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WEDNESDAY, July 7, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Lotteries that pay cash and prizes to Americans who get vaccinated sound like a sure-fire recipe for success, but a new study finds they don't actually boost vaccination rates.After media reports suggested that Ohio's "Vax-a-Million" lottery increased vaccination rates, other states decided to use lotteries to reinvigorate slowing vaccination rates."However, prior evaluations of the Ohio vaccine incentive lottery did not account for other changes in COVID-19 vaccination rates in the United States, such as those that may have been due to expansion of vaccination to ages 12 to 15," said study corresponding author Dr. Allan Walkey, a professor of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine.Using U.S. Centers for Disease Control and...

WEDNESDAY, July 7, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Want to be good to your ticker?Load up on veggies — especially beans, Italian researchers recommend.They've published a comprehensive review of research on eating habits and heart disease that provides consistent evidence that eating less salt and animal proteins and more plant-based foods is associated with a lower risk of heart disease. Those good-for-you foods include whole grains, fruits, veggies, legumes and nuts.The researchers also recommend replacing butter and other animal fats with non-tropical vegetable fats, such as olive oil."A mistake we made in the past was to consider one dietary component the enemy and the only thing we had to change," said study author Gabriele Riccardi of the University of Naples Federico II, in Italy....

WEDNESDAY, July 7, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- In the middle of a pandemic that sent many Americans into bouts of emotional distress, one-quarter of them couldn't get counseling when they needed it the most, new research shows."Social isolation, COVID-related anxiety, disruptions in normal routines, job loss and food insecurity have led to a surge in mental illness during the pandemic," explained lead author Dr. Jason Nagata, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco.His team analyzed data from nearly 70,000 adults who took part in a U.S. Census survey in December 2020.Nearly 40% reported depression or anxiety symptoms during the pandemic. Overall, 13% said they had an unmet need for mental health counseling, including 25% of respondents with...

TUESDAY, July 6, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Since the advent of AIDS, major advancements in treating HIV infection has turned what used to be a death sentence into a manageable chronic condition.But new research warns that many people living with HIV/AIDS still face a dramatically higher risk for suicide.The finding came from a review of 40 studies that involved a total of roughly 185,000 adults with HIV or AIDS (PLWHA -- People Living With HIV/AIDS) all over the world. In the end, the study team concluded that suicide risk is 100 times higher among such patients, compared with the population at large."We were not surprised that the risk of suicide is higher in PLWHA," said study author Dr. Paddy Ssentongo. "Nevertheless, we did not expect such a significant degree of increased...