Latest Health News

21Apr
2021

Eviction Bans Helped Stop COVID's Spread in Cities: Study

Eviction Bans Helped Stop COVID`s Spread in Cities: StudyWEDNESDAY, April 21, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Eviction bans during the COVID-19 pandemic reduced infection rates not only in people who avoided displacement but also in their communities, according to a new study."When it comes to a transmissible disease like COVID-19, no neighborhood is entirely isolated," said study author Alison Hill, assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Johns Hopkins University, in Baltimore.In response to significant job losses, many U.S. state and local governments temporarily halted evictions last spring. Just as these bans were about to expire in September, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ordered a nationwide ban.The order is extended a few months at a time and faces legal challenges and doubts about whether eviction bans reduce...

Brain Injuries Raise Long-Term Risk of Stroke

21 April 2021
Brain Injuries Raise Long-Term Risk of StrokeWEDNESDAY, April 21, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- People who suffer a traumatic brain injury (TBI) have a significantly higher risk for stroke for years afterward, U.K. researchers say.Previous studies have linked brain injury with a long-term risk of neurological diseases including dementia, Parkinson's and epilepsy, and it's been suggested that it's also an independent risk factor for stroke.This new review of 18 studies from four countries found that patients with these injuries have an 86% higher risk of stroke than people who haven't had a TBI.While patients' added risk may be greatest in the first four months after their head injury, it remains significant for up to five years, according to the authors of the new review."TBI patients should be informed of the potential for increased...

How Gum Disease Could Raise Your Odds for Severe COVID-19

21 April 2021
How Gum Disease Could Raise Your Odds for Severe COVID-19WEDNESDAY, April 21, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Keep flossing: A study just out suggests gum disease can increase your odds for severe COVID-19.Previous research showed that it's blood vessels, rather than airways, that are affected initially in COVID lung disease. Now, new research finds that high concentrations of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in saliva and gum disease (periodontitis) are linked with an increased risk of death from COVID.This current study reports that SARS-CoV-2 can get into the lungs through saliva, with the virus moving straight from the mouth to the bloodstream, particularly in people with diseased gums. "This model may help us understand why some individuals develop COVID-19 lung disease and others do not," said study co-author Dr. Iain Chapple, a professor of...

Little Progress in Boosting Numbers of Black American...

21 April 2021
Little Progress in Boosting Numbers of Black American DoctorsWEDNESDAY, April 21, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- The percentage of U.S. doctors who are Black has barely risen in the past 120 years, and there's still a wide pay gap between white and Black physicians, a new study finds.The analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data from 1900 to 2018 included about 150,000 physicians, with about 3,300 Black male physicians and 1,600 Black female physicians.The study "findings demonstrate how slow progress has been, and how far and fast we have to go, if we care about the diversity of the physician workforce and the health benefits such diversity brings to patients, particularly minority patients," said study author Dr. Dan Ly. He's an assistant professor of medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). In 1900, almost 12% of the U.S. population...

AHA News: After Two Heart Valve Surgeries, a Mental Toll

20 April 2021
AHA News: After Two Heart Valve Surgeries, a Mental TollTUESDAY, April 20, 2021 (American Heart Association News) -- After Ivan Hernandez was born with a defective mitral valve, doctors warned his parents he could face heart failure at any age.Yet Hernandez grew up without incident. He played all sorts of sports, cultivating a love for fitness. As an adult, he sometimes exercised twice a day. He regularly participated in high-intensity interval training and other extreme workouts.He thought less and less about having a congenital heart defect – until his annual echocardiogram in 2014.Then 34, Hernandez was tapping out a text to a colleague when the technician said, "Let me get the doctor."Hernandez was diagnosed with severe mitral valve regurgitation. The problem strained his heart, caused it to enlarge. The valve needed to be surgically...

AHA News: Pandemic-Fueled Drug Abuse Threatens Hearts, Lives

20 April 2021
AHA News: Pandemic-Fueled Drug Abuse Threatens Hearts, LivesTUESDAY, April 20, 2021 (American Heart Association News) -- On a recent day in his Denver Health emergency room, Dr. Eric Lavonas hit another tragic trifecta."In a nine-hour shift, I took care of somebody with chest pain from cocaine, somebody with an opioid overdose who quit breathing, and somebody with methamphetamine use who thought he was being chased by shape-shifting demons," he said. "Sadly, that is not a rare occurrence anymore."Lavonas, who is also a professor of emergency medicine at the University of Colorado, has a front-row seat in what appears to be a pandemic-related surge in addictive, illegal drugs that damage hearts and threaten lives.By late June of last year, 13% of Americans reported starting or increasing substance use as a way of coping with coronavirus-related...

High-Profile Police Brutality Cases Harm Black Americans' Mental Health: Study

20 April 2021
High-Profile Police Brutality Cases Harm Black Americans` Mental Health: StudyTUESDAY, April 20, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- As America awaits a verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial, new research finds that such high-profile police killings of Black people may take a big mental health toll on psyches across the country.Researchers found that, on average, Black Americans reported an increase in "poor mental health days" during weeks where more than one deadly racial incident was in the news.Those incidents often included hate crimes, but most involved police killings of Black individuals or legal decisions to either not indict or not convict an officer involved.In contrast, the study found no change in white Americans' mental health ratings during those weeks.The findings may sound intuitive, said lead researcher David Stuart Curtis, an assistant professor at the...

Too Much Red Meat Might Harm Your Heart

20 April 2021
Too Much Red Meat Might Harm Your HeartTUESDAY, April 20, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- If you've ever scoffed at warnings that too much red or processed meat is bad for the heart while oily fish is good for you, there's now some visual evidence to support that advice.British researchers used heart imaging to see how these foods affected volunteers' heart health.The images revealed that those who ate more red and processed meat had poorer heart function, smaller ventricles and stiffer arteries. The researchers also found that as study participants ate more fish, their arteries were stretchier and their hearts worked better."You kind of are what you eat, and what you eat impacts you way earlier on than what you think it may," said Dr. Tammana Singh. She is a member of the American College of Cardiology's Prevention of...

New Hope Against a Rare but Incurable Eye Cancer

TUESDAY, April 20, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- A cutting-edge experimental drug cuts nearly in half the risk of death among patients with a rare but aggressive cancer of the eye, new clinical trial...

Sleepwalking Tied to Higher Odds for Parkinson's in Men

TUESDAY, April 20, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Men with certain sleep problems, like sleep walking, may be at a higher risk of developing Parkinson's disease, a new study suggests.Among nearly 26,000...
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