Latest Health News

5Nov
2020

Smoking Bans Don't Work If Not Enforced, NYC Study Finds

Smoking Bans Don`t Work If Not Enforced, NYC Study FindsTHURSDAY, Nov. 5, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Although New York City has banned smoking in its public housing, exposure to secondhand smoke hadn't declined a year later, a new study finds.The reasons might include delays in promotion and enforcement, researchers said. These include not putting up signs, training building managers and reluctance to report violations. Also, lack of smoking cessation services may be a factor.The goal of the 2018 ban was to cut secondhand smoke exposure in more than 165,000 low-income apartments run by the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA).This goal had been accomplished in places like bars and restaurants, and city officials hoped it would work in large apartment buildings.However, researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine found that little change...

AHA News: Election Stress Didn't End on Election Day

5 November 2020
AHA News: Election Stress Didn`t End on Election DayBy Michael PreckerAmerican Heart Association NewsTHURSDAY, Nov. 5, 2020 (American Heart Association News) -- The good news is that after a long, heated, divisive campaign, the polls have closed, and the pre-election stress is over.The bad news is that now it's time for post-election stress, and the accompanying health risks are still here."People often get very invested in the results of an election," said Barry Jacobs, a clinical psychologist and author in Philadelphia. "If that result does not bear out, they get very disappointed, and that may lead to tension and resentment."The resulting stress can cause a landslide of problems, from insomnia to high blood pressure, diabetes, depression – and heart disease."People don't generally develop those conditions due to short-term, severe...

Working Women Show Sharper Memory With Age

4 November 2020
Working Women Show Sharper Memory With AgeWEDNESDAY, Nov. 4, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Women who work outside the home may end up with a sharper memory later in life, a new study suggests.Researchers found that among nearly 6,200 U.S. women aged 55 and older, those who'd worked for pay in young adulthood and middle-age were less prone to memory decline, versus those who'd stayed out of the labor force.The link was seen whether women were married or single, or had children or not.Experts said the findings do not prove that paid work somehow preserves brain health.But they also said the work-memory link makes sense: Other research has found that both mental and social stimulation may help ward off memory loss as people grow older. And a job can provide those things."My interpretation is that participation in the labor force is a...

Coping With the Stress of This Election

4 November 2020
Coping With the Stress of This ElectionWEDNESDAY, Nov. 4, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Americans who woke up this morning to an undecided Presidential election might rightfully be feeling lots of anxiety, both about their personal futures as well as the fate of the nation.There are plentiful jokes online about drinking election stress away, but mental health experts instead are urging healthier ways to cope with the anxiety of a country on the edge.First and foremost: Keep to your established schedule, and don't allow yourself to fixate on the constant stream of news emanating from the TV and social media."We're kind of in the trenches right now," said Dr. Vivian Pender, president-elect of the American Psychiatric Association. "We're looking at the small minute-by-minute picture. And it's good sometimes to rise above that and...

New Drug Offers Hope Against MS

4 November 2020
New Drug Offers Hope Against MSWEDNESDAY, Nov. 4, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- A new immunotherapy that has shown success against multiple sclerosis in animals could be promising for humans, a new study suggests.Researchers at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia are studying a drug that would prevent immune system cells from attacking the myelin sheath, a protective layer that surrounds nerve cells. With MS, the body's immune system attacks the central nervous system by attacking the myelin sheath.While this therapy would impede the autoimmune response, it would leave the rest of the immune system fully functioning, according to the study. "This is a huge advantage of our antigen-specific method over current therapies, which are like a sledgehammer to the immune system," said senior study author Dr....

Nearly 1 in 5 Americans Follows 'Special' Diet

4 November 2020
Nearly 1 in 5 Americans Follows `Special` DietWEDNESDAY, Nov. 4, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- No doubt you've heard friends lament they couldn't eat bread because they were on the Keto diet, or maybe it was Paleo, or a low-carb plan or perhaps they were forgoing gluten. It's hard to keep track.That's because lots of Americans are following a special diet. On any given day, about one in six Americans reports eating a "special" diet, a new U.S. government study finds. A special diet may be a diet to lose weight or one aimed at improving health, such as a lower-carbohydrate diet for someone with diabetes, or avoiding gluten for someone who has Celiac disease. "About one-half of U.S. adults have diet-related chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure or type 2 diabetes. Special diets are one way that many adults...

Telemedicine Out of Reach for Those Who Can't Get Online

4 November 2020
Telemedicine Out of Reach for Those Who Can`t Get OnlineWEDNESDAY, Nov. 4, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- As the COVID-19 pandemic spread throughout the United States, many people changed the way they live: As shopping, education and work shifted online, so did routine health care appointments.However, while telemedicine seemed to make it easy to check in with a primary care doctor, a new study suggests that wasn't the case for everyone.Researchers found that certain patients with conditions that benefit from regular care were less likely to have used the internet in a 30-day time period -- suggesting the real problem was a lack of access to the Web."Telehealth is great, but it may actually exaggerate these disparities even further that we see in care right now," said study author Dr. Salim Virani, a professor of medicine and cardiology at Baylor...

AHA News: Farming Program Delivers Agricultural Know-How and Nutrition

4 November 2020
AHA News: Farming Program Delivers Agricultural Know-How and NutritionBy Diane DanielAmerican Heart Association NewsWEDNESDAY, Nov. 4, 2020 (American Heart Association News) -- When Pat Spence was growing up in Boston, she and her brother would ride their bikes past a dilapidated home nearly overtaken by vines, weeds and trees in the Mattapan neighborhood. What they called "the creepy house" is now the stately headquarters of the Urban Farming Institute. Spence has been its executive director since 2014.UFI operates an urban farm, residence, educational center and weekly farm stand. It also oversees six other small-lot farms in Mattapan, Dorchester and Roxbury, neighborhoods with mostly Black and Latino residents and where the rate of hospitalizations for heart disease is significantly higher than the rest of Boston. The institute's mission is to advance...

AHA News: The Connection Between Diabetes, Kidney...

By Michael MerschelAmerican Heart Association NewsWEDNESDAY, Nov. 4, 2020 (American Heart Association News) -- It's a triple health threat faced by tens of millions of Americans. But few think...

Heart Inflammation From COVID Less Common Than Thought

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 4, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Inflammation of the heart muscle (myocarditis) is less common in COVID-19 patients than previously thought, according to a new study.Previously reported...
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