Latest Health News

10Jan
2022

Need an At-Home COVID Test? Here's Help Finding and Using One

Need an At-Home COVID Test? Here`s Help Finding and Using OneMONDAY, Jan. 10, 2022 (HealthDay Now) -- The surge of the Omicron variant across the United States has left people scrambling to find at-home COVID-19 test kits."Tests are in short supply, there's no doubt about it, because of the sheer volume of people wanting and needing to get tests," said Lori Tremmel Freeman, chief executive officer of the National Association of County and City Health Officials. "The demand is high and we want people to test. The problem is we want them to be able to get it."The appeal of at-home tests is clear -- you are in charge of the process. You collect the sample, usually by swabbing the inside of your nose, and in the case of rapid tests you perform the lab work at your own table or counter. Usually you'll get results within minutes.Here's what you need...

Amid COVID Test Shortages, Price Gouging Is on the Rise

10 January 2022
Amid COVID Test Shortages, Price Gouging Is on the RiseMONDAY, Jan. 10, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- As the Omicron variant blankets America and demand for COVID-19 tests climbs, so, too, does price gouging. High prices for over-the-counter antigen tests are being seen around the country, CBS News reported. "The danger in health care is that for any lifesaving product -- it's vulnerable to price gouging because most people would pay [an] arm and leg — anything — to save the life of a loved one," epidemiologist and health economist Eric Feigl-Ding wrote in a series of tweets.In New York, Attorney General Letitia James has received complaints of products selling at double or triple the retail price."A standard BinaxNOW brand test kit at a New York store, like Walgreens, costs appropriately between $14 and $25 for a package of two tests,...

New Worry: 'Flurona,' When COVID Meets the Flu

10 January 2022
New Worry: `Flurona,` When COVID Meets the FluMONDAY, Jan. 10, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- It's a COVID phenomenon that had, until now, gone relatively unnoticed: You can be infected with COVID-19 and the flu at the same time.Thanks to the internet, it even has a name -- "flurona." And it will likely happen much more often this particular winter, as the flu season kicks into gear and the highly contagious Omicron variant continues to surge.While the idea of battling both the flu and COVID-19 might sound terrifying, the same measures used to prevent the spread of COVID-19 also work against the flu, including masking and social distancing. And crucially, there are vaccines available for both viruses. The vaccines guard against severe infection, even if you are unlucky enough to catch flurona.Flurona is not a distinct disease or a new...

Gun Deaths Continue to Rise in America's Cities

10 January 2022
Gun Deaths Continue to Rise in America`s CitiesMONDAY, Jan. 10, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- A temporary falloff in the number of Americans who kill themselves and others with guns is over, newly released U.S. government data show."Firearm homicides and suicides are an urgent public health concern in the United States," said Scott Kegler, lead author of a new study of gun violence in America by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.It noted that guns were involved in 75% of all homicides and 91% of homicides involving youths between 2018 and 2019 -- a rate basically unchanged from 2016. But those new numbers represent a significant and troubling uptick from a decade before, said Kegler, from the CDC's Division of Injury Prevention."In 2015 to 2016 and 2018 to 2019, rates of firearm homicide in large metro areas were...

Want to Avoid Glaucoma? Look at What You Eat

10 January 2022
Want to Avoid Glaucoma? Look at What You EatMONDAY, Jan. 10, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Eat right to protect your sight.That's the advice of the Glaucoma Research Foundation, which offers its recipe for healthier eyes.Glaucoma is group of eye diseases that cause progressive vision loss through damage to the optic nerve. It is the second-leading cause of blindness.As with other health issues, good nutrition can make a difference for your eyes, the foundation notes. Fruits and veggies are good sources of vitamins A and C, as well as the antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin. These can protect against oxidative stress associated with damage to the optic nerve and other tissues of the eye in glaucoma. A study that included 584 Black women found that those who consumed three or more fruit or juice servings daily were 79% less likely to...

Many Doctors Uninformed on Rights of Disabled Patients

10 January 2022
Many Doctors Uninformed on Rights of Disabled PatientsMONDAY, Jan. 10, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- More than 30 years after passage of the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), many doctors still don't know how to provide accessible care, a new study finds."Despite the fact people with disabilities comprise 25% of the population, they often confront barriers to basic health care services such as physical examinations, weight measurement and effective communication with their physicians," said lead author Dr. Lisa Iezzoni of the Mongan Institute Health Policy Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston."To achieve more equitable care and social justice for patients with disability, considerable improvements are needed to educate physicians about making health care delivery systems more accessible and accommodating,"...

Quality of Home Health Care Varies Between Urban, Rural Areas

10 January 2022
Quality of Home Health Care Varies Between Urban, Rural AreasMONDAY, Jan. 10, 2022 (HealthDay News) – Need in-home health care? Know this: The quality of your care may depend on where you live.That's the takeaway from a new study from New York University that gave agencies in urban areas high marks for keeping patients out of the hospital. It found that home health agencies in rural areas, meanwhile, get care started sooner.“Our study highlights the persistence of disparities in quality of home health care,” said study author Chenjuan Ma, an assistant professor at NYU's Rory Meyers College of Nursing.For the study, her team analyzed performance measures from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services between 2014 and 2018.Limited improvements have been made over time, and gaps in quality of care did not significantly shrink over...

Know Your Thyroid Facts

9 January 2022
Know Your Thyroid FactsSUNDAY, Jan. 9, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Thyroid cancer diagnoses have spiked for U.S. women this past decade.That's why it's essential to pay attention to this small gland at the base of your neck. The thyroid is an important part of your endocrine system, producing a hormone that helps control metabolism."While there is no known way to prevent thyroid cancer, some things that may help to maintain thyroid health are the lifestyle choices you make," said endocrine surgeons Dr. Amanda Laird and Dr. Toni Beninato, of Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey in New Brunswick.Thyroid disorders can range from a small, harmless goiter (an enlarged gland) to cancer that may need to be treated with radioactive iodine or surgery.Laird and Beninato offered these tips for good thyroid health:Start...

You Can Help Prevent Cervical Cancer

SATURDAY, Jan. 8, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Cervical cancer is the only gynecologic cancer that can be prevented, yet there were more than 4,000 deaths in the United States in 2021 and nearly...

Breakthrough COVID Cases Overwhelmingly Mild for...

FRIDAY, Jan. 7, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- A review of cases from 465 U.S. hospitals underscores the protection provided by COVID-19 vaccines.The new review -- by researchers at the U.S. National...
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