Latest Health News

MONDAY, July 19, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- When you're hospitalized, you'll want qualified medical professionals treating you, but does it matter if your doctor is a man or a woman?It might. A new study in Canada found that patients cared for by female physicians had lower in-hospital death rates than those who had male doctors. "Our study overall shows that female doctors have lower patient death rates compared to the patients of their male colleagues, but the difference could not be explained based on imaging tests, CT scans, ultrasound, things like that," said the study's lead author, Anjali Sergeant. "However, the lower death rate in the patients of female physicians was partially explained by the fact that a higher proportion of new medical grads are female and that these new grads...

MONDAY, July 19, 2021 (American Heart Association News) -- A pregnant woman's diet and other lifestyle factors may change how her baby's genes work in a way that can affect the child's cardiovascular health by age 8 or 9, new research has found.Nearly half of U.S. adults have some form of cardiovascular disease, including coronary heart disease, heart failure, stroke and high blood pressure, according to American Heart Association statistics. Early intervention can reduce the risk. But it's challenging to identify potential problems early in children who might develop cardiovascular disease later in life.To meet that challenge, scientists are looking at epigenetics – the study of how the environment and other exposures alter the way a person's genes work – to better predict future...

MONDAY, July 19, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- The coronavirus pandemic has left plenty of Americans saddled with medical bills they can't pay, a new survey reveals. More than 50% of those who were infected with COVID-19 or who lost income due to the pandemic are now struggling with medical debt, according to researchers from The Commonwealth Fund, a nonprofit organization that advocates a high-performing health care system."The good news in the report is that insurance losses during the pandemic may have been offset by federal efforts to help people get and maintain their insurance coverage," said Sara Collins, vice president for health care coverage and access at The Commonwealth Fund."The bad news is that about a third of Americans continue to struggle with medical bills and medical...

MONDAY, July 19, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- "Shock" therapy often helps lift severe depression, but fear and stigma can deter patients from getting it. Now a large new study is confirming the treatment's safety.Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), as it's medically known, has been around for decades. For almost as long, it's been seen in a bad light -- fueled by disturbing media portrayals like those in the 1975 film "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest."But today's approach to ECT is much different from decades ago, and it's now a recommended treatment for severe depression that does not respond to standard antidepressants.The new study -- recently published in the journal Lancet Psychiatry -- adds to evidence that ECT does not raise the risk of serious medical complications.Of more than 10,000...