Latest Health News

TUESDAY, Sept. 28, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Severely obese children who are unable to slim down should be eligible for weight loss surgery, a new study suggests.The gastric sleeve procedure is safe and effective long-term, said a research team that followed participants as young as 5 for a decade. "Lack of long-term data and some pediatricians' fears that bariatric [weight loss] surgery might affect children's linear growth has led to worldwide resistance to performing weight loss procedures for children below 14 or 15 years of age," said principal study author Dr. Aayed Alqahtani. He is a professor of bariatric and minimally invasive surgery at King Saud University in Saudi Arabia. "Our findings present clear evidence that should remove hesitance to perform bariatric surgical...

TUESDAY, Sept. 28, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Strength training can help you lose weight, Australian researchers report. Their new study reports you can lose a percentage of body fat through strength training alone that is similar to weight loss through cardio or aerobics."A lot of people think that if you want to lose weight, you need to go out and run," said researcher Mandy Hagstrom, an exercise physiologist and senior lecturer at the University of New South Wales School of Medical Sciences."But our findings show that even when strength training is done on its own, it still causes a favorable loss of body fat without having to consciously diet or go running," she said in a university news release.Hagstrom's team looked at 58 previously published studies that included 3,000...

MONDAY, Sept. 27, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- A record increase was seen in the number of murders in the United States in 2020, in the biggest one-year jump reported since federal officials began tracking homicides in 1960.Figures showed 4,901 more murders committed in 2020 than in 2019. A total of roughly 21,500 people were killed last year, according to data from 16,000 law enforcement agencies across the country. While the numbers are still high for 2021, they appear to be slowing as the year goes on, the New York Times reported.Overall, major crimes -- which include rape, armed assault, robbery and car thefts -- were down about 5% for 2020, statistics showed.The reasons for the rise in crime aren't entirely clear, but could include sharp increases in gun purchases and the pandemic's...

MONDAY, Sept. 27, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- More than 50% of American children have detectable blood lead levels, a new study reveals. And young children who live in places with lots of pre-1950s housing and low incomes have the greatest risk."Public health authorities have worked commendably to reduce lead exposure for decades, and yet, substantial risk remains," said study co-author Dr. Harvey Kaufman, head of health trends research for Quest Diagnostics. "Our study is a cautionary tale of the enormous challenge of remediating environments following contamination with toxins dangerous to human health."For the study, researchers from Quest Diagnostics and Boston Children's Hospital analyzed laboratory blood tests of nearly 1.2 million children under 6 years of age in the United States....