Latest Health News

28Jan
2022

2 Rheumatoid Arthritis Drugs Tied to Lower Risk of Parkinson's

2 Rheumatoid Arthritis Drugs Tied to Lower Risk of Parkinson`sFRIDAY, Jan. 28, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Two rheumatoid arthritis drugs show potential for lowering the risk of Parkinson's disease, new research shows.Some previous studies have found that people with rheumatoid arthritis have a lower risk of Parkinson's, and it was suggested that a class of rheumatoid arthritis drugs called disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) may play a role in that reduced risk.To learn more, researchers analyzed data from thousands of patients in Finland.The use of most DMARDs — including methotrexate, sulfasalazine, gold preparations or immunosuppressants — at least three years before Parkinson's disease diagnosis was not associated with the risk of the disease in those with rheumatoid arthritis, according to the study published online Jan. 21 in...

In a First, a Robot Performs Laparoscopic Surgery on Pig...

28 January 2022
In a First, a Robot Performs Laparoscopic Surgery on Pig Without Human HelpFRIDAY, Jan. 28, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- A robot performed challenging keyhole surgery on pigs without any human help in what could be a major step toward fully automated surgery on people."Our findings show that we can automate one of the most intricate and delicate tasks in surgery: the reconnection of two ends of an intestine," said senior study author Axel Krieger. He is an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. "The STAR performed the procedure in four animals and it produced significantly better results than humans performing the same procedure," Krieger said in a Hopkins news release.Designed by Johns Hopkins' researchers, STAR is short for Smart Tissue Autonomous Robot. In this new study, it was tasked with a procedure called...

Shorter Life Spans for Elderly Living Downwind of...

28 January 2022
Shorter Life Spans for Elderly Living Downwind of Fracking Sites: StudyFRIDAY, Jan. 28, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Older people who live near or downwind of fracking sites have an increased risk of premature death, likely due to airborne contaminants from the sites, according to a new study."There is an urgent need to understand the causal link between living near or downwind of [unconventional oil and gas development] and adverse health effects," said study co-author Francesca Dominici. She is co-director of the Data Science Initiative at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, in Boston.For the study, the researchers analyzed data on more than 15 million Medicare beneficiaries who lived in all major U.S. fracking exploration regions between 2001 and 2015.Those who lived closest to fracking sites had a 2.5% higher risk of premature death than those who...

Did Your Gene Screen Turn Up Dangerous DNA? Study Finds...

27 January 2022
Did Your Gene Screen Turn Up Dangerous DNA? Study Finds Real Risk Is LowTHURSDAY, Jan. 27, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Most gene variants that have been labeled "pathogenic" may make only a small difference in a person's risk of actually developing disease, a new study suggests.Scouring genetic data on more than 72,000 individuals, researchers found that most of the gene variants believed to contribute to disease actually have a minor impact: On average, those so-called pathogenic variants boosted the risk of developing disease by about 7%.Some gene variants, including ones well-known to predispose people to disease, did show a substantial impact, the researchers said.They included certain alterations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, which raise the risks of breast and ovarian cancers, and some variants in the LDLR gene, which cause an inherited form of very...

Hospital Defends Decision to Deny Heart Transplant to Unvaccinated Man

27 January 2022
Hospital Defends Decision to Deny Heart Transplant to Unvaccinated ManTHURSDAY, Jan. 27, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- In response to claims that a man was denied a heart transplant because he refused to get vaccinated against COVID-19, Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston said Wednesday that its transplant policies mirror those used across the United States.In a crowdfunding appeal for 31-year-old D.J. Ferguson, a father of two, his family said the hospital told him he was ineligible to receive a new heart because he wasn't vaccinated, the Associated Press reported.His mother, Tracey Ferguson, said her son isn't against vaccinations but has concerns about COVID-19 vaccines because he has a heart rhythm disorder called atrial fibrillation."D.J. is an informed patient," she told the AP. "He wants to be assured by his doctors that his condition would not be...

Months After Moderna Booster, Antibodies Decline Faster With Omicron

27 January 2022
Months After Moderna Booster, Antibodies Decline Faster With OmicronTHURSDAY, Jan. 27, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- An initial surge in antibody levels against the Omicron variant after a booster dose of the Moderna COVID vaccine wanes within six months, but the antibodies remained effective against it in lab tests, a new study finds.Researchers analyzed antibody levels in volunteers who received the booster after two doses of the Moderna mRNA vaccine. Within four weeks of their third dose, antibody levels rose 20-fold. Six months later, they dropped 6.3-fold.But even though antibody levels fell faster for Omicron than for the SARS-CoV-2 virus that was circulating two years ago, the antibodies still provided "strong neutralizing activity" against Omicron, according to a Duke University news release about the findings. "The drop in antibodies for the...

AHA News: Dr. Jeremiah Stamler, the 'Father of Preventive Cardiology,' Dies at 102

27 January 2022
AHA News: Dr. Jeremiah Stamler, the `Father of Preventive Cardiology,` Dies at 102THURSDAY, Jan. 27, 2022 (American Heart Association News) -- Dr. Jeremiah Stamler, a trailblazing cardiologist who helped people understand the critical connection between healthy lifestyle and heart health – and who continued his passionate work well beyond his 100th birthday – died early Wednesday.Stamler, known as "the father of preventive cardiology," was 102. He died at his home in Sag Harbor, New York.A pioneer in helping to curb the epidemic of hypertension, Stamler in the 1970s put the cardiovascular risk factors of high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, a high-fat diet and smoking on the map. His findings were considered controversial and were met with opposition, but he stuck by his research.Colleagues credit his work as a major force behind the significant...

AHA News: Sound the Fiber Alarm! Most of Us Need More of It in Our Diet

27 January 2022
AHA News: Sound the Fiber Alarm! Most of Us Need More of It in Our DietTHURSDAY, Jan. 27, 2022 (American Heart Association News) -- There are a lot of health factors to keep in mind as we navigate through the dietary day: calories, carbohydrates, protein, saturated fat, vitamins and minerals, to name a few.Did you forget fiber? A lot of people do."We've known this forever, and it has to get rediscovered all the time," said Joanne Slavin, professor of food science and nutrition at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. "Fiber is really good medicine. It's the one thing we want people to eat more of."For decades, that message has been preached by dietitians, headlined in health magazines, and inscribed on packages of cereal, many other foods and dietary supplements.Yet studies show many people in the United States fall well short of the fiber intake...

More Berries, Red Wine in Diet Might Slow Parkinson's

THURSDAY, Jan. 27, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Red wine may be a guilty pleasure, but new research shows it might also be a powerful weapon against the ravages of Parkinson's disease.Why? The...

Scientists Watch, Worry About New 'Stealth' Version of...

THURSDAY, Jan. 27, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- A "stealthier" version of the Omicron variant that has been spotted in the United States and dozens of other countries is being closely monitored by...
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