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THURSDAY, July 1, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- The state of your finances may affect more than your pocketbook.So claims new research that suggests a loss of wealth is associated with an increased risk of heart problems, while a boost in finances is associated with a lower risk."Low wealth is a risk factor that can dynamically change over a person's life and can influence a person's cardiovascular health status," said study author Dr. Muthiah Vaduganathan, from the division of cardiovascular medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital, in Boston. "So, it's a window of opportunity we have for an at-risk population. Buffering large changes in wealth should be an important focus for health policy moving ahead," he said in a hospital news release.The researchers analyzed data from nearly 5,600...

THURSDAY, July 1, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- More than half of American babies are exposed to at least some alcohol before they are born -- and for 8 out of 10, it happens before their mothers even realize they're pregnant, according to a Yale University study.Because alcohol consumption may harm the developing fetus, researchers said their findings underscore the need to promote abstinence in women who are pregnant or trying to become pregnant, as well as preventing unintended pregnancies."Finding that more than half of pregnancies that result in a live birth are exposed to alcohol was a big surprise; so we tried to understand [what] is contributing to this," said Reza Yaesoubi, an assistant professor at Yale School of Public Health's Department of Health Policy and Management."When we...

THURSDAY, July 1, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Behaviors associated with eating disorders can make real changes to the brain, new research shows. The findings could help explain why these serious disorders are often chronic -- and may also point the way to new treatments.Eating disorders — such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia and binge-eating disorder — can result in severe complications, including death. Related behaviors include binge-eating, purging and restricting food intake."This work is significant because it links biological and behavioral factors that interact to adversely impact eating behaviors," said Janani Prabhakar, of the translational research division at the National Institute of Mental Health, part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH).The study "deepens our...

WEDNESDAY, June 30, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Breast and cervical cancer screenings dropped sharply among low-income minority women during the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.That could lead to delayed cancer diagnoses, health consequences and an increase in existing disparities, the agency warned.The new findings "reinforce the need to safely maintain routine health care services during the pandemic, especially when the health care environment meets COVID-19 safety guidelines," said lead study author Amy DeGroff, a CDC health scientist.Compared with the previous five-year averages for April, screening tests received by women through CDC's National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program for underserved women were 87% lower for...