Latest Health News

12Jan
2022

Medicaid Rules May Affect Americans' Cancer Survival

Medicaid Rules May Affect Americans` Cancer SurvivalWEDNESDAY, Jan. 12, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- The chance of someone who is covered by Medicaid surviving cancer may depend in part on where they live, a new analysis finds. In states that had lower Medicaid income eligibility limits, cancer survival rates were worse for cancers both in early and late stages compared to states with higher Medicaid income eligibility limits, American Cancer Society researchers discovered."Our findings that lower historic state Medicaid income eligibility limits were associated with worse long-term survival within stage suggest that increasing Medicaid income eligibility could be an important policy lever for improving survival after cancer diagnosis," said study author Jingxuan Zhao, a senior associate scientist at the cancer society.For the study, the...

How Safe Is a 'Holiday' From Bone-Strengthening Meds?

12 January 2022
How Safe Is a `Holiday` From Bone-Strengthening Meds?WEDNESDAY, Jan. 12, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- People on bone-protecting drugs often take breaks from them for a few years. Now a new study finds that a "holiday" from the medication risedronate (Actonel) may come with a slightly increased risk of hip fracture.Researchers found that compared with a drug holiday from alendronate (Fosamax), taking a few years off from risedronate came with an 18% higher risk of hip fracture.The absolute difference was small: 3.6% of patients on holiday from risedronate suffered a broken hip, versus 3% of those taking time off from alendronate.But experts said the findings do suggest that people on a risedronate holiday should be reassessed and possibly restart the medication sooner than those who had been on alendronate.Both risedronate and alendronate...

Breastfeeding May Protect a Mom's Heart Years Later

12 January 2022
Breastfeeding May Protect a Mom`s Heart Years LaterWEDNESDAY, Jan. 12, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Chloe Jo Davis is a vocal advocate for breastfeeding.The Wilton, Conn.-based writer breastfed her three sons for years to make sure they reaped all of the benefits associated with the practice."Breastfeeding helps build up kids' immune system and keeps colds, virus, ear infection and stomach bugs at bay, and this is more important today than ever before with the spread of COVID-19," said Davis, who counsels moms on breastfeeding via an online platform.Now a new study of close to 1.2 million women shows that Davis and other moms who breastfeed may reap some big time health benefits of their own.Compared to women who had babies but never breastfed, mothers who breastfed for any period of time were less likely to develop heart disease, have a...

Fertility Treatments Don't Raise Odds for Smaller,...

12 January 2022
Fertility Treatments Don`t Raise Odds for Smaller, Preemie BabiesWEDNESDAY, Jan. 12, 2022 (HealthDay News) – Babies conceived through infertility treatment are more likely to be born early and small.But there are reasons other than medically assisted reproduction to explain this difference, a new study concludes.“Rather than the infertility treatment itself, our new findings highlight the importance of parents’ underlying fertility problems and health conditions, and infants’ birth characteristics, such as their birth order and whether they are a twin, on birth weight and pregnancy term,” said study co-author Alina Pelikh. She's a research fellow at the University College London Center for Longitudinal Studies in the U.K., which worked in partnership with the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.For the study, researchers analyzed data on...

In Ancient Times, Even the Rich Had Parasites

12 January 2022
In Ancient Times, Even the Rich Had ParasitesWEDNESDAY, Jan. 12, 2022 (HealthDay News) – In ancient times, intestinal parasites weren't just an affliction of the poor. Even the well-to-do had them. Researchers studied the contents of a cesspit beneath a toilet in Jerusalem. They found the remains of several types of intestinal parasite eggs that would have resulted from poor sanitary conditions.But this wasn’t just any toilet. It was in the garden of a luxury estate uncovered at the Armon Hanatziv Promenade, which dates back to the mid-7th century BC. The stone toilet seat was in the estate’s “restroom.” The presence of the worms indicates that even the wealthy residents of Jerusalem at that time suffered from diseases and epidemics, according to Tel Aviv University and the Israel Antiquities Authority. “The findings...

Scientists ID Genes That Make Your ​Fingerprints

12 January 2022
Scientists ID Genes That Make Your ​FingerprintsWEDNESDAY, Jan. 12 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Your fingerprints may be more than a surefire way to identify you: New research suggests their patterns may be linked to genes that guide limb development."People may wonder why our team is working on fingerprints," said co-senior study author Sijia Wang, a geneticist at the Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health in China. "We started the work purely out of curiosity. But later it turns out fingerprint pattern is associated with genes for limb growth, which are critical for fetal development."Furrows and ridges begin to form on a fetus' fingers and toes after the third month of pregnancy, the researchers noted.For the study, published Jan. 6 in the journal Cell, the investigators scanned the DNA of more than 23,000 people across ethnic...

Medicare Proposes to Only Cover Alzheimer's Drug Aduhelm for Use in Clinical Trials

11 January 2022
Medicare Proposes to Only Cover Alzheimer`s Drug Aduhelm for Use in Clinical TrialsTUESDAY, Jan. 11, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- It's a move that could severely limit the number of people taking the controversial new Alzheimer's drug Aduhelm: Medicare on Tuesday proposed to only cover the cost of the pricey medication for people enrolled in approved clinical trials. A final decision on coverage is expected later this year.The drug costs $28,200 per year, but that cost will only be covered for participants in randomized, controlled trials approved by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the agency said in a statement, or "in trials supported by the National Institutes of Health [NIH]. All trials must be conducted in a hospital-based outpatient setting."The announcement comes after a months-long and unprecedented review. The benefits of Aduhelm...

Pfizer Says Omicron-Specific Vaccine Ready by March

11 January 2022
Pfizer Says Omicron-Specific Vaccine Ready by MarchTUESDAY, Jan. 11, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Pfizer Inc. said Tuesday that a COVID-19 vaccine that specifically targets the Omicron variant will be ready by March.The company has already started making the new version of the vaccine, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla told CNBC's "Squawk Box," CBS News reported.Omicron now accounts for more than 98% of all new COVID-19 cases in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Pfizer is also working to improve its current COVID-19 vaccine "to address any future variant of potential concern, if needed," a company spokesperson said in a statement to CBS MoneyWatch."In the event that a third dose with the current vaccine is not found to protect against the Omicron variant or other future variants, Pfizer expects to...

Later School Start Times Boost Parents' Health, Too

TUESDAY, Jan. 11, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- For several years, a leading U.S. pediatricians' group has called for middle and high schools to start later in the morning, to help these young people...

'Secondhand Vaping' May Be Unhealthy — Could Public...

TUESDAY, Jan. 11, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Secondhand vapor from electronic cigarettes is harmful to others, causing bronchitis symptoms and shortness of breath in young bystanders, a new study...
RSS
First483484485486488490491492Last