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TUESDAY, July 13, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Athletes have a much higher risk of the heart rhythm disorder atrial fibrillation than non-athletes, and younger athletes have a higher risk than older athletes, according to a new report from Britain. Atrial fibrillation (a-fib) is an irregular, often rapid heart rate that can impede blood flow. A-fib can increase the risk of stroke, heart failure and other heart-related problems. For the study, researchers analyzed 13 studies published between 1990 and December 2020. There were more than 70,000 participants, including more than 6,800 athletes and more than 63,000 non-athletes. Overall, athletes had about a 2.5 times higher risk of a-fib than non-athletes. But when the researchers focused on participants without heart disease risk factors...

TUESDAY, July 13, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Marriages can remain stable after something as challenging as a brain injury for one of the spouses, new research indicates. Though past reports have suggested that divorce rates were high among those who experienced traumatic brain injury (TBI), that was not true for most people in the current study. "Our data dispel myths about risk of divorce after TBI and suggest a message of hope," said the researchers, including Dr. Flora Hammond of Indiana University School of Medicine, in Indianapolis.For the study, the research team looked at more than 1,400 patients from a database of people hospitalized with TBI. Their average age was 44, about three-fourths were men and all were married at the time of their injury.The investigators found that 66%...

MONDAY, July 12, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- New recommendations on human genome editing issued by the World Health Organization include a call for a global registry to track "any form of genetic manipulation" and a whistle-blowing process for unethical or unsafe research.The WHO first commissioned the expert advisory panel in late 2018, after a Chinese scientist said he had created the world's first gene-edited babies, the Associated Press reported.All studies involving human genome editing should be made public, even though it wouldn't necessarily stop unprincipled scientists, the expert panel now advises."In the field of stem cell research, unscrupulous entrepreneurs and clinics have deliberately misused clinical trial registries by registering procedures they plan to undertake as if...

MONDAY, July 12, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- A flu shot might offer some protection against severe effects of COVID-19, a new study suggests.If you are infected with COVID-19, having had a flu shot makes it less likely you will suffer severe body-wide infection, blood clots, have a stroke or be treated in an intensive care unit, according to the study."Our work is important," said study co-author Dr. Devinder Singh, noting limited resources around the world continue to constrain access to the COVID vaccine. "The global population may benefit from influenza vaccination, as it can dually act to prevent a coronavirus and influenza 'twindemic,' which could potentially overwhelm health care resources," said Singh, chief of plastic surgery at the University of Miami Miller School of...