Latest Health News

THURSDAY, Aug. 12, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- New research offers insight into a rare but dangerous inflammatory disease that can occur in children after COVID-19 infection, researchers report.More than 2,600 cases of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) have been reported in the United States since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.It's characterized by fever, pain and inflammation of multiple organs, including the heart, lungs, kidneys, skin, eyes, or gastrointestinal tract.An autoimmune condition has been suggested as an underlying cause of MIS-C, but specific genes, pathways and cell types remain unknown.In this study, researchers at Mount Sinai Health System in New York City discovered that certain infection-fighting cells of the immune system are "exhausted" in...

THURSDAY, Aug. 12, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- A third dose of a two-shot COVID vaccine significantly boosts transplant patients' protection against SARS-CoV-2, according to a new study."We knew from previous studies that two doses were not enough to produce a good immune response against COVID-19 in transplant patients," said study co-senior author Dr. Deepali Kumar. She is director of transplant infectious diseases at the University Health Network (UHN) in Toronto and professor of medicine at the University of Toronto."Based on our study, a third dose of COVID vaccine is definitely the best way to increase protection in transplant recipients," Kumar said in a UHN news release.The study of 120 transplant patients was conducted between May 25 and June 3. None of the patients had COVID...

THURSDAY, Aug. 12, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Schizophrenia is a debilitating disease that can make navigating daily life a massive challenge, but a new blood test could flag it in its early stages, researchers say.Their analysis of blood samples identified epigenetic markers — part of your DNA — that differ between people with schizophrenia and those without the mental health disorder.The researchers developed a model to assess a person's risk for schizophrenia, and testing on an independent dataset showed that the model can identify schizophrenia patients with 80% accuracy.The study was published online Aug. 3 in the journal Translational Psychiatry."Schizophrenia is a devastating disease that affects about 1% of the world's population," said corresponding author Dr. Robert...

THURSDAY, Aug. 12, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Death, injuries, abuse and mental health disorders are among the many harms faced by children whose parents are heavy drinkers, Danish researchers say."Within the last 10 years, there has been an expansion of research on consequences that extend beyond the drinker," wrote lead author Julie Brummer, a doctoral student in psychology and behavioral sciences at Aarhus University, Denmark, and colleagues. "Although some studies show that harm because of strangers' drinking may be more prevalent, harms caused by close relations, such as household family members and friends, may be more severe and distressing," they wrote.Brummer noted that most research on drinking-related dangers to family members has relied on self-reports, but parents may...