Latest Health News

21Aug
2020

Whether From Diet or Surgery, Weight Loss Has Same Benefits: Study

Whether From Diet or Surgery, Weight Loss Has Same Benefits: StudyFRIDAY, Aug. 21, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- The metabolic benefits of weight loss in severely obese people are the same whether they lose excess pounds through dieting or surgery, a new study says. That suggests that weight loss alone, not any effects of weight-loss (bariatric) surgery, is responsible for metabolic improvements such as better blood sugar control and diabetes remission, according to researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. "It has been presumed that gastric bypass surgery has therapeutic, metabolic effects that result in better glucose control and even remission of diabetes beyond the effects expected from weight loss alone," said principal investigator Dr. Samuel Klein, director of the university's Center for Human Nutrition. "But we...

Play It Safe With Allergies, Asthma During Pandemic...

21 August 2020
Play It Safe With Allergies, Asthma During Pandemic School YearFRIDAY, Aug. 21, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- As parents deal with the uncertainty surrounding school this year, allergies and asthma may not be top of their minds. But even during a pandemic, parents of children with allergies and asthma need to consider the added risks their children may face, one allergist says. Many school districts "are still trying to determine how kids will return to school this fall," said J. Allen Meadows, president of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI). "The first priority is, of course, keeping children safe if they will be attending classes in person. As allergists, we need to examine not only how kids with allergies and asthma might be affected by the normal classroom risks, but how COVID-19 might also affect their health," he...

Study Questions Need to Wait Days to Give Baby New Foods

21 August 2020
Study Questions Need to Wait Days to Give Baby New FoodsFRIDAY, Aug. 21, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Current guidelines on introducing solid foods to babies may hamper efforts to prevent food allergies, researchers say. The American Academy of Pediatrics and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend introducing one, single-ingredient food at a time, then watching for food allergies for three to five days before introducing another new food. But researchers from Northwestern University and Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago say the wait might be too long because allergy is apparent within minutes to hours of eating a problematic food. "Waiting for days between each new food introduction to infants limits food diversity in the infant diet and may delay peanut introduction," said study lead author Dr. Waheeda...

Stress, Anger May Worsen Heart Failure

21 August 2020
Stress, Anger May Worsen Heart FailureFRIDAY, Aug. 21, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- If you suffer from heart failure, try to stay calm. Stress and anger may make your condition worse, a new study suggests. Mental stress is common in heart failure patients due to the complexities of managing the disease, progressively worsening function, and frequent medical issues and hospitalizations, according to lead author Kristie Harris, a postdoctoral associate in cardiovascular medicine at Yale University in New Haven, Conn. "We have evidence that patients who experience chronically elevated levels of stress experience a more burdensome disease course with diminished quality of life and increased risk for adverse events," Harris said in a university news release. "Clarifying the relevant behavioral and physiological pathways is...

Eating Disorders Cost Billions in the U.S.

21 August 2020
Eating Disorders Cost Billions in the U.S.FRIDAY, Aug. 21, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Eating disorders -- such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia and binge-eating disorder -- cost the U.S. economy nearly $65 billion in one recent year, a new report shows. About 75% of that ($48.6 billion) was due to lost productivity, according to the researchers. "Our study lays bare the devastating economic impact that eating disorders have in the United States, a country where the majority of people affected suffer alone and never receive appropriate treatment because of barriers to health care and lack of training for health care providers," said researcher Dr. S. Bryn Austin. Austin is director of STRIPED (Strategic Training Initiative for the Prevention of Eating Disorders) and a professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and...

Flu Shots for Kids Protect Everybody, Study Shows

21 August 2020
Flu Shots for Kids Protect Everybody, Study ShowsFRIDAY, Aug. 21, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- When elementary school students get their annual flu shot, everyone benefits, a new study shows. An increased vaccination rate among grade schoolers in California was associated with a decrease in flu hospitalizations for folks in every other age bracket, researchers report. The results come as no surprise to public health experts, given children's well-earned reputation as a major vector for the spread of viral diseases. "It basically correlates with everything we know about public health, about vaccination, and about children and children's impact on spreading viral illness throughout a community," said Dr. Eric Cioe-Pena, director of global health for Northwell Health in New Hyde Park, N.Y. However, the study does highlight the...

Remdesivir May Only Provide Modest Benefit Against 'Moderate' COVID-19

21 August 2020
Remdesivir May Only Provide Modest Benefit Against `Moderate` COVID-19FRIDAY, Aug. 21, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- The antiviral drug remdesivir has been one of the few treatments that's seemed to help curb death rates in COVID-19 patients so ill that they need a ventilator. But a new study finds the drug might not be as effective for "moderate" cases of COVID-19 -- patients hospitalized and perhaps needing oxygen to breathe, but not requiring a ventilator. The study of nearly 600 such patients found that those who got a five-day course of remdesivir had a "statistically significant difference in clinical status compared to standard care, but the difference was of uncertain clinical importance," according to researchers led by Dr. Diana Brainard of Gilead Sciences, which makes remdesivir. One infectious disease expert believes the findings may temper the...

Is a 'Twindemic' of COVID-19 and Flu Coming This Fall?

21 August 2020
Is a `Twindemic` of COVID-19 and Flu Coming This Fall?FRIDAY, Aug. 21, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Fall is approaching, and so is the possibility of what public health officials are calling a "twindemic" -- overlapping epidemics of both COVID-19 and influenza. A bad flu season coupled with continued COVID-19 outbreaks could increase people's risk of fatal illness and overwhelm hospital capacity in communities already scrambling to treat coronavirus patients, experts say. "I think it's definitely a possibility and it's something we're all worried about," said Dr. Eric Cioe-Pena, director of global health at Northwell Health in New Hyde Park, N.Y. "The trifecta of a bad flu season, a bad COVID resurgence and an Atlantic hurricane is our doomsday scenario. You could add in civil unrest around the election as a four-way doomsday...

White House Blocks FDA's Power to Regulate Lab Tests

FRIDAY, Aug. 21, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- The Trump administration has blocked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration from regulating a wide swath of laboratory tests, including ones for the...

Hopeful News on Parkinson's: More Than 100 Trials Underway

THURSDAY, Aug. 20, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- While there are treatments to alleviate symptoms of Parkinson's disease, there is no known cure or preventive drug. But a recent review offers some...
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