Latest Health News

WEDNESDAY, June 9, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- A combination of poor sleep and diabetes significantly increases a person's risk of early death, a new study finds.The analysis of data from nearly 500,000 middle-aged adults in the United Kingdom showed that compared to other folks, the risk of death from any cause over nearly nine years was 87% higher among those with diabetes and frequent sleep disturbances. It was 12% higher among those with diabetes who had no trouble sleeping.The researchers, from Northwestern University in Chicago and the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom, published their findings in the June 8 issue of the Journal of Sleep Research."If you don't have diabetes, your sleep disturbances are still associated with an increased risk of dying, but it's higher for...

WEDNESDAY, June 9, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Smoking cigarettes or using other tobacco products increases heart risks, but that doesn't stop some Americans with a history of heart problems, new research finds.Many continue to smoke after having a heart attack, heart failure or stroke even though they are aware of the risk.Nearly 30% of adults with a history of these heart problems smoked when a five-year study began in 2013. Fewer were smoking four years later, but 20% were still using tobacco products at the end of the review.That was true even though 96% of participants said they were aware that smoking could cause heart disease, according to findings published June 9 in the Journal of the American Heart Association."In the United States, heart disease is the leading cause of death,...

TUESDAY, June 8, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- People who have Crohn's disease often seek to ease their symptoms by changing what they eat, and new research suggests the Mediterranean diet may be their best bet.The study evaluated one of the commonly used diets for Crohn's disease, known as the specific carbohydrate diet (SCD), comparing it with the Mediterranean diet, which is sometimes recommended by doctors for its heart health benefits, but not for inflammatory bowel diseases like Crohn's. The scientists found that both diets reduced symptoms almost equally, but the study concluded that the greater ease of following the Mediterranean diet might make it one that patients would prefer to follow. "Physicians are seeing patients who are on increasingly restrictive diets," said study...

TUESDAY, June 8, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- In rural America, more people die from chronic health conditions and substance abuse than in suburbs and cities, and the gap is widening.Researchers report in a new study that the difference in rural and urban death rates tripled over the past 20 years mostly due to deaths among middle-aged white men and women."We looked at all-cause death, and found that instead of the difference in this disparity getting better over time, as you might expect as our economy progresses and our health system improves, we've actually seen that differences really multiplied," said lead researcher Dr. Haider Warraich, a cardiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and the VA Boston Healthcare System.This gap is partly due to access to care, but other...