Latest Health News

6Jul
2023

Frailty Greatly Lowers Survival in a Surgical Crisis

Frailty Greatly Lowers Survival in a Surgical CrisisTHURSDAY, July 6, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- When frail patients go into cardiac arrest and need cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) during surgery, they’re more likely to die than those who are stronger, a new study shows.Researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston studied the impact of frailty on survival in these cases where previously frailty was not considered as a factor. “CPR should not be considered futile for frail patients in the context of surgery,” said lead author Dr. Matt Allen, an attending physician in Brigham’s department of anesthesiology. “But it’s not the case that these patients do just as well as anybody else. In fact, we see a significant association between frailty and mortality.”Overall, about 25% of patients who suffer cardiac arrest...

Historic 'Redlining' of Neighborhoods Linked to Black...

6 July 2023
Historic `Redlining` of Neighborhoods Linked to Black Americans` Rate of Kidney FailureTHURSDAY, July 6, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Decades of “redlining” — discriminatory policies that led to disinvestment in minority communities within the United States — may be connected with current cases of kidney failure in Black adults. A new study from researchers at Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) shows that long-term disinvestment of wealth and resources in historically redlined neighborhoods likely contributes to the disproportionate rate of kidney failure among Black adults today.“Kidney failure disproportionately affects racial and ethnic minoritized populations, particularly Black individuals, and there is robust evidence linking neighborhood conditions to disparities in kidney disease,” said study lead author Dr. Kevin Nguyen, an assistant...

More Cancer Patients Got Palliative Care After Obamacare

6 July 2023
More Cancer Patients Got Palliative Care After ObamacareTHURSDAY, July 6, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- New research finds that Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act -- also known as Obamacare -- brought an unexpected benefit: increases in how many patients got palliative care.“Our findings are encouraging, especially with growing evidence of the important benefits of palliative care for patients with cancer,” said lead study author Dr. Xuesong Han, scientific director of health services research at the American Cancer Society (ACS). “It’s imperative to know how to target ways to increase access to these services, as use, overall, still remains low in the U.S.”Where a patient lives in the United States may determine their use of palliative care, according to the study.The researchers used data from the National Cancer...

Half of America's Beaches Have Unsafe Pollution Levels:...

6 July 2023
Half of America`s Beaches Have Unsafe Pollution Levels: ReportTHURSDAY, July 6, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- A day at the beach can be fun with family and friends, but water pollution can ruin the experience.The problem is more widespread than many might think: In a new report, the Environment America Research & Policy Center, a nonprofit organization, found that half of U.S. beaches had potentially unsafe contamination levels in 2022.Among nearly 3,200 beaches nationwide that were tested in 2022, 55% had at least one day during which fecal contamination reached potentially unsafe levels. Beaches may also have experienced contamination on days when testing did not take place, the organization noted. Among those studied, 363 beaches had potentially unsafe levels of fecal contamination on at least 25% of testing days.How often a state tests its beaches...

FDA Sends Warning to Companies Selling THC Products That Look Like Candy, Cookies

5 July 2023
FDA Sends Warning to Companies Selling THC Products That Look Like Candy, CookiesWEDNESDAY, July 5, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Several companies are selling copycat food items that have the potential to trick people, including children, into consuming dangerous quantities of cannabis.On Wednesday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission warned six companies about selling these copycat food products that contain delta-8 tetrahydrocannabinol, also known as delta-8 THC, a substance found in the cannabis sativa plant.The snack foods with delta-8 THC can be mistaken for regular chips, cookies, candies and gummies, according to the FDA. "Children are more vulnerable than adults to the effects of THC, with many who have been sickened and even hospitalized after eating 'edibles' containing it. That's why we're issuing warnings to several...

How to Care for Your Heart During a Pregnancy

5 July 2023
How to Care for Your Heart During a PregnancyWEDNESDAY, July 5, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Pregnancy triggers many changes to the body, but there's one that may surprise many women.A hidden change is that the heart has to pump, on average, nearly 50% more blood by the end of pregnancy than it did before pregnancy, and then it has to quickly go back to “normal operations” after delivery. While most pregnant women's hearts tolerate these changes well, pregnancy can serve as a “stress test” on the heart that can cause new heart disease in patients who have not had heart problems previously, and can make existing heart issues more difficult to manage.What types of heart conditions may arise?The most common heart conditions seen in pregnancy are related to high blood pressure conditions in pregnancy (preeclampsia and gestational...

Diabetes Medications: Choosing Which Ones Are Best for You

5 July 2023
Diabetes Medications: Choosing Which Ones Are Best for YouWEDNESDAY, July 5, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- You have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. What are your medication options?That depends on what type of diabetes you have and what risk factors you carry.In type 2 diabetes, the body becomes resistant to the insulin and the pancreas has to make more. Insulin resistance can be caused by obesity, lack of exercise, medication, stress or hereditary factors. Initially, the pancreas will make more insulin to compensate, but eventually the pancreas will tire and not be able to make enough insulin. Diet, exercise, weight loss and medication can help you manage your glucose. Let's focus on the medications that can help manage type 2 diabetes.Symptoms of diabetes include excessive urination, excessive thirst, urinary tract infection, genital yeast...

Australian Footballer Is First Female Athlete to Receive Diagnosis of CTE

5 July 2023
Australian Footballer Is First Female Athlete to Receive Diagnosis of CTEWEDNESDAY, July 5, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Heather Anderson, a star Australian rules football player who died last November, is the first female professional athlete to be diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. "She is the first female athlete diagnosed with CTE, but she will not be the last," researchers wrote in a paper published Friday. Anderson was 28 when she died from what was believed to be suicide.CTE is a progressive degenerative brain disease caused by repeated head impacts, like those suffered when heading a ball in soccer (football).The finding was made possible after Anderson’s family donated her brain to the Australian Sports Brain Bank, hoping to discover "whether a lifetime of exposure to repetitive head trauma contributed to her death," according...

Program Helps Folks Battling Mental Illness Beat Another...

WEDNESDAY, July 5, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Dr. Richard Stumacher’s coworker at Northwell Health in New York City used to smoke to curb her severe anxiety, and tried multiple times to...

FDA Approves First Blood Test to Predict Preeclampsia in...

WEDNESDAY, July 5, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- A new blood test approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration can predict imminent preeclampsia, helping pregnant women who are at risk of this...
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