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MONDAY, Dec. 6, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- People with a longtime history of epilepsy show signs of rapid brain aging that may raise their odds for developing dementia down the road.This is the key finding of new research reporting that the brains of people with epilepsy that began in childhood appear to be about 10 years older than the brains of people without a history of this seizure disorder. Individuals with epilepsy were also more likely to show signs of cognitive decline, including problems with memory and reasoning, and changes on brain scans that indicate increased risk for Alzheimer's disease.Brain aging and changes in thinking and memory were more pronounced among people whose epilepsy wasn't well controlled. But they were still evident in folks whose seizures were under...

MONDAY, Dec. 6, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- New research offers fresh proof that the COVID-19 pandemic delayed cancer diagnoses in the United States, increasing patients' risk for poor outcomes.For the study, researchers analyzed data from more than 9 million patients at over 1,200 Veterans Affairs (VA) medical facilities. Procedures to diagnose cancer were used less often and there were fewer new cancer diagnoses in 2020 than in the two previous years. From 2018 through 2020, 3.9 million diagnostic procedures were done and nearly 252,000 new cancers were diagnosed.Study author Dr. Brajesh Lal, of the VA Maryland Health Care System, said the disruption in non-emergency care during the pandemic's peak was "intentional and necessary.""As we enter the recovery phase, we hope that our work...

MONDAY, Dec. 6, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- It happens very rarely, but most teens and young adults who do experience heart inflammation (myocarditis) after a COVID-19 shot have mild symptoms and recover quickly, new research shows.“Overwhelmingly, data continue to indicate that the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination -- 91% effective at preventing complications of severe COVID-19 infection including hospitalization and death -- far exceed the very rare risks of adverse events, including myocarditis," said Dr. Donald Lloyd-Jones, president of the American Heart Association, who was not involved in the study.Myocarditis is a rare but serious condition that's most often triggered by an infection and/or inflammation caused by a virus.The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has...

MONDAY, Dec. 6, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- In nearly two-thirds of U.S. states, cancer patients weren't put at the front of the line for COVID-19 vaccines in the initial phase of vaccination, a new study finds. Many cancer patients are especially vulnerable to COVID-19 as the disease or related treatments leaves them with weakened immune systems.Perhaps many cancer patients were skipped over for COVID shots because vaccination guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were too broad, reasoned study lead author Dr. Rahul Prasad, of the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center in Columbus. "I don't think anyone intended to push people to the back of the line," Prasad added.In the final part of the first phase of the U.S. vaccination program, the CDC said...