY, Feb. 1, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Hospitalizations for dangerously high blood pressure more than doubled in the United States from 2002 to 2014, new research shows. This jump in hospitalizations for what's called a "hypertensive crisis" occurred even though data show overall progress in Americans controlling their blood pressure and a decrease in blood pressure-related heart problems during that period. "Although more people have been able to manage their blood pressure over the last few years, we're not seeing this improvement translate into fewer hospitalizations for hypertensive crisis," said study first author Dr. Joseph Ebinger. He is a clinical cardiologist and director of clinical analytics at the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, in Los Angeles....