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THURSDAY, May 20, 2021 (American Heart Association News) -- The rate of deaths related to diabetes and high blood pressure among Black people over the past two decades improved in urban areas, according to a new study, but rural communities are lagging.Scientists have known for years that people in rural areas of the U.S. were more likely to die from cardiovascular disease than their city counterparts. But researchers wanted to see if recent efforts to reduce the racial gap in health were working equally in both areas of the country.First, they looked at U.S. deaths for Black and white adults age 25 and older from 1999 to 2018. Then they zeroed in on where people lived and what cardiovascular conditions were listed as a cause of death.While the study found death rates in rural areas...

THURSDAY, May 20, 2021 (American Heart Association News) -- New research into the growing problem of early childhood obesity suggests the bacteria in a baby's gut may indicate weight problems in the years to come.Researchers examined gut microbiota – bacteria and other microbes in the digestive system – of babies, as well as their body mass index, a common gauge of overweight and obesity. The study is being presented Friday at the American Heart Association's virtual Epidemiology, Prevention, Lifestyle & Cardiometabolic Health Conference.Being able "to identify modifiable early life factors that are associated with early childhood weight gain is an opportunity for prevention of cardiovascular risk factors and heart disease later. That's why we zeroed in on microbiota in children,"...

THURSDAY, May 20, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- A new coronavirus that appears to have jumped from a dog to a child has been discovered from a case three years ago, but it's unclear what threat it may pose.This new canine-like coronavirus was found in a child in Malaysia in 2018. If it is confirmed as a human pathogen, it could be the eighth coronavirus known to cause disease in people.The case suggests that transmission of coronaviruses from animals to humans may more common than once thought, according to authors of the study published May 20 in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases."How common this virus is, and whether it can be transmitted efficiently from dogs to humans or between humans, nobody knows," said study leader Dr. Gregory Gray, a professor of medicine, global health and...

THURSDAY, May 20, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Virginia Terrell knew she wouldn't be allowed visitors after she checked into the hospital with COVID-19 late last month, but being braced for that reality didn't make her week-and-a-half stay any easier."You get pretty lonely," said Terrell, 59, who was treated at WakeMed and Duke Health hospitals in Raleigh, N.C. "It's helpful knowing that person will be there that day to see you, even if you're having a bad day or getting bad news. You have somebody who can hold your hand and comfort you. "But hospitals understand the personal cost of COVID-19 lockdowns, and many have started to loosen visitation policies over the past month as vaccination rates increase and COVID case counts decline.Some hospitals have relaxed their visitation rules...