Latest Health News

1Oct
2021

Merck to Ask FDA for Emergency Approval of Its New Antiviral Pill for COVID

Merck to Ask FDA for Emergency Approval of Its New Antiviral Pill for COVIDFRIDAY, Oct. 1, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. said Friday that it will seek federal approval for emergency use of its new antiviral pill molnupiravir, after a clinical trial showed the drug halved the risk of hospitalization or death when given to high-risk people shortly after infection with COVID-19.The new medication is just one of several antiviral pills now being tested in studies, and experts say these medications could give doctors a powerful new weapon to battle the virus."More tools and treatments are urgently needed to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, which has become a leading cause of death and continues to profoundly affect patients, families and societies, and strain health care systems all around the world," Merck CEO and President Robert Davis...

Silver Lining Found in Pandemic: Fewer Teens Are Vaping

1 October 2021
Silver Lining Found in Pandemic: Fewer Teens Are VapingFRIDAY, Oct. 1, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- It turns out that the pandemic has reaped one unexpected benefit: As teens were kept home more often, their use of electronic cigarettes dropped by nearly 40%, a new report finds. U.S. health officials said these numbers should be taken with a grain of salt, but the decrease in vaping in 2021 is probably real and makes sense because teens often vape socially, one expert told the Associated Press."They found a dramatic drop from last year, and it's hard to imagine that doesn't represent a real decrease in use among high school and middle school students," Dr. Nancy Rigotti of Harvard University, who was not involved in the research, told the AP.The survey found that 11% of high school students and less than 3% of middle school students said they...

How the COVID Pandemic Made the Opioid Epidemic Worse,...

1 October 2021
How the COVID Pandemic Made the Opioid Epidemic Worse, Even as Telehealth HelpedFRIDAY, Oct. 1, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- The COVID-19 pandemic has shaken up the U.S. opioid crisis in ways bad and good, increasing the risk of use and overdose but also spurring innovative approaches to treatment.The pandemic has definitely been linked to an increase in opioid use and overdose deaths, Tufts University's Thomas Stopka said during a HealthDay Now video interview."We've been seeing increases in opioid overdose deaths over the past 15 to 20 years, but the increase from 2019 to 2020 was upwards of a 30% increase, from about 70,000 the previous year to 93,000 in 2020," said Stopka, an associate professor of public health and community medicine at Tufts School of Medicine in Boston.People have often turned to alcohol, opioids and other drugs to help them cope with the...

Over Half of Police Killings Aren't Reported, Blacks...

1 October 2021
Over Half of Police Killings Aren`t Reported, Blacks Most Likely VictimsFRIDAY, Oct. 1, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- While high-profile cases like the 2020 killing of George Floyd have cast a harsh spotlight on police violence in the United States, researchers say deaths attributable to it have been underreported for at least 40 years. That's the key finding in a new study published Sept. 30 in The Lancet. For the study, a team from the University of Washington School of Medicine, in Seattle, reviewed data on fatal police violence between 1980 and 2018. Those numbers — from the U.S. National Vital Statistics System (NVSS), which collects all death certificates nationwide — were then compared to three nongovernmental, open-source databases.The conclusion: The federal government data underreported deaths from police by 56%. And Black Americans were 3.5 times...

Scientists Untangle Why Diabetes Might Raise Alzheimer's Risk

1 October 2021
Scientists Untangle Why Diabetes Might Raise Alzheimer`s RiskFRIDAY, Oct. 1, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Type 2 diabetes may up the risk for Alzheimer's disease by altering brain function, new animal research suggests.A University of Nevada Las Vegas team showed that chronically high blood sugar could impair memory and alter aspects of working memory networks in rodents."Diabetes is a major risk factor for developing Alzheimer's disease, but it is not clear why," said study author James Hyman, an associate professor of psychology. "We show that a central feature of diabetes, hyperglycemia, impairs neural activity in ways that are similar to what is observed in preclinical Alzheimer's disease models," Hyman said in a university news release. "This is the first evidence showing neural activity changes due to hyperglycemia overlap with what is...

Special Therapy Brings Relief to Patients With Chronic Back Pain

1 October 2021
Special Therapy Brings Relief to Patients With Chronic Back PainFRIDAY, Oct. 1, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Many people with long-term back pain have tried physical therapy and medication, to no avail. A new study suggests they might "unlearn" their discomfort in weeks -- using psychological therapy."For a long time, we have thought that chronic pain is due primarily to problems in the body, and most treatments to date have targeted that," said Yoni Ashar, who led the study while earning his PhD in the department of psychology and neuroscience at University of Colorado Boulder. "This treatment is based on the premise that the brain can generate pain in the absence of injury or after an injury has healed, and that people can unlearn that pain. Our study shows it works," Ashar said in a university news release. The study involved 151 men and women with...

Diet Drinks May Thwart Efforts to Lose Weight

1 October 2021
Diet Drinks May Thwart Efforts to Lose WeightFRIDAY, Oct. 1, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Trying to slim down? Diet drinks aren't likely to help, researchers warn.And those containing the artificial sweetener sucralose may even increase food cravings and appetite in women and people who are obese, according to a University of Southern California study."There is controversy surrounding the use of artificial sweeteners because a lot of people are using them for weight loss," said corresponding author Dr. Kathleen Page, an associate professor at the university's Keck School of Medicine, in Los Angeles. "While some studies suggest they may be helpful, others show they may be contributing to weight gain, type 2 diabetes and other metabolic disorders. Our study looked at different population groups to tease out some of the reasons behind...

Breastfeeding Longer May Lower Postpartum Depression Risk

1 October 2021
Breastfeeding Longer May Lower Postpartum Depression RiskFRIDAY, Oct. 1, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Besides the long-established benefits of breastfeeding for baby and mom, a new study reports one more: Nursing could help chase the blues away.It is linked to a lower risk for postpartum depression -- the so-called "baby blues" -- and nursing for a longer time may further ease depression symptoms, according to the findings."Women suffering from postpartum depression, which occurs within four weeks and up to 12 months after childbirth, endure feelings of sadness, anxiety and extreme fatigue that makes it difficult for them to function," said senior study author Christine Toledo, an assistant professor in the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing at Florida Atlantic University."Women with postpartum depression who are not treated also may have...

Sibling Bullying Carries Long-Term Mental Health Costs

FRIDAY, Oct. 1, 2021 (HealthDay News) – Bullying by a brother or sister in childhood can have lasting effects, threatening mental health in the teen years, new British research...

Tracking Key Protein Helps Predict Outcomes in TBI Patients

THURSDAY, Sept. 30, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- When people suffer a severe head injury, it's hard to predict how they will fare in the long run. But a new study suggests that something fairly simple...
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