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THURSDAY, 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...

THURSDAY, 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...

THURSDAY, 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...

THURSDAY, 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...