Latest Health News

WEDNESDAY, May 5, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Exposure to secondhand smoke may up your odds for heart failure, a new study warns.Researchers analyzed nationwide survey data from more than 11,000 nonsmokers (average age: 48) who were followed from 1988 to 1994. Nearly 1 in 5 had lab test evidence of exposure to secondhand smoke.Nonsmokers with recent exposure were 35% more likely to develop heart failure than those with none, the study found. This link remained even after researchers accounted for other risk factors such as a history of other heart conditions, high cholesterol and diabetes.The association between secondhand smoke and heart failure was stronger in men and people with a prior heart attack or stroke. The findings were similar across other subgroups, including people of...

WEDNESDAY, May 5, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Prediabetes -- where blood sugar levels are high, but not high enough for a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes -- is not something you should dismiss. It significantly increases the risk of heart attack, stroke and other serious heart problems, new research shows.The findings highlight the need for health care providers and patients to prevent prediabetes, according to authors of the study scheduled for presentation May 16 at a virtual meeting of the American College of Cardiology. "In general, we tend to treat prediabetes as no big deal. But we found that prediabetes itself can significantly boost someone's chance of having a major cardiovascular event, even if they never progress to having diabetes," lead author Dr. Adrian Michel said in a...

TUESDAY, May 4, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Increasing numbers of wildfires are making poor air quality more common throughout the Western United States, according to a new study.The findings suggest that many cities may soon have trouble meeting air quality standards, said lead author Kai Wilmot, a doctoral student in atmospheric sciences at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.Wilmot's team examined Western air quality patterns from 2000 to 2019 and found a correlation with wildfire activity. Over the period, average air quality was worsening in the Pacific Northwest during Augusts when there was wildfire smoke."That's pretty dramatic that extreme events are strong enough to pull the mean up so that we're seeing an overall increase in particulate matter during August across much of...

TUESDAY, May 4, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- A first-of-its-kind study suggests that slow-growing breast cancers can be treated with a highly targeted tumor-freezing technique, eliminating the need for invasive surgery.Testing to date suggests that the technique is effective among women over 60 diagnosed with relatively low-risk breast cancer. "Cryoablation is a minimally invasive solution that destroys breast tumors safely, quickly and painlessly, without the need for surgery," said study author Dr. Richard Fine, a breast surgeon with West Cancer Center & Research Institute in Germantown, Tenn."The procedure exposes diseased tissue to extreme cold [cryo] to destroy [ablate] it," he added. "It is performed in the office while the patient is awake." The new study -- which involved nearly...