Latest Health News

MONDAY, May 10, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Women who get pregnant within a year of having weight-loss surgery are more likely to have preterm and smaller-than-normal babies, a new study suggests.Dutch researchers said their findings support current recommendations to avoid pregnancy for 12 to 24 months after weight-loss (bariatric) surgery."We should encourage women who wish to conceive after bariatric surgery to avoid pregnancy until their weight has stabilized, to minimize the risk of inadequate gestational weight gain," the researchers said.The aim is to head off problems due to ongoing weight loss and an increased risk of malnutrition due to significantly lower calorie intake.The study of 196 women compared three groups -- those who conceived within 12 months of weight-loss surgery...

MONDAY, May 10, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- New research gives insight into why people with epilepsy are at increased risk of sudden death during sleep.The study found that both sleep and epileptic seizures work together to slow heart rate, and that seizures also disrupt the body's natural regulation of sleep-related changes.These factors can sometimes lead to sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP), which caused the 2019 death of 20-year-old Disney Channel star Cameron Boyce. SUDEP can occur when patients are awake, but the majority of cases occur during sleep."We have been trying to better understand the cardiac changes around the time of a seizure in patients with epilepsy. When we looked at the heart rates for patients with epilepsy admitted to the hospital, many of them develop...

MONDAY, May 10, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Call it a silver lining of the pandemic: Asthma attacks fell sharply among Black and Hispanic Americans in the months after the coronavirus first surfaced.The study included nearly 1,200 participants who provided information about their asthma through monthly online, phone or mail questionnaires for 15 months between the first half of 2019 and first half of 2020.The researchers found an overall 40% decrease in asthma attacks between winter (Jan. 1 to March 31) and spring (April 1 to June 30) 2020, compared to the same time period in 2019.Patients with the largest decreases (a 65% drop) included those who worked outside of the home when they first enrolled in the study, and those with a type of asthma triggered by environmental irritants such as...

SUNDAY, May 9, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- As kids get ready for summer camp, parents might be fretting about exposure to COVID-19, but a doctors' group says they also need to make sure their campers will be protected from allergy and asthma triggers. "The [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] has issued guidelines for keeping campers and staff protected from COVID-19. At the same time, camps still need to make sure measures are in place in case a camper has an allergic reaction or an asthma flare," Dr. Luz Fonacier, president of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI).Kids with asthma or allergies should see an allergist before going to day or overnight camps, she said in an ACAAI news release.Your allergist can offer tips on informing camp staff about your...