Latest Health News

17Jun
2021

Pot Use May Change the Teenage Brain, MRIs Show

Pot Use May Change the Teenage Brain, MRIs ShowTHURSDAY, June 17, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Smoking pot appears to affect teens' brain development, altering it in ways that could diminish their reasoning, decision-making and memory skills as they age, a new study reports.Brain scans of about 800 teenagers found that those who started smoking pot tended to have increased thinning of the cerebral cortex -- the outer layer of the brain responsible for thought, perception and language.This thinning particularly affected brain regions associated with working memory, inhibition, attention and emotional regulation, said lead researcher Matthew Albaugh, a clinical psychologist and assistant professor at the University of Vermont Medical Center, in Burlington.By age 19, teens who used pot already were showing signs of attentional...

Hand Sanitizer Vapors Can Cause Nausea, Dizziness

17 June 2021
Hand Sanitizer Vapors Can Cause Nausea, DizzinessTHURSDAY, June 17, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- The coronavirus pandemic has had an unexpected side effect — a wave of bad reactions to alcohol-based hand sanitizers.Vapors from the products can cause headache, nausea and dizziness, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which advises consumers to use the products in well-ventilated areas."We have received increasing reports of these side effects since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic," the agency said in a news release. "Most people experienced minor or minimal effects; however, some cases required treatment by a health care professional."The incidents likely occurred when people used sanitizers in enclosed spaces or places with poor air circulation.The FDA said it is continuing to monitor reports of adverse events...

U.S. Supreme Court Strikes Down Challenge to Affordable...

17 June 2021
U.S. Supreme Court Strikes Down Challenge to Affordable Care ActTHURSDAY, June 17, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- The landmark Affordable Care Act, which has expanded health care coverage to tens of millions of Americans, has withstood a third challenge before the U.S. Supreme Court.In a 7-2 decision, a majority of justices ruled on Thursday that plaintiffs involved in the case did not sustain any injury that gave them standing to sue, The New York Times reported.The decision left unresolved a larger issue, namely whether the Obama-era law could continue without a provision that initially mandated that Americans obtain insurance or pay penalty. Had the court acted to strike down "Obamacare," about 21 million people who gained insurance coverage under the plan would have become uninsured, according to recent estimates from the Urban Institute, the Times...

Red Cross Warns of Severe Blood Shortage

17 June 2021
Red Cross Warns of Severe Blood ShortageTHURSDAY, June 17, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- There's a severe blood shortage in the United States due to a recent surge in trauma cases, organ transplants and elective surgeries, the American Red Cross says.The Red Cross is appealing to Americans to roll up their sleeves and donate blood immediately."Our teams are working around the clock to meet the extraordinary blood needs of hospitals and patients — distributing about 75,000 more blood products than expected over the past three months to meet demand — but we can't do it without donors. Every two seconds, someone in the U.S. needs blood," said Chris Hrouda, president of Red Cross Biomedical Services.Red cell demand from hospitals with trauma centers is 10% higher than in 2019, which is five times higher than the growth in demand...

How Healthy Are the New Plant-Based 'Fake Meats'?

17 June 2021
How Healthy Are the New Plant-Based `Fake Meats`?THURSDAY, June 17, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- More and more Americans are seeking out healthier, greener and more ethical alternatives to meat, but are plant-based alternatives like the Impossible Burger and Beyond Meat truly nutritious substitutes?The answer is yes, according to new research funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health. It found the imitation meats to be a good source of fiber, folate and iron while containing less saturated fat than ground beef. But the researchers said they also have less protein, zinc and vitamin B12 — and lots of salt."Switching from ground beef to a plant-based ground beef alternative product can be a healthy choice in some ways," said lead researcher Lisa Harnack, of the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, in Minneapolis.Her...

AHA News: Preterm Babies May Have Higher Stroke Risk as Young Adults

17 June 2021
AHA News: Preterm Babies May Have Higher Stroke Risk as Young AdultsTHURSDAY, June 17, 2021 (American Heart Association News) -- Babies born prematurely may have significantly higher risk of stroke as young adults – and the earlier the birth, the greater the risk, suggests an extensive new study. Although people born prematurely have been shown to have higher risk of high blood pressure and other disorders that can lead to stroke, little research has focused on stroke itself, said Dr. Casey Crump, the study's lead author. Earlier findings also were inconsistent, said Crump, a professor and vice chair for research in the department of family medicine and community health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York.So, in what he said is the largest study to look at stroke risk and preterm birth, Crump and his colleagues examined the...

Animal Study Offers Hope for a Better Herpes Treatment

17 June 2021
Animal Study Offers Hope for a Better Herpes TreatmentTHURSDAY, June 17, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Aiming to deliver a one-two punch to the herpes virus, animal research on an experimental drug found it tackled active infections and reduced or eliminated the risk of future outbreaks.Existing treatments, such as Zovirax, Valtrex or Famvir, are only effective at the first task; they can help treat cold sores and genital eruptions once a herpes outbreak occurs. But the new drug has a different goal in mind: a full cure from the threat of a chronic, lifelong disease.How? By penetrating the nervous system to get at hidden virus that otherwise lies in wait, ready to trigger new outbreaks. "Cold sores and genital herpes are caused by a virus called herpes simplex virus," explained study author Gerald Kleymann. They're the "blisters" you may...

$10,000: What New Parents Might Pay for Childbirth, Even With Insurance

17 June 2021
$10,000: What New Parents Might Pay for Childbirth, Even With InsuranceTHURSDAY, June 17, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Having a baby is expensive. The cost of diapers, a crib, a car seat and all the other infant necessities can really add up, and now a new study shows that having a child comes with its own hefty hospital price tag for many U.S. families.About one in six families in the Michigan Medicine study spent more than $5,000 to have a baby. For privately insured families whose babies required time in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), that bill could top $10,000, the findings showed. Some insured families can still find themselves shouldering an astoundingly high financial burden for childbirth-related costs, said lead author Dr. Kao-Ping Chua. He's a pediatrician and researcher at University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children's Hospital and the...

Living With HIV Raises Odds for Sudden Cardiac Death

THURSDAY, June 17, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- People living with HIV have to take powerful drug cocktails to keep their disease in check, but a new study finds they also need to worry about a...

Less Than 1% of People Who've Had Severe COVID Get...

THURSDAY, June 17, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- People who have had severe COVID-19 and worry about going through another bout of it can relax: New research finds that less than 1% of people who've...
RSS
First661662663664666668669670Last