Latest Health News

3May
2021

Obamacare Gave More Breast Cancer Survivors Access to Breast Reconstruction

Obamacare Gave More Breast Cancer Survivors Access to Breast ReconstructionMONDAY, May 3, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Breast reconstruction rates rose significantly among Black women after Obamacare expanded access to Medicaid, a new study says.It also found a large increase in reconstruction rates among women with lower income and education levels.The findings suggest "that Medicaid expansion was highly effective in doing what it was supposed to do -- breaking down barriers to care," said lead researcher Dr. Sharon Lum, a surgical oncologist at Loma Linda University Health in California.Researchers analyzed data for nearly 1.2 million breast cancer patients, 40 and older, who underwent breast removal (mastectomy) with or without reconstruction between 2010 and 2017. Medicaid expansion was introduced in January 2014, though individual state timelines...

Stressed, Burned-Out Nurses Make More Medical Errors: Study

3 May 2021
Stressed, Burned-Out Nurses Make More Medical Errors: StudyMONDAY, May 3, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Critical care nurses with poor mental and physical health are more likely to make mistakes, but a more supportive work environment could improve the situation, a new study suggests."It's critically important that we understand some of the root causes that lead to those errors and do everything we can to prevent them," said lead author Bernadette Melnyk, dean of the College of Nursing at Ohio State University.For the study, researchers surveyed nearly 800 members of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses. Sixty-one percent of respondents reported subpar physical health and 51% reported subpar mental health.About 40% of the nurses screened positive for depressive symptoms and more than half for anxiety.Those who reported worse health and...

Opioids After Dental Work May Be Dangerous

3 May 2021
Opioids After Dental Work May Be DangerousMONDAY, May 3, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Getting a prescription for an opioid painkiller from your dentist could put you or your family at risk for an overdose, a new study warns.The finding is based on an analysis of data from 8.5 million Americans who had teeth pulled or 119 other types of dental work between 2011 and 2018. All had Medicaid or private dental insurance."Our paper shows that when patients fill dental opioid prescriptions, the risk of opioid overdose increases both for themselves and their family members," said study leader Dr. Kao-Ping Chua of the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor. "This underscores the importance of avoiding dental opioid prescribing when non-opioids like ibuprofen [Motrin] and acetaminophen [Tylenol] are effective options for pain control, as is...

Urgent Care or the ER? Which Should You Choose?

2 May 2021
Urgent Care or the ER? Which Should You Choose?SUNDAY, May 2, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Say you twist your ankle playing catch with your kids. Or maybe your daughter has a rash that's spreading. Do you visit urgent care or the hospital emergency department? Many cases of injury or illness can be handled at an urgent care clinic rather than a hospital emergency department, an expert says."Urgent care is a good starting point, especially when you can't see your primary care provider on the same day,'' said Mary Dixon, a certified registered nurse practitioner at Penn State Health Carlisle Outpatient Center."We can do an evaluation and provide treatment and, if necessary, refer patients to specialty services," she explained in a Penn State Health news release."We deal with a lot of minor sprains and simple fractures -- we can do an...

5 Steps to Protect Young Athletes' Eyes

1 May 2021
5 Steps to Protect Young Athletes` EyesSATURDAY, May 1, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- As children begin to return to their favorite sports, parents need to ensure that their youngsters use protective eyewear, a leading group of eye specialists says.Nearly 30,000 people suffer sports-related eye injuries every year in the United States, but 90% of emergency room visits for such injuries could be prevented by protective eyewear, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology.Common sports-related eye injuries include corneal abrasions, bruising around the eye, retinal detachments and internal bleeding.Even low-intensity sports activities carry some risk for eye injuries."Getting athletes of any age to wear protective eyewear is a challenge," said Dr. Dianna Seldomridge, clinical spokesperson for the academy. "Ophthalmologists...

Needle Anxiety Behind J&J COVID Vaccine Reaction Clusters: Study

30 April 2021
Needle Anxiety Behind J&J COVID Vaccine Reaction Clusters: StudyFRIDAY, April 30, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Anxiety was the cause of 64 vaccine reactions, including fainting, in people who got the Johnson & Johnson single-dose COVID-19 vaccine in early April at sites in five states, a new study finds.Researchers led by Anne Hause of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted that "anxiety-related events, including syncope [fainting], can occur immediately after vaccination with any vaccine and might be caused by anxiety about receiving an injection."They pointed out that these incident clusters occurred April 7-9, before any widespread publicity about the very rare blood clots since tied to the J&J shot. The anxiety that led some vaccine recipients to show post-immunization symptoms -- such as rapid breathing, a drop in blood...

Why C-Section Babies May Be at Higher Risk for a Food Allergy

30 April 2021
Why C-Section Babies May Be at Higher Risk for a Food AllergyFRIDAY, April 30, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Could there be a link between having a C-section and your baby's chances of developing a peanut allergy?Yes, a team of Canadian researchers warns.Their new study found that babies born via cesarean section appear to have relatively low levels of so-called Bacteroides, a specific form of bacteria that is key to the proper development of a child's immune system.The finding follows an analysis of bacterial content found in more than 1,400 Canadian infants, both when they hit 3-4 months of age and again when they turned 1 year. Follow-up allergy tests -- conducted at age 1 and age 3 -- confirmed that, on average, babies with low Bacteroides levels were three times more likely to develop peanut sensitivity by age 3."We found a causal link between...

Cancers Far More Common in Medieval Times Than Thought

30 April 2021
Cancers Far More Common in Medieval Times Than ThoughtFRIDAY, April 30, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Cancer might seem like a modern problem, but new research has revealed that it affected up to 14% of adults in medieval Britain.University of Cambridge researchers used X-rays and CT scans to search for evidence of cancer inside skeletal remains excavated as part of an ongoing study of medieval life. The investigators found rates of cancer about 10 times higher than had been previously discovered through examining only the bones' exteriors for lesions."The majority of cancers form in soft tissue organs long since degraded in medieval remains. Only some cancer spreads to bone, and of these only a few are visible on its surface, so we searched within the bone for signs of malignancy," said lead author Dr. Piers Mitchell of the department of...

AHA News: After 47 Minutes, One Final Try Resuscitated Her

FRIDAY, April 30, 2021 (American Heart Association News) -- On a November evening, Diana and Paul Nickel played a spelling game and shared an ice cream birthday cake with their 6-year-old...

Researchers Seek Antiviral Pill That Would Ease COVID...

FRIDAY, April 30, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- While COVID-19 research efforts must now shift toward the development of a pill that can prevent serious illness in the recently infected, experts...
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