Latest Health News

13Aug
2021

AHA News: Since Her Cardiac Arrest at 37, She Urges Everyone to Know CPR

AHA News: Since Her Cardiac Arrest at 37, She Urges Everyone to Know CPRFRIDAY, Aug. 13, 2021 (American Heart Association News) -- At 37, Mary Gordon was fit, energetic and healthy. She regularly pushed herself through workouts on a high-tech stationary bike and ran 5Ks. So she was at a loss to explain the fatigue she began experiencing.Shortly before Christmas 2019, she woke up feeling out of sorts. She stopped and rested several times while decorating her home for the holidays.She'd attended an ugly sweater party the night before and chalked up her symptoms to a lack of sleep. Though she didn't feel great, she went shopping with a friend in nearby Washington, D.C. At one point, she nearly passed out."Everything went blank," Gordon recalled. "But it was so quick that I questioned if it really happened."Gordon suspected she was dehydrated and tired. But...

FDA OKs Third COVID Shot for Vulnerable Americans

13 August 2021
FDA OKs Third COVID Shot for Vulnerable AmericansFRIDAY, Aug. 13, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday authorized a third "booster" shot of coronavirus vaccines for people with weakened immune systems, as the highly contagious Delta variant continues to surge across the country.Expanding the emergency use of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines should help protect those patients who are considered most vulnerable to COVID-19 infection. The authorization includes people who have had solid organ transplants and those whose immune systems are equally compromised, the FDA said.The Johnson & Johnson vaccine wasn't included in the authorization because there isn't sufficient data yet on that vaccine, according to the agency. With the booster dose approved, doctors will now have the leeway to give additional...

'Date Rape' Drug Gets FDA Approval to Treat Rare Sleep...

13 August 2021
`Date Rape` Drug Gets FDA Approval to Treat Rare Sleep DisorderFRIDAY, Aug. 13, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- The drug Xywav has been approved for expanded use in adults with a rare sleep disorder called idiopathic hypersomnia, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Thursday.The drug has a checkered history: In the 1960s, it was given to women during childbirth to dampen their consciousness, The New York Times reported, while an illicit version made headlines as a "date rape" drug in the 1990s.It's the first drug to be approved by the FDA for idiopathic hypersomnia, which causes excessive daytime sleepiness even after a good night's sleep.The oral drug was already approved for the treatment of excessive daytime sleepiness and sudden loss of muscle tone in patients aged 7 and older with narcolepsy."Idiopathic hypersomnia is a lifelong condition, and...

Your Metabolism Changes As You Age, Just Not When You Think

13 August 2021
Your Metabolism Changes As You Age, Just Not When You ThinkFRIDAY, Aug. 13, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Everyone knows that your metabolism peaks in your teenage years, when you're fit and active and feeling your oats.And everyone knows that a person's metabolism slows down in middle age, as bodies start to expand and sag, and become less energetic.But that's all wrong, it now appears — fake news about how humans age that's gained the currency of truth over the years.Your metabolism actually is at its highest when you're 1 year old, according to a major new study that completely shakes up what was known about energy expenditure over a person's lifespan.It then gradually declines through your childhood and teen years, until it reaches a surprisingly consistent level that people maintain throughout adulthood until they reach senior status,...

Cancer Patients Avoiding Pot, Even as Rules on Use Relax

13 August 2021
Cancer Patients Avoiding Pot, Even as Rules on Use RelaxFRIDAY, Aug. 13, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- As legal use of marijuana expands, experts say U.S. cancer patients are still far less likely to use it than the general population.That's the key finding from a new study based on data on smoking habits -- both tobacco and pot -- collected from nearly 20,000 people between 2013 and 2018. Several U.S. states legalized recreational pot during that time. Over the period, reported marijuana use peaked at 9% for cancer patients, compared to 14% among people with no cancer history, according to findings published Aug. 13 in the journal Cancer."Even when we looked at whether someone used cannabis over the four years of observation and we control for things like age and race, cancer patients are still not increasing their use over time like the...

That Face Mask Is Helping to Shield You From Allergens, Too

13 August 2021
That Face Mask Is Helping to Shield You From Allergens, TooFRIDAY, Aug. 13, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Here's an unexpected benefit from wearing a mask during the pandemic: It may also reduce fall allergy symptoms, one expert says."Masks that people use for protection from COVID-19, particularly those that filter out more particles like the N95 or KN95 masks, also tend to filter out pollen," said Dr. Luz Fonacier, president of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI). "As we face an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases nationwide, and as more people are putting their masks back on, they may find their allergy symptoms decreasing a bit," she said in an ACAAI news release.Every fall, ragweed pollen is the biggest allergy trigger and should be avoided, along with mold and grass pollen. Ragweed usually starts releasing...

Keep Asthma Under Control to Avoid Worse COVID Outcomes: Study

13 August 2021
Keep Asthma Under Control to Avoid Worse COVID Outcomes: StudyFRIDAY, Aug. 13, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Uncontrolled asthma increases the risk of severe COVID-19, researchers warn."This study … focused on how COVID-19 outcomes might change for asthma patients depending on their level of asthma control," said study author Anny Xiang, a senior research scientist at Kaiser Permanente Southern California."We also saw that even in patients with active asthma, if they were using asthma medications their odds of worsened COVID-19 outcomes decreased, which demonstrates just how important these medications are," she added.For the study, researchers from Kaiser Permanente and the University of Southern California (USC) analyzed medical records of more than 61,000 COVID-19 patients treated at Kaiser Permanente Southern California between March 1 and Aug....

Need a New Liver? Your Survival Odds May Depend on Race

13 August 2021
Need a New Liver? Your Survival Odds May Depend on RaceFRIDAY, Aug. 13, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Black American liver transplant recipients have a lower survival rate than Hispanic or white patients, and a new study suggests that alcohol-related liver disease and insurance coverage are key reasons."Our findings are a huge wake-up call that physicians and other health care professionals need to do better in delivering equitable care," said study leader Dr. Brian Lee, a liver transplant specialist at Keck Medicine of the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles.The analysis of data from about 47,000 patients who received new livers between 2002 and 2018 found that Black recipients were 15% more likely to die during that time than Hispanic patients or white patients.While the survival gap narrowed between 2002 and 2009, and remained...

Death of Spouse Could Raise Men's Odds for Prostate Cancer

FRIDAY, Aug. 13, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Widowers have a higher risk for advanced prostate cancer than men who are part of a couple, Canadian researchers say.The new findings are from an analysis...

Some Diabetes Meds Might Also Lower Alzheimer's Risk

THURSDAY, Aug. 12, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Older adults who take certain diabetes drugs may see a slower decline in their memory and thinking skills, a new study suggests.Researchers in South...
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