Latest Health News

12Mar
2021

Why Cotton Masks Are Safer Masks

Why Cotton Masks Are Safer MasksFRIDAY, March 12, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Cotton masks provide better protection against the new coronavirus than those made with synthetic fabrics, researchers say.In a new study, investigators tested different mask fabrics under conditions that mimic the humidity of a person's breath in order to assess how the fabrics perform in actual use.Under humid conditions, filtration efficiency (a measure of how well a material captures particles) increased by an average 33% in cotton fabrics, according to the study published March 8 in the journal ACS Applied Nano Materials. That's because cotton is hydrophilic, meaning it attracts water. By absorbing small amounts of exhaled water in a person's breath, cotton fibers create a moist environment inside the fabric. That makes them more...

How Bad Was COVID in Your State? Governor's Party...

12 March 2021
How Bad Was COVID in Your State? Governor`s Party Affiliation Was Key FRIDAY, March 12, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Could whether your governor is a Democrat or a Republican have influenced how many coronavirus cases and deaths your state has seen during the pandemic?Yes, claim researchers who discovered a strong link between the two -- by late last summer, the odds of dying from COVID-19 was nearly twice as high in states whose governors were Republicans versus states with Democratic governors."Governors' party affiliation may have contributed to a range of policy decisions that, together, influenced the spread of the virus," said study senior author Sara Benjamin-Neelon. She is a professor in the department of health, behavior and society at Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, in Baltimore. "These findings underscore the need for state...

'Birthing Girdle' Shows Traces of Medieval Women in Labor

12 March 2021
`Birthing Girdle` Shows Traces of Medieval Women in LaborFRIDAY, March 12, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- In medieval Europe, when childbirth was highly perilous for both mother and child, women and those caring for them used various talismans to try to influence a safe delivery. Not many of those relics have survived, but scientists have been studying one – a parchment "birthing girdle" – using non-invasive sampling and protein analysis."Although these birth girdles are thought to have been used during pregnancy and childbirth (as the name indicates), there has been no direct evidence that they were actually worn," said Dr. Sarah Fiddyment, of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at the University of Cambridge, in England."This girdle is especially interesting as it has visual evidence of having been used and worn, as some of...

Switch to Plant-Based Diet Can Cut Your Odds for Stroke

12 March 2021
Switch to Plant-Based Diet Can Cut Your Odds for StrokeFRIDAY, March 12, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- A healthy, plant-based diet could reduce your risk of stroke by up to 10%, researchers say.This type of diet includes greater amounts of foods like vegetables, whole grains and beans, and fewer less-healthy foods like refined grains or added sugars."Many studies already show that eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables can reduce your risk of all kinds of diseases, from heart disease to diabetes," said study author Dr. Megu Baden, of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, in Boston."We wanted to find out if there is an association between this kind of healthy diet and stroke risk," Baden said. The findings were published online March 10 in the journal Neurology.The investigators looked at nearly 210,000 people who didn't have heart...

Social Distancing Probably Stopped 2020 Outbreak of Paralyzing Disorder in Kids

11 March 2021
Social Distancing Probably Stopped 2020 Outbreak of Paralyzing Disorder in KidsTHURSDAY, March 11, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic appears to have prevented an anticipated outbreak of a rare polio-like syndrome in children, researchers report.Acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) is a spinal condition that causes weakness in the limbs, impairs motor function and can lead to lifelong disabilities. It was first reported in the United States in 2012, with outbreaks recurring every two years.An outbreak was expected in 2020, but appears to have been snuffed out by social distancing measures during the pandemic, according to the authors of a study published March 10 in the journal Science Translational Medicine.There were only 31 cases of AFM in the United States in 2020, compared to 153 cases in 2016 and 238 cases in 2018.Social...

Pandemic Stress Has Americans Gaining Weight, Drinking More: Poll

11 March 2021
Pandemic Stress Has Americans Gaining Weight, Drinking More: PollTHURSDAY, March 11, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- If you're drinking more, sleeping less, seeing downright scary numbers on your scale and fretting about the future, you're far from alone, a new survey reveals."We've been concerned throughout this pandemic about the level of prolonged stress, exacerbated by the grief, trauma and isolation that Americans are experiencing," said Arthur Evans Jr., chief executive officer of the American Psychological Association (APA), sponsor of the Stress in America poll. "This survey reveals a secondary crisis that is likely to have persistent, serious mental and physical health consequences for years to come," he said in an association news release.To find out how Americans have been coping with the COVID-19 pandemic, APA surveyed more than 3,000 adults...

THC From Pot Lingers in Breast Milk for Weeks: Study

11 March 2021
THC From Pot Lingers in Breast Milk for Weeks: StudyTHURSDAY, March 11, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, remains in breast milk for up to six weeks and may be harmful to infants, a new study warns.The researchers said the finding supports recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics and others that women shouldn't use marijuana while pregnant or breastfeeding."Just as we now caution mothers to avoid tobacco and alcohol in pregnancy, we recommend that all clinicians counsel women who are pregnant or considering pregnancy to abstain from marijuana throughout pregnancy and in the postpartum period," said senior investigator Dr. Maya Bunik. She is the medical director of the Child Health Clinic at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, in Aurora.Doctors should...

Clocks 'Spring Forward' on Sunday: Be Prepared

11 March 2021
Clocks `Spring Forward` on Sunday: Be PreparedTHURSDAY, March 11, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Many people dread the switch to daylight saving time. When you're losing an hour of sleep, it can be hard to actually feel like springing forward. Dr. Rachel Ziegler, a sleep medicine physician from the Mayo Clinic Health System in Fairmont, Minn., offers some tips for easing into the time change before it happens on March 14.Ziegler recommends getting to bed 15 minutes early now, then pushing that back by 15 minutes every couple of nights. Make an extra effort to be well-rested the week before the time change.If you feel sleepy the Sunday after the change to daylight saving time, take a 15- to 20-minute nap in the early afternoon. Assess whether that short nap, not too close to bedtime, affects the quality of your sleep at night.Avoid...

New Guidelines Mean Nursing Home Residents Can Hug Their...

THURSDAY, March 11, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- After nearly a year of painful isolation, the U.S. government said Wednesday that vaccinated nursing home residents can hug their loved ones again and...

Could Opioid Crisis Mean More Strokes for Americans?

THURSDAY, March 11, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- One Ohio medical center has seen a sharp rise in heart infections and strokes related to IV drug abuse -- pointing to one more consequence of the U.S....
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