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WEDNESDAY, Aug. 11, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- The Affordable Care Act (ACA) reduced the ranks of uninsured Americans, but a recent study shows that many U.S. states did little to close racial gaps in health coverage.Researchers found that in the two years after the ACA came into force, some U.S. states showed large reductions in the number of Black, Hispanic and low-income residents who were uninsured.Other states, however, showed little change. And in many, at least 20% of Black residents and 40% of Hispanic residents remained uninsured as of 2016 (the final year of the study period).The findings, experts said, highlight the pitfalls of giving states a lot of leeway in implementing the ACA.For one, states can decide whether to accept federal funds to expand their Medicaid programs,...

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 11, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- The psychological strains of the pandemic can be powerful tinder for political unrest and violence, researchers warn."The pandemic has disrupted our normal way of living, generating frustrations, unprecedented social exclusion, and a range of other concerns," said study author Henrikas Bartusevičius, a researcher with the Peace Research Institute Oslo in Norway. "Our investigations show that the psychological toll of living through a pandemic also stoked anti-government and anti-systemic attitudes that led to political violence in a number of countries."Bartusevičius and his colleagues asked 6,000 adults in the United States, Denmark, Italy and Hungary how the pandemic had affected their health, finances, relationships and rights, if they...

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 11, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Barnacles may be the bane of ships, but they could point to new ways to quickly halt severe bleeding, researchers report.Barnacles are small crustaceans that attach to rocks, ship hulls and even other animals, such as whales. Their ability to cling to surfaces that are often wet and dirty caught the attention of researchers trying to find new ways to seal wounds in emergency situations.Among members of the military, blood loss is the leading cause of death following a traumatic injury, and it is the second leading cause of death following a traumatic injury among the general population.Inspired by the sticky substance that barnacles use to cling to objects, the researchers created a biocompatible glue that can seal wounds and stop...

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 11, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- In a study conducted in Scandinavia, loss of height among middle-aged women was linked to an increased risk of early death from heart attack and stroke, researchers report.Some loss of height goes along with aging, and previous studies have suggested it may boost the odds of death from heart disease.While women tend to shrink more than men with age, height loss in women has not been well studied. That led the authors of this new study to probe the link between mid-life height loss in women and death risk from all causes.The study included more than 2,400 Swedish and Danish women born between 1908 and 1952.Their height was checked between 30 and 60 years of age and again 10 to 13 years later. Date and cause of death were monitored for 17 to...