Latest Health News

10Aug
2023

People With Autism Face Much Higher Risk for Self-Harm, Suicide

People With Autism Face Much Higher Risk for Self-Harm, SuicideTHURSDAY, Aug. 10, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- People with autism are over three times more likely than their peers without the developmental disorder to experience self-injury, suicidal ideation, suicide attempt, or death by suicide, new research shows. “In general, I think there needs to be more support for individuals with autism. And this shows that there are life-threatening consequences in terms of suicide and self-harm,” said Alycia Halladay, chief science officer for the Autism Science Foundation. She was not involved in the study.The researchers agreed.“The presence of psychiatric illnesses substantially accounts for these increased risks,” said lead study author Dr. Meng-Chuan Lai, staff psychiatrist and clinician scientist with the Child and Youth Mental Health...

For Some, Long COVID Symptoms Can Come and Go

10 August 2023
For Some, Long COVID Symptoms Can Come and GoTHURSDAY, Aug. 10, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- As researchers continue to try to better understand the condition known as long COVID, a new study has discovered that symptoms can emerge months after infection or even return later for some folks.The research is considered the most comprehensive look at how symptoms evolve over the course of a year.“It was common for symptoms to resolve, then re-emerge months later,” said lead author Dr. Juan Carlos Montoy, an associate professor in the department of emergency medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. “A lot of prior research has focused on symptoms at one or two points in time, but we were able to describe symptom trajectory with greater clarity and nuance. It suggests that measurements at a single point in time could...

TENS Device Could Ease Sleep Apnea, Freeing Patients...

10 August 2023
TENS Device Could Ease Sleep Apnea, Freeing Patients From CPAPTHURSDAY, Aug. 10, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- A small battery-operated device long used as a treatment for pain may also help patients with sleep apnea, a British study suggests.Sleep apnea is a condition that impedes breathing during sleep, reduces oxygen intake and undermines sleep itself.The remedy: zapping sleepers with continuous but controlled electric pulses to open obstructed airways, improve breathing and restore sleep.“Patients with sleep apnea frequently stop breathing when asleep,” said study author Joerg Steier, a professor of respiratory and sleep medicine at the Lane Fox Unit/Sleep Disorders Center at King’s College London.The condition is often associated with snoring, and often results in fragmented sleep so that patients are excessively tired the next day, Steier...

Study Finds Good Long-Term Outcomes for Appendicitis...

10 August 2023
Study Finds Good Long-Term Outcomes for Appendicitis Treated Without SurgeryTHURSDAY, Aug. 10, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Most people with appendicitis who are given antibiotics — instead of having their appendix removed — fare well over the long haul, new research indicates.The conclusion follows roughly two decades spent tracking patient outcomes in Sweden.The study found that among those initially treated solely with antibiotics, rather than surgery, less than half ended up experiencing another attack or needing any appendix-related surgery years down the road."Neither option is ‘best,'" emphasized study author Simon Eaton, a senior lecturer in pediatric surgery and metabolic biochemistry at University College London's Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, in the United Kingdom. “But we are now better able to tell someone with appendicitis...

Air Pollution Is Causing Rise in Deaths, Disability Worldwide

10 August 2023
Air Pollution Is Causing Rise in Deaths, Disability WorldwideTHURSDAY, Aug. 10, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- The heart risks posed by air pollution have grown worldwide over the past three decades, a new study claims.The annual number of premature heart-related deaths and years of disability attributable to particulate matter (PM) air pollution increased 31% between 1990 and 2019, the researchers reported.Men suffered more than women, experiencing a 43% increase in air pollution-related deaths, compared to a 28% increase among women.Wealth also played a role.Regions with better socioeconomic conditions lost the lowest number of years of life due to air pollution-related heart disease attributed to PM pollution. However, people in these areas also had the highest number of years lived with disability.The opposite was true in less affluent regions,...

AHA News: For Pediatrician Mom, 'Back to School' Starts Well Before First Day of Class

10 August 2023
AHA News: For Pediatrician Mom, `Back to School` Starts Well Before First Day of ClassTHURSDAY, Aug. 10, 2023 (American Heart Association News) -- Any parent knows that back-to-school season can turn into one of the busiest times of the year. As a medical professional whose many roles include being a parent to two adolescents, Dr. Natalie Muth might know more than most.Muth is a pediatrician and registered dietitian at Children's Primary Care Medical Group in Carlsbad, California. She's also a spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics, has led or been part of several expert panels and wrote a book on family wellness.Despite all that expertise, as she prepares to send her son and daughter to 10th and seventh grades, respectively, Muth said she faces challenges that would be familiar to any parent: "ensuring an earlier sleep time and enough sleep at night,...

Could Popular Heartburn Meds Raise Your Odds for Dementia?

10 August 2023
Could Popular Heartburn Meds Raise Your Odds for Dementia?THURSDAY, Aug. 10, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Older adults who use certain heartburn medications for years may have a heightened risk of developing dementia, a new study suggests.The study, published Aug. 9 in the journal Neurology, is the latest to point to potential hazards from prolonged use of medications called proton pump inhibitors, or PPIs. They include such well-known brands as Nexium, Prevacid and Prilosec, and they rank among the top-selling medications in the United States.Researchers found that among 5,700 older U.S. adults, those who'd used PPIs for 4.5 years or more had a 33% greater risk of developing dementia than their counterparts who'd never used the drugs.Experts were quick to stress that the findings do not prove cause-and-effect. And no one is suggesting that...

Extended Use of Antidepressants May Help People With Bipolar Disorder

10 August 2023
Extended Use of Antidepressants May Help People With Bipolar DisorderTHURSDAY, Aug. 10, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Modern antidepressants could be effective for long-term treatment of some patients with bipolar disorder, a new trial suggests.Current guidelines discourage use of antidepressants in these patients, over concerns that the drugs will trigger a manic episode.But bipolar patients who remained on antidepressants for a whole year had fewer mood episodes than those who were switched to a placebo after two months, the investigators found.These results “should change practice and it should convert more people that were nonbelievers to saying, yeah, at least for some patients, continuing antidepressants is a good strategy,” said lead researcher Dr. Lakshmi Yatham, head of psychiatry at the University of British Columbia, in Canada.However, the...

Parasites Plagued Ancient Reptiles 200 Million Years Ago

THURSDAY, Aug. 10, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Scientists have found evidence of ancient parasites preserved in the dung of an aquatic predator from more than 200 million years ago.The ancient...

Vitamin K May Kickstart Healthy Lungs

THURSDAY, Aug. 10, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- It may not get the publicity of some better-known vitamins like D, but vitamin K -- found in leafy green vegetables -- may boost lung health.A new,...
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