Latest Health News

12Oct
2021

60% of Americans Will Delay or Skip Flu Shot This Year: Survey

60% of Americans Will Delay or Skip Flu Shot This Year: SurveyTUESDAY, Oct. 12, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Experts are warning that the upcoming flu season could be severe as social distancing measures are relaxed across the United States, but a new survey finds that 6 in 10 Americans may delay or skip a flu shot. However, it also found that 98% of those who got a flu shot last season do plan to get one again this year. While 82% of the 1,000 adult participants of the online survey said they are thinking more about their health due to COVID-19, only 26% said COVID-19 makes them more likely to get a flu shot this year.Hispanics were more likely to say COVID-19 had an impact on their flu shot decision (57%) than non-Hispanics (38%), according to the poll from the American Heart Association (AHA)."If there has ever been a year to prioritize getting...

Risk of COVID from Grocery Store Surfaces Very Low: Study

12 October 2021
Risk of COVID from Grocery Store Surfaces Very Low: StudyTUESDAY, Oct. 12, 2021 (HealthDay News) – Your chances of getting COVID-19 from surfaces at the grocery store are minimal, a Canadian study reassures.Researchers at the University of Guelph in Ontario collected 957 samples at four grocery stories over a month. None tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID, the study found. In other words, high-touch surfaces like the handle of your shopping cart or the freezer door should be safe to touch in stores that follow good cleaning protocols."We believe that cleaning and disinfecting contact surfaces along with wearing masks significantly minimize the risk of transmission from surfaces in grocery stores to humans," said Dr. Maria Corradini, an associate professor of food sciences.Research early in the pandemic suggested...

Access to Top Drugs Makes the Difference for Black Lung...

12 October 2021
Access to Top Drugs Makes the Difference for Black Lung Cancer PatientsTUESDAY, Oct. 12, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Equal access to the most effective drugs helps eliminate the survival disparity between Black and white lung cancer patients in the United States, a new study shows.In general, Black lung cancer patients are more likely to die than white patients, but these findings suggest that barriers to care are the main cause of racial disparities in lung cancer survival rates, the researchers said.They used the National Cancer Database to analyze outcomes among more than 3,000 patients who were diagnosed with advanced lung cancer between 2015 and 2016 and received immunotherapy. The death rate among Black patients was 15% lower than for whites, according to the study presented recently at an American Association for Cancer Research meeting."It is quite...

Clot-Busting Drugs Safe in Stroke Patients When Brain...

12 October 2021
Clot-Busting Drugs Safe in Stroke Patients When Brain Aneurysm Hasn`t RupturedTUESDAY, Oct. 12, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Clot-busting drugs may be safe for certain stroke patients with brain aneurysms that haven't ruptured, researchers say.An aneurysm is a bulge in the wall of a blood vessel. In the new study, patients had suffered an ischemic stroke, which is caused by blocked blood flow in the brain. Even though clot-busting drugs are the main treatment for ischemic stroke, they're often not given to people who have an aneurysm in their brains that has not ruptured. But this study found that brain aneurysms rarely rupture after treatment with clot-busting drugs. The researchers analyzed data on all stroke patients who received clot-busting drugs at a stroke center in Finland over 15 years. Of the nearly 4,000 patients, 132 had one or more unruptured...

Bystanders Can Make the Difference for a Drowning Child

12 October 2021
Bystanders Can Make the Difference for a Drowning ChildTUESDAY, Oct. 12, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- A drowning child has a much lower risk of severe disability or death if a bystander steps in, even without cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), new research finds."Bystanders play a critical role in preventing poor outcomes in childhood drowning by instituting safe, early and effective rescue and resuscitation of pediatric drowning victims," said author Dr. Rohit Shenoi, an attending physician at the Emergency Center at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston.A study abstract defined a bystander as a parent, relative, babysitter, lifeguard, friend or other person present at the incident.The study included data from 264 drownings in Harris County, Texas, between 2010 and 2012. Most of the children were between 1 and 4 years of age, and most...

Surgery Often a Gateway to Opioid Abuse, Study Confirms

11 October 2021
Surgery Often a Gateway to Opioid Abuse, Study ConfirmsMONDAY, Oct. 11, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Surgery is a common gateway to opioid misuse that can put patients at risk of an overdose.That's the conclusion of a new analysis of data from nearly 14,000 adults who had surgery between 2013 and 2019 at UCLA hospitals. All were opioid-naive, meaning they had not filled a prescription for an opioid painkiller for up to one year before their surgery. Afterward, they were prescribed opioids to control pain and 21% refilled their prescription between three months and one year after their operation."The more than 100 million surgeries in the U.S. every year create an unintended and alarming gateway to long-term opioid use," said lead author Gia Pittet, a visiting graduate researcher for anesthesiology and perioperative medicine at the UCLA.Her...

Many Older Americans Who Should Be Checking Blood Pressure at Home Aren't: Poll

11 October 2021
Many Older Americans Who Should Be Checking Blood Pressure at Home Aren`t: PollMONDAY, Oct. 11, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- If you are over 50 and you have high blood pressure or a health condition for which blood pressure control is essential, at-home blood pressure checks can avert medical emergencies.The trouble is that too few of these people actually perform them, a new survey reveals."This poll shows that we have more work to do to encourage older adults with certain chronic health conditions to monitor their blood pressure," said Alison Bryant, senior vice president of research for AARP. "We know that the risk of high blood pressure increases with age, so this is an important topic for older adults to discuss with a health provider."The National Poll on Healthy Aging from the University of Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation surveyed more...

When COVID Triggers Loss of Smell, Younger Patients Recover It Sooner

11 October 2021
When COVID Triggers Loss of Smell, Younger Patients Recover It SoonerMONDAY, Oct. 11, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Most adults who lose smell or taste due to COVID-19 infection regain those senses within months, but a quick recovery is more likely in those under 40, a new study finds.It included 798 participants in an ongoing survey who reported a loss of either sense after testing positive for COVID."We did see about an 80% recovery rate in a six-month period or longer. However, 20% is still a lot of people, given the millions that have been afflicted with COVID-19," said study co-author Dr. Evan Reiter, vice chairman of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine in Richmond.Along with age, pre-existing conditions also affected recovery of lost taste or smell. Those with a history of head injury and those...

Why Skin Cancer Checks Are Even More Important for...

SUNDAY, Oct. 10, 2021 (HealthDay News) – When Hispanic people get a skin cancer diagnosis, their tumors are about 17% larger than those of white people, researchers say. According to the...

Going Cordless With Window Blinds Could Save Your...

SATURDAY, Oct. 9, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Blinds and window coverings might seem harmless, but their cords can be deadly for young children and infants.The best way to keep children from becoming...
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