Latest Health News

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 1, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- If you've had a heart attack or stroke, you might want to avoid ultra-processed foods, new research suggests. The study found that a high intake of such foods significantly increases the risk of another heart attack or stroke, and it's more likely to be fatal. This was true even in people following what seems to be a heart-healthy diet. Ultra-processed foods are made in part or entirely with substances not routinely used in cooking — such as hydrolysed proteins, maltodextrins and hydrogenated fats — and contain additives such as dyes, preservatives, antioxidants, anticaking agents, flavor enhancers and sweeteners, the study authors explained."Ultra-processed foods is exactly how it reads: Foods that have been stripped of their nutrients...

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 1, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- The United States' first overdose prevention centers have opened in New York City in the Manhattan neighborhoods of East Harlem and Washington Heights.People will be able to bring their drugs and use them under the supervision of trained staff members who will provide clean needles, prevent overdoses and offer connections to addiction services to those who are interested, city officials said. Cities and states nationwide have pushed for overdose prevention sites in recent years as the nation's opioid epidemic has worsened."If you think about a public health response to a crisis and you want to triage people to stop it, this is one intervention most likely to do that," Caleb Banta-Green, principal research scientist at the University of...

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 1, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- A settlement that gives protections to Sackler family members who own Purdue Pharma should be rejected, a group of states told a federal judge on Tuesday.The settlement was reached in thousands of lawsuits against OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma for its role in the United States' opioid epidemic that's claimed more than 500,000 lives in the past two decades.Sackler family members removed more than $10 billion from the company, directed the funds toward bankruptcy, and then used a settlement crafted in bankruptcy court to gain legal protections for themselves, Washington state Solicitor General Noah Purcell told U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon, the Associated Press reported.“If that is not an abuse of the bankruptcy process,” Purcell...

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 1, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- People who are prescribed opioid painkillers after receiving a heart pacemaker or defibrillator may be at risk for opioid abuse -- and the higher the initial dose, the greater the risk, according to a new study.“The significance of this study is to make other electrophysiologists aware that even a low-risk procedure like a pacemaker or a defibrillator can lead to chronic opioid use and that physicians may want to be more conservative in prescribing opioids after surgery," study co-author Dr. David Frankel explained.“We’re still in the midst of a very lethal health crisis with opioid overdoses, and prescription opioids are often the initial exposure,” said Frankel, an associate professor of cardiovascular medicine at the University of...