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THURSDAY, Oct. 1, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Coronavirus infections are surging in the American heartland, with Wisconsin bearing the brunt of COVID-19's relentless spread. Many Midwestern states are seeing some of the nation's highest per capita rates of infection, and while federal health officials have again urged some governors in the region to require masks statewide, some Republican governors have resisted, the Associated Press reported. Wisconsin appeared to be in the worst shape: A record number of people with COVID-19 were hospitalized in that state as of Wednesday. Of 737 patients, 205 were in intensive care, with spikes in cases in northern parts of the state driving up the numbers, the AP reported. Wisconsin health officials reported 2,319 new infections, bringing the total...

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 30, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Girls who are vaccinated against human papillomavirus (HPV) may drastically cut their chances of developing cervical cancer by age 30, a huge, new study finds. Researchers found that of more than 1.6 million young Swedish women, those who'd gotten the HPV vaccine were about two-thirds less likely to be diagnosed with cervical cancer than their unvaccinated peers. Those odds were further slashed when the vaccine was given before age 17. Among those women, the risk of cervical cancer was 88% lower. Experts said the findings, published Oct. 1 in the New England Journal of Medicine, support longstanding recommendations: Girls should be vaccinated against HPV before their teenage years. "These findings aren't surprising. This is what we'd...

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 30, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Reversing type 2 diabetes can restore the pancreas to its normal size and shape, a new study finds. Previous research found that with remission of type 2 diabetes through significant weight loss, natural insulin-production can return to levels similar to people who have never had diabetes. The new study is the first to show that reversing diabetes can also affect the size and shape of the pancreas, the researchers said. The study included 64 people with type 2 diabetes and a control group 64 people without diabetes whose pancreas health was monitored for two years. At the start of the study, average pancreas volume was 20% smaller and organ borders were more irregular in people with diabetes than in the control group. After five months...

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 30, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- It's long been said that early to bed, early to rise can make you healthy, wealthy and wise. Now, new research supports at least the health benefits. A study of people with type 2 diabetes found that night owls -- people who go to bed late and get up late -- tend to get little exercise, putting their health at greater risk. Understanding how sleep time can affect physical activity might help people with type 2 diabetes manage their health, said researcher Dr. Joseph Henson of the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom. "There is a massive need for large-scale interventions to help people with diabetes initiate, maintain and achieve the benefits of an active lifestyle," he said. "For people who prefer to go to bed later and get...