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TUESDAY, Dec. 29, 2020 (American Heart Association News) -- Deep in their hearts, everyone has to be looking forward to a fresh start in 2021.And who would know better about matters of the heart than a cardiologist? We asked some of the nation's best about resolutions – what they're planning for themselves, and what they wish their patients would focus on for a healthy and happy new year.Their advice begins with a reminder that the threat of COVID-19 will not vanish at the stroke of midnight on Dec. 31."You need to resolve to stay healthy and safe," said Dr. Ivor Benjamin, director of the Cardiovascular Center and professor of medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. "It's an ever-present challenge for everyone, independent of where they are."In California, Dr....

TUESDAY, Dec. 29, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Cancer survivors are at greater risk of developing another cancer and dying from it, a new study finds.These new cancers can result from a genetic predisposition, from treatments such as radiation and chemotherapy used to fight the first cancer, as well as from unhealthy lifestyles such as smoking and obesity, according to researchers from the American Cancer Society.Some of these factors can't be controlled, but others can, noted lead researcher Dr. Ahmedin Jemal, a senior vice president at the society."We can do a lot for smoking and overweight and obesity," he said. "We have to get primary care clinicians to do a more concerted effort to educate, or counsel, their patients." Jemal added that screening smokers for breast, cervical, colon and...

TUESDAY, Dec. 29, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- A shortage of neurologists in rural parts of the United States means that people in those areas are less likely to receive specialized care for conditions such as stroke, dementia and back pain, a new study claims."Neurologists in the United States are not evenly spread out, which affects whether patients can see a neurologist for certain conditions like dementia and stroke," said study author Dr. Brian Callaghan, from the University of Michigan.His team reviewed one year of Medicare data and identified 2.1 million patients who made at least one office visit for a neurologic condition during that time.They also identified more than 13,600 neurologists in the regions where those patients lived and found that the availability of neurologists...

TUESDAY, Dec. 29, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- As COVID-19 continues to spread and people face more isolation than usual, researchers are noting the impact of loneliness on the brain.A new study from McGill University in Montreal found a tell-tale signature in the brains of lonely people. Specifically, they discovered variations in the volume of different brain regions and how those regions communicate across brain networks."We are just beginning to understand the impact of loneliness on the brain," study senior author Dr. Danilo Bzdok said in a McGill news release. He's a researcher at the university's Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital.Loneliness is increasingly being recognized as a major health problem. Understanding how it manifests in the brain could be key to preventing...