Latest Health News

TUESDAY, June 22, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- The good news: Levels of lead in the air that Londoners breathe are far lower today than they were in the 1980s, when leaded gas was an automotive staple. The bad news: Decades-old lead particles still pollute the city's air, a stubborn and potentially hazardous leftover of a now banned product. The findings might have implications for the health of city dwellers globally.In the study, researchers measured airborne lead concentrations in two locations in central London between 2014 and 2018. That data was then compared to lead levels repeatedly taken between the 1960s and 2010. The United Kingdom banned the sale of leaded gas in 2000, in recognition of the widely accepted consensus that exposure to airborne lead is unsafe at any level. Today,...

TUESDAY, June 22, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Young adults who use marijuana appear to have an increased risk of suicidal thoughts and attempted suicide, according to a new study from the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).In fact, the risk that someone between 18 and 34 will think about, plan for or attempt suicide increases with the amount of marijuana they use, according to results published June 22 in the journal JAMA Network Open.Even occasional pot use was associated with a greater risk of suicidal thoughts, plans and attempts compared to no pot use at all, and the risk rises as people use more often, results show.Risk also increased regardless of whether the cannabis user suffered from depression, although pot smokers with depression had an overall greater risk of...

TUESDAY, June 22, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Many older adults are still taking a daily baby aspirin to ward off first-time heart problems — despite guidelines that now discourage it, a new study finds.Researchers found that one-half to 62% of U.S. adults aged 70 and up were using low-dose aspirin to cut their risk of heart disease or stroke. And aspirin use was common even among those with no history of cardiovascular disease — a group for whom the drug may do more harm than good.The study authors estimated that nearly 10 million Americans who fall into that category are using aspirin.The numbers are concerning, said senior researcher Dr. Rita Kalyani, an associate professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, in Baltimore. Current guidelines, she said,...

TUESDAY, June 22, 2021 (American Heart Association News) -- Two days before Halloween, Nicky Larson stayed up late making edible witch's hats and spiders for her daughter's day care.When her left shoulder started to ache, she iced it, pegging the pain to poor posture. The next morning, after taking her daughter, Molly, to day care, she drove to the high school in Red Wing, Minnesota, where she works as a marketing teacher.The school was still mostly empty, aside from a handful of teachers in their classrooms prepping for the day back in 2010. Nicky sat at her desk, and her right ear started to ring. She yawned to make it stop. When it didn't, she stood up. Then she felt her entire right side go numb. Scared, she stepped into the hallway and fell flat on her face.Nicky, then 30, cried...