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TUESDAY, Jan. 18, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- If you vape and catch COVID-19, you may feel a whole lot worse than people who come down with the virus but don't use electronic cigarettes, researchers say.When compared to folks with COVID-19 who didn't use e-cigarettes, those who did were more likely to report chest pain, chills, headaches, muscle aches, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and the loss of smell or taste.What's more, folks who vaped and smoked tobacco reported higher rates of labored breathing and more emergency department visits when they contracted COVID-19, the new study findings showed.The study provides another reason to quit vaping or smoking. Or better yet, never start, say experts not involved in the new study. "The list of heart and lung diseases and conditions associated...

TUESDAY, Jan. 18, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- People who believe their bodies and minds will break down with age may be creating a self-fulfilling prophecy, a recent study suggests.Researchers found that older adults with a dim outlook on aging tended to report more physical health symptoms on days when they were stressed out than on less stressful days.In contrast, people with more of a "golden years" perspective seemed to have some protection against daily stress: They actually reported fewer health problems on days where they felt more stressed than usual."We've known that there's a strong relationship between perceived stress and physical health," said lead researcher Dakota Witzel, a doctoral candidate at Oregon State University's College of Public Health and Human Sciences, in...

TUESDAY, Jan. 18, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- As a record number of American kids are being hospitalized with COVID-19, a new study helps clarify which ones are at the highest risk for serious complications.The study tracked over 3,200 children and teenagers who landed in an emergency room with COVID-19 symptoms and tested positive. It found that older kids — between the ages of 10 and 18 — and those with chronic medical conditions were at heightened risk of a "severe outcome."That included complications such as respiratory distress, heart problems and brain swelling.In all, 23% of kids seen in the emergency department needed to be hospitalized, with just over 3% having a severe outcome.Those numbers should be taken in context, said researcher Dr. Todd Florin, of Lurie Children's...

TUESDAY, Jan. 18, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Before getting their first dose of a COVID vaccine, many Americans were nervous about how they would react to the shot, but new research shows that fears of side effects may actually make side effects more likely.To investigate this so-called "nocebo" effect in people receiving COVID-19 vaccines, researchers analyzed data from 12 clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccines and compared rates of side effects in more than 22,000 participants who received the vaccines and more than 22,000 who received a placebo shot.After the first shot, systemic side effects -- symptoms that affect the entire body, such as fever, headache and fatigue -- were reported by about 46% of vaccine recipients. But more than 35% of people who got the placebo shot also...