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SATURDAY, Sept. 12, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- A portable generator may power up your home after a hurricane or storm knocks out your electricity, but it also poses the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning, one expert says. Carbon monoxide is often called the silent killer because it's colorless, odorless and tasteless. "Never use a generator in your home or garage, even if the doors and windows are open," said Dr. Lindell Weaver, medical director of hyperbaric medicine at Intermountain Medical Center and LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah. "Only use generators outside, more than 20 feet away from your home, doors and windows," Weaver added in an Intermountain news release. All homes and businesses should have a carbon monoxide alarm. Carbon monoxide poisoning should be suspected if...

FRIDAY, Sept. 11, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Alzheimer's disease is more common in rural Appalachian areas of Ohio than in other rural parts of the state, new research shows. For the study, the investigators analyzed 11 years of Medicare data, ending in 2017, and found that Alzheimer's rates were 2% to 3% higher in rural Appalachian counties than in other rural counties in Ohio. The study, published online recently in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, raises a number of concerns, according to the authors. "Those who live in rural Appalachia, in particular, are both much more disadvantaged on the whole from a socioeconomic perspective and have a higher burden of Alzheimer's disease and related disorders compared to those who live elsewhere. It's a double whammy," said Jeffrey Wing,...

FRIDAY, Sept. 11, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- It's not clear how COVID-19 outbreaks at three Salt Lake City child day care centers began, but a new report finds that 12 infected youngsters enrolled at two of the facilities easily passed SARS-CoV-2 to at least 12 family members. In one case, an infected child with no symptoms of COVID-19 transmitted the illness to their mother, who became so sick she needed to be hospitalized. The tale of these day care-linked clusters illustrate how efficient children are as vectors for COVID-19 infection -- and what steps can be taken to minimize the risk, experts say. "While COVID-19 is typically less severe in children compared to adults, children can still play a role in transmission," noted emergency physician Dr. Robert Glatter, who wasn't...

FRIDAY, Sept. 11, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Smiling can trick your mind into being more positive, according to a new study. Researchers at the University of South Australia found that the simple act of moving your facial muscles into a smile can make you view the world more positively. "When your muscles say you're happy, you're more likely to see the world around you in a positive way," said lead researcher Fernando Marmolejo-Ramos, a human and artificial cognition expert at the university. He and his colleagues studied how people interpret various images of facial and bodily expressions that range from happy to sad, based on whether or not they were smiling themselves. The study involved 256 volunteers from Japan, Poland, Spain and Sweden. Participants were asked to hold a...