Latest Health News

MONDAY, Nov. 22, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Don't drive drunk. That's simple and obvious advice. And it appears ridesharing services are making it easier for people to take it.In a new study that looked at Chicago data, more rideshare trips meant fewer alcohol-involved crashes."This study was designed to look specifically at drunk driver crashing," said study author Christopher Morrison. "When there are more rideshare trips in action, there is less risk of a drunk driver crash," said Morrison, an assistant professor of epidemiology in the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University in New York City. The researchers chose Chicago because the city is one of the few locations where rideshare data, including where each trip started and ended, is released publicly at the trip...

MONDAY, Nov. 22, 2021 (American Heart Association News) -- Headaches, brain fog and that peculiar inability to smell or taste things. By now, most people know these symptoms as a few of the hallmarks of COVID-19. Researchers say they are a clear indication the virus impacts neurological functions.But what that impact means to long-term brain health remains unclear. With preliminary research hinting at a relationship between COVID-19 and Alzheimer's susceptibility, investigators are eager to learn whether the neurological damage caused by COVID-19 will be short-lived, or if it could lead to greater cognitive decline in an aging population.Thus far, said Dr. Eliezer Masliah, director of the division of neuroscience at the National Institute on Aging, "we don't know a lot."Investigators...

MONDAY, Nov. 22, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- The Delta variant is proving to be dangerous for pregnant women, raising the odds of both stillbirth and death, new government reports reveal.In one study, researchers analyzed Mississippi State Department of Health data and discovered that among women with COVID-19, the death rate was three times higher among pregnant women than non-pregnant women of reproductive age, and the death rate among pregnant women increased five-fold once the Delta variant became prevalent.Black pregnant women with COVID had a three times higher risk of death than pregnant Hispanic or white women.None of the 15 pregnant women with COVID-19 who died during the study period -- March 2020 through Oct. 6, 2021 -- were fully vaccinated, according to the study from the...

MONDAY, Nov. 22, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Most prescriptions for the medication gabapentin are for unapproved uses -- and many patients end up taking it along with drugs that create potentially dangerous interactions.That's the conclusion of a new study that looked at "off-label" use of gabapentin. In the United States, the drug is officially approved for treating certain seizures and some forms of nerve pain.It's known, however, that gabapentin is commonly prescribed for other uses, including various types of pain conditions and psychiatric disorders like depression and anxiety.The new study highlights just how widespread that off-label use is: Of almost 130 million outpatient visits where gabapentin was prescribed, more than 99% were for off-label uses."We anticipated there'd be a...