Latest Health News

TUESDAY, Aug. 18, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- COVID-19 cases in U.S. nursing homes rose nearly 80% earlier this summer and the vast majority of them occurred in Sunbelt states, a new study reports. In the week starting July 26, the nation's nursing homes had 9,715 COVID-19 cases -- up 77% from the week of June 21, when new cases bottomed out at 5,480, according to the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL). The latest spike has surpassed the previous peak, recorded May 31, the analysis of updated data from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services shows. During the last week of July, U.S. nursing homes recorded 1,706 COVID-19 deaths -- nearly 25% more than the first full week of July, when deaths hit a low point. And the Sunbelt...

TUESDAY, Aug. 18, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Just how safe is it to fly during the pandemic? The story of one international flight in March -- before the advent of mask and glove protocols -- suggests that even with infected passengers aboard, the odds of catching COVID-19 are relatively small. Reporting Aug. 18 in the journal JAMA Network Open, German researchers recount the health outcomes for 102 passengers who boarded a Boeing 737 in Tel Aviv, Israel, on March 9 and landed in Frankfurt, Germany, 4 hours 40 minutes later. This was before the advent of strict hygiene protocols -- mandatory masks on passengers and crew, discouragement of gatherings in aisles, curtailment of onboard meals -- that airlines have since put in place to curb SARS-CoV-2 transmission. Among the 102...

TUESDAY, Aug. 18, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- In a first, doctors have used a fecal transplant to treat a rare condition that causes the body to brew its own alcohol. The disorder, known as auto-brewery syndrome (ABS), occurs when yeast builds up in the gut and converts sugar from food into alcohol. The result is a lot like being drunk: Blood alcohol spikes, causing symptoms such as dizziness, disorientation, coordination problems and mood changes. And as anyone with ABS knows, it's a miserable and perplexing condition, according to Barbara Cordell, an adjunct professor at Panola College, in Texas. Cordell is also president of the nonprofit Auto-Brewery Syndrome Information and Research. Her interest in the condition began through personal experience, when her husband developed...

TUESDAY, Aug. 18, 2020 (American Heart Association News) -- Eric Olsen's energy was lacking. His mother thought he sounded tired on the phone. A work colleague noticed he didn't seem like himself. Then he found himself doubled over in his kitchen, gripping the counter with pounding pain in his chest. Eric blamed this "horrible heartburn" on his stressful life as a television news director. Even in normal times, a newsroom is a hectic place where unhealthy habits can flourish and "we survive on pizza and caffeine," he said. And for the past several days, Eric had overseen nearly nonstop coverage of a mass shooting in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He hoped antacids and sleep would help him power through the pain. He had a meeting the next morning with the president of the company buying his...