Latest Health News

19Nov
2020

Childhood Lead Exposure Tied to Brain Changes in Middle Age

Childhood Lead Exposure Tied to Brain Changes in Middle Age THURSDAY, Nov. 19, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Middle-aged adults who had elevated levels of lead in their blood as children have brain structure changes, new research shows. For the study, the researchers analyzed childhood lead exposure data on 564 participants in a long-term study of people who were born in the same town in New Zealand in 1972 and 1973. The participants grew up during the peak era of leaded gasoline (late 1960s to late 1980s) and nearly all were exposed to higher levels of lead than what's permitted now. MRI scans conducted on the participants at age 45 showed that those with high lead exposure at age 11 had small but significant changes in their brains.For each 5 micrograms per deciliter more lead in their blood when they were children, participants lost an average...

Are High-Dose Blood Thinners Needed for Severe COVID-19?

19 November 2020
Are High-Dose Blood Thinners Needed for Severe COVID-19? THURSDAY, Nov. 19, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Treating COVID-19 patients with high doses of blood thinners doesn't appear to help them and could be harmful, researchers report. "COVID-19 patients appear to have an increased incidence of blood clots. Many hospitals and health care providers began to use high doses of blood thinners to prevent these clots or treat them preemptively," explained study co-author Dr. Juan Reyes, director of hospital medicine at George Washington University's School of Medicine and Health Sciences, in Washington, D.C. "We wanted to review the data of our subset of COVID-19 patients treated with blood thinners to determine if the higher-dose medication was helpful," Reyes explained in a university news release. At the beginning of the pandemic, all COVID-19...

Dirty Air Endangers Homeless People: Study

19 November 2020
Dirty Air Endangers Homeless People: StudyTHURSDAY, Nov. 19, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Air pollution poses a threat to homeless people's mental and physical health, researchers say.They asked 138 homeless people in Salt Lake City about when and how they knew the air was polluted and how air pollution makes them feel. They also examined their health records.More than half the people said they'd had physical reactions to air pollution (such as headaches and difficulty breathing); more than a third reported emotional stress associated with air pollution; and 89% reported seeking medical treatment for their symptoms.The University of Utah researchers also assessed whether the length of time that people were homeless or living in a shelter affected their experiences with air pollution. They were surprised to find no significant...

Got Leftover Meds? Ditch Them at Pharmacy Drop Boxes

19 November 2020
Got Leftover Meds? Ditch Them at Pharmacy Drop BoxesTHURSDAY, Nov. 19, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Medication drop boxes at pharmacies are a safe and secure way for people to dispose of unwanted drugs, but many people are unaware of them, a new study finds.Medications placed in the drop boxes are collected and typically incinerated or disposed of as hazardous waste.That avoids them being flushed down the toilet or thrown in the trash, where they pollute groundwater, rivers and oceans.Since 2014, federal law has allowed retail pharmacies to set up drop boxes to collect unwanted medications year-round.The authors asked customers how they dispose of unwanted medications and assessed pharmacist recommendations and attitudes about disposal of leftover drugs, as well as challenges in implementing proper disposal.More than a third of customers in...

Thin Ice: Global Warming May Be Raising Drowning Risks

18 November 2020
Thin Ice: Global Warming May Be Raising Drowning RisksWEDNESDAY, Nov. 18, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- More children and young adults are drowning in winter lakes because of warming temperatures that create unstable lake ice, a new study finds.A team of international researchers examined several decades of data, including 4,000 drownings and population information from throughout Canada, 14 U.S. states, Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Finland, Russia, Sweden and regions of Italy and Japan. They collected temperature and precipitation data for each month and area for each drowning from University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit in Britain.The study found that when winter air temperatures reached between -10 degrees Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit) and -5 degrees C (23 degrees F), drownings rose substantially. When they were nearing 0 degrees...

Family Tragedy Has Mindy Kaling Speaking Out on Pancreatic Cancer

18 November 2020
Family Tragedy Has Mindy Kaling Speaking Out on Pancreatic Cancer WEDNESDAY, Nov. 18, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- When actor, writer and producer Mindy Kaling's mom was fighting pancreatic cancer, it was the biggest struggle the family had ever experienced. Swati Chokalingam, a Boston-area obstetrician/gynecologist and Kaling's mom, died in 2012 after getting a stage 4 diagnosis eight months earlier. Now Kaling is raising awareness for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN) as official brand ambassador for this November's annual Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month campaign. "I think it would make my mother so happy to know that I'm doing something to help other families who are going through what my family went through because it was the greatest trial of our lives," Kaling said. Kaling is featured in 30- and 60-second public service...

'A Struggle:' Physical, Mental Ills Can Linger Months After COVID Recovery

18 November 2020
`A Struggle:` Physical, Mental Ills Can Linger Months After COVID RecoveryWEDNESDAY, Nov. 18, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Patients who survive severe COVID-19 after being hospitalized are not necessarily home-free upon discharge, new research warns.After tracking outcomes among 1,250 COVID-19 patients for two months after being released from the hospital, investigators found that nearly 7% ultimately died in the weeks following their release, while 15% ended up being readmitted to the hospital. Many others said they continued to struggle with symptoms and were unable to resume their usual lifestyle or return to work."COVID is not a 'one-and-done' disease," said study author Dr. Vineet Chopra, chief of the division of hospital medicine with Michigan Medicine at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. "Rather, there are many complications and consequences that...

FDA Approves First Rapid COVID Test for Home Use

18 November 2020
FDA Approves First Rapid COVID Test for Home UseWEDNESDAY, Nov. 18, 2020 (HealthDay News) – The first rapid coronavirus test that can be taken at home with results delivered in 30 minutes was cleared for emergency use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday.The simple nasal swab test, developed by Lucira Health, requires a prescription and people under the age of 14 can't perform the test on themselves, the FDA said in a statement. The California company said that clinical trials showed 100% of patients were able to perform the Lucira test in about two minutes. That is significantly faster than labs, which currently take two to seven days to generate test results, the company noted in a statement. The test will cost about $50.While Lucira ramps up manufacturing of the test, it will only be available on a limited basis...

Chinese COVID Vaccine Appears Safe, Effective

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 18, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- A Chinese COVID-19 vaccine seems to be safe and effective, early trial results suggest, but one expert says the findings should be regarded with...

Are You Feeling 'Pandemic Fatigue'?

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 18, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- As COVID-19 case numbers surge across the United States, some people are experiencing pandemic fatigue after many months of social distancing, mask...
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