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THURSDAY, July 22, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- One day before the official start of the Tokyo Olympics, the city has recorded its highest number of new COVID-19 cases in six months.The 1,979 cases reported on Thursday are the most seen since 2,044 cases were recorded on Jan. 15, according to the Associated Press. Japan has reported about 853,000 cases and 15,100 deaths since the pandemic began, most of them this year. Still, the number of cases and deaths as a share of the population are much lower than in many other countries, the AP said.The city was placed under a state of emergency on July 12, but there's been a spike in daily cases since then, prompting growing concerns about holding the games, which end on Aug. 8.The emergency measures largely involve an alcohol sales ban and...

THURSDAY, July 22, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Black Americans admitted for inpatient hospital care are far more likely than white patients to experience safety-related health complications -- even when both are treated in the same facility, a new report warns.And having good insurance didn't appear to bridge racial differences in patient safety, investigators found: Even when Black patients had coverage similar to their white peers, they still faced a greater risk for in-hospital complications."Unfortunately, this is what health disparities look like in real life," said Delmonte Jefferson, executive director of The Center for Black Health & Equity, an advocacy group headquartered in Durham, N.C."Even in environments where everything should be equal, we see unequal treatment and unequal...

THURSDAY, July 22, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- To do their best, Olympic athletes need to be both physically and mentally fit, but the COVID-19 pandemic and its restrictions at the Tokyo Olympics has made that a real challenge, experts say."This Olympics is unprecedented," said Dr. Michael Lardon, an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego.The Tokyo Olympics itself, which officially begins Friday, is pressure-packed. You train for four years to get there and you often have one chance — it's make or break. "Most athletes don't come back four years later, so making it to the Olympics is unique," he said.But this time around, the pandemic has put extra pressure on the athletes, said Lardon, who has been a consulting psychiatrist to the U.S....

THURSDAY, July 22, 2021 (American Heart Association News) -- Throughout Laney Lyon's 1-week birthday, small signs indicated something was wrong. She wasn't eating as much as usual. Her color seemed off. Her mom suspected jaundice and held Laney in the sun when she could.By evening, Laney was unable to latch on to breastfeed. Her breathing sounded strange. Then there was her crying."It was like no cry I'd ever heard before," said Laney's mom, Stephanie. "She was straining to cry almost. If she was stronger, she might have been able to shriek. It was a cry for help and of agony."Chris Lyon, Laney's dad, called a friend who is a doctor, Ben Fickenscher. He asked if the baby was running a fever. Actually, her body seemed cold."She's cold?" Fickenscher said to them. "You need to take her in...