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MONDAY, Feb. 8, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Bans on evictions and utility shutoffs during the pandemic may not only be keeping people safe and warm in their homes: They might also limit the spread of COVID-19, new research suggests.Over the first nine months of the pandemic, the study found, U.S. counties with those policies reduced COVID-19 infection rates by about 4%.The impact on deaths appeared greater: Moratoria on evictions, specifically, were linked to an 11% decrease in COVID-related deaths, while bans on utility disconnections were tied to a 7% decline.The findings cannot prove that housing protections directly prevented COVID-19 infections, the researchers said.But the team, from Duke University, accounted for many other factors that might explain the connection, including state...

MONDAY, Feb. 8, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved the marketing of a new "tongue strengthening" device to cut down on snoring in patients with mild obstructive sleep apnea. Unlike devices used during sleep, this prescription device is used while awake, and is designed to stimulate and strengthen the tongue so that it doesn't collapse backward and obstruct the breathing airway during sleep."Obstructive sleep apnea not only impacts sleep quality but can have other serious health impacts if untreated," Dr. Malvina Eydelman, director of the Office of Ophthalmic, Anesthesia, Respiratory, ENT and Dental Devices in the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health, said in an agency news release. The authorization of the new device "offers a...

MONDAY, Feb. 8, 2021 (American Heart Association News) -- Melissa Jeng had her first surgery when she was 3 days old – and the first of four open-heart surgeries at 8. Since then, she's also had over a dozen heart procedures."I got to the point where I would call them tune-ups," the 52-year-old from Seattle said. "None of it feels good, but it is what it is, and you have to choose to move through it."That attitude, and a bit of humor, has helped her build resilience. And resilience, research suggests, can boost quality of life among heart defect survivors.Nearly 1 in 100 people – about 40,000 newborns per year in the United States – are born with a congenital heart defect, when the heart and surrounding blood vessels don't develop normally in the womb. About 1 million children...

SÁBADO, 6 de febrero de 2021 (HealthDay News) -- La pandemia de la COVID-19 puede hacer que las dificultades de salud mental sean incluso peores para algunas personas que tienen el trastorno afectivo estacional (TAE).El TAE es un tipo de depresión que es desencadenado por los días con menos luz del sol y los cielos grises del invierno. Provoca síntomas como comer en exceso, el retraimiento social y una reducción en la energía.Los efectos relacionados con la pandemia, como el estrés, la ansiedad y el aislamiento social, podrían hacer que el TAE sea incluso peor para algunas personas, según el Dr. Drew Pate, jefe de psiquiatría de LifeBridge Health, una corporación de atención de la salud en Baltimore.Ofreció algunos consejos a las personas con TAE. El primero de su lista es...